Children keeping the rain at bay while they fish during a previous year’s Youth Fishing Derby at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club (WNG file photo)
WESTFIELD- The Westfield Sportsman’s Club is poised to host it’s 65th annual Youth Fishing Derby on Sunday, April 28th beginning at 9 in the morning and ending at 3 that afternoon.
The Fishing Derby is free to all youths aged 15 or younger. There is no requirement to have a club membership in order to attend, but anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, said Fishing Derby Director Steve Sklarski. The event will happen rain or shine and attendees are free to come and go throughout the day as they please.
“Last year we had a thunderstorm roll through and it cleared the place out,” said Skalrski. He added that when the storm had passed, many of the people who left came back and kept fishing.
The day before the derby, the pond at the Sportsman’s Club will be stocked with trout. Sklarski said that 25 of those trout will be tagged before they go in the water. If someone catches one of the tagged trout, they win a prize. Each kid that attends the derby will also be given one free raffle ticket to possibly win a prize as well. Sklarski said that, by his estimates, there were about 400 kids who participated in the derby in 2018, and 600 to 700 people at the pond in total.
“I attended the Fishing Derby when I was a kid,” said Sklarski, “years later now I’m the one running it.”
Local businesses will donate money and prizes for the fishing derby. Skalrski said that when a business donates something for the event, he will typically purchase more items for prizes from that same business. North Elm Butcher Block will be catering the event with hamburgers, hot dogs, and more.
Adults accompanying a child are required to sign a waiver prior to the start of fishing.
