TodayKid anglers compete for catch of the day
More than 80 youngsters participated in the Carlisle Summerfair Fishing Derby.
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A group of kids fish from the outcrop rocks along the LeTort Stream during the Children’s Fishing Derby.(Jason Malmont/The Sentinel)
George Kuhn, 11, son of Fred Kuhn of Shermans Dale, checks out his big fish Saturday morning in Carlisle. (Jason Malmont/The Sentinel)
Bill Croft Sr. helps his son, Bill Jr., perfect his cast Saturday morning at the Children’s Fishing Derby.(Jason Malmont/The Sentinel)
People fill the stream banks at LeTort Park in Carlisle Saturday morning as they participate in the Children’s Fishing Derby. (Jason Malmont/The Sentinel)
Bryauna Croft had happiness wriggling on a hook Saturday.
Standing shyly by the 17.5-inch palomino trout she caught about 15 minutes earlier, the 5-year-old from Mt. Holly Springs said she wasn’t planning to eat it.
“We’re going to show my pappy!” Bryauna said.
Her mother, Brandy Croft, said a lot of people had been after the big yellow fish, which turned out to be the longest one caught that morning. But her father, Brandon Croft, said the crowd still seemed happy when Bryauna finally caught it.
“I think everybody clapped,” he said.
Chief among the cheerers would have been Bryauna’s 3-year-old sister, Brinley Croft, who made no effort to conceal her enthusiasm for her sister’s catch.
“She got a big one!” Brinley said.
Eager to fish
The fishing derby, a staple of Carlisle’s Summerfair, took place at LeTort Park from 8 to 10 a.m. and drew 88 registered participants ages 4 to 12. But the children filling the banks of the creek weren’t the only ones enjoying themselves.
“This is what it’s about,” said Arnold Mohl, who is stock chairman and nursery manager of the Yellow Breeches Anglers and Conservation Association. The association provided a total of 320 rainbow, brown and palomino trout for the derby, which is one of five for children it is helping out with this summer.
Raising fish is a lot of work, the 72-year-old Dillsburg resident said, and sometimes he wonders why he keeps volunteering to do it.
But, he said, then he comes to events like the derby and remembers. It wasn’t hard to hear his excitement as he explained that no matter where they release fish, the palominos seem to be the most coveted.
“You can see them,” he explained, pointing out how the golden fish show up better in the water than do their more somber-scaled relations.
Prized catches
Curtis Stambaugh, chairman of this year’s Summerfair committee, said this is the fourth year he has been at the derby, and that the children are always excited to bring their fish to be measured. Most of the children seem to catch fish, he said, but even so there are usually fish still swimming when the derby ends.
“There will be people out here later,” he said, smiling.
Participants didn’t need to land the biggest fish to go home with a prize, as awards were given in each of three age divisions for the first fish caught, shortest fish and longest combined length of fish, as well as for the longest fish.
Landing the longest fish in the 7 to 9 bracket was Brandon Gibson of Boiling Springs, who hooked one measuring 14.5 inches. And taking home the “longest” trophy for the 10 to 12 group was George Kuhn, 11, of Shermans Dale.
“It’s pretty fun,” said George, whose biggest catch was 16 inches long. He and his father, Fred Kuhn, said George owed a portion of the credit to another boy who came over with a net and helped him land the fish.
“If it wasn’t for that, it would have got away,” Kuhn said.
Like Bryauna, George said he wasn’t planning to eat his fish. But, he said, he really wanted to take it home and show it to his brother, who is 13 and too old to take part in the derby.
