Fishing Derby Hooks a Crowd
By Robin Vinci at April 22, 2024 | 7:00 am | Print
Tyler Olson, age 5, excitedly held up his 11 ounce prize trout Saturday at Martha Hart Park to show everyone.
“Where’s my prize?” he shouted in exuberance as his trout indeed was one of 15 tagged for a prize on the opening day of fishing season. The fish was worth a $200 savings bond.
Olson, who along with his brother Connor, age 9, who also caught a prize fish, each used a silver lure to catch their treasures.
“I caught it all by myself,” said Connor, who had a 13 ½ inch trout.
The duo was part of the New Britain Parks and Recreation Department’s annual TD Bank Fishing Derby.
The department put 250-300 fish in Doerr Pond at Martha Hart Park and those that were tagged gave winners a $50-$200 savings bond.
One-hundred-thirty children and 30 adults pre-registered with about 200 taking part in the event. Children registered before Friday received a free gift bag as well Saturday.
Most of them lined the street area of the pond, with a few sprinkled around the other edges.
Although the weather was cloudy and cool, Ryan West, program coordinator, said it was fine for fishing.
“This is actually good weather for fishing,” said West. “I’m happy with the turnout and people seem pretty excited.”
Matthew Murphy appeared very excited catching another one of the prized trout using power bait.
The event held five age groups - under 5 years of age, 5 to 8 years, 9 to 12 years, and 13 to 15 years of age. There were three categories for each – heaviest fish, longest fish and most fish caught. Winners in each category got the chance to pick a prize ranging from fishing rods to tackle boxes.
“The Lighthouse Family Worship Center donated 15 rods and 15 boxes,” said West. “One-thousand-five-hundred dollars for the event was donated by lead sponsor TD Bank.”
The Friends of New Britain Football donated t-shirts and fishing stores across the state donated other items.
Prize winners are expected to be named within the next week.
