I have to tip my hat to the members of the Fountain Lakes Sportsman’s Club for another fine &uot;Take a Kid Fishing&uot; Day. They had another nice turnout even though the threat of bad weather lingered and eventually did bring an early end to the event.

The club coordinates this event each year along with the Minnesota Department of Natural

Resources. The work of the club members should be recognized because there is a lot involved in putting on an event of this size.

According to one of the members, Harlan Thompson, there were 450 kids that entered the event. Each participant received a fishing pole or tackle box, a Dairy Queen bobber plus a Dairy Queen coupon for an ice cream treat and a participation ribbon.

By 11 a.m. the bad weather had forced the event to be canceled but by then they had already registered 156 fish. Winners for each group were as follows:

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Boys first place went to Brady Schriber with a 1.1 pound walleye; second place went to Nick Floris with a .9 pound catfish; and third place went to Payten Kirsch with a .8 pound walleye.

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On the Girls side first place went to Louis Wagner with a 1.8 pound catfish; second went to

Maddie Smith with a 1.1 pound catfish; and third place went to Kristina Johnson with a 1 pound bass.

This was the first year the event was held at Edgewater and I think it was a huge success. According to the people I talked to who were there with their kids, it was a great time and there were a lot of fish being caught. The club members thought it worked out very well and were pleased with not only the turnout but also with the number of fish entered.

According to one member, the idea of having it at Edgewater seemed to bring more family participation and there was plenty of room for everyone who wanted to fish. There were a lot of people that had never fished before or had never been to the event before.

This is what this day is all about: Generating interest in the sport of fishing and a child’s enthusiasm for fishing can carry over to Mom and Dad as well.

The members of this club got involved in this because they want to share their love of the sport with future generations and what better way to get them started than this.

I spoke with Harlan about the club and he is really excited about the direction the club is taking. He said club president Mark Hovland has a lot of fresh ideas and has

generated a new enthusiasm in the club.

Not only does it take many hours of volunteer work to make this work; it takes a lot of help from businesses in the community. Although they all deserve to be recognized, for fear of leaving someone out I will just say a huge &uot;thank you&uot; to all of the supporters of this event. It was a job well done.

If anyone is interested in finding out more about the club or would like to become a member, you are welcome to attend the next meeting at 6 p.m. on July 5, at the Union Center.

Fishermen across the area have been having pretty good success and here are a few reports from our area:

FAIRMONT AREA &045; Limits of walleyes have been common from Hall Lake in 16 to 18 feet of water. They’ve bit best during the evening hours on leeches. Look for crappies in 13 feet of water on Hall Lake, Budd Lake, and Lake Sissiton. The power

plant area on George Lake continues to provide nice bluegills. Fox Lake is a safe bet for numbers of small crappies in shallow water.

FARIBAULT AREA &045; Sunfish and crappies are being caught in the shallow areas of Hunt Lake, Shields Lake, and Lake Mazaska. You’ll pull a few walleyes with leeches or Shad Raps during the evening hours on Cannon Lake and Lake Mazaska in less than 10 feet of water. Northern pike are hitting sucker minnows under bobbers along the weed edges of Cedar Lake and bass continue to be caught throughout the area.

Until next time play safe; enjoy the outdoors and &uot;Let’s go fishing.&uot; Remember to show your support for the troops that are serving our country so that we may enjoy all of the freedoms that we have.

(Dick Herfindahl, outdoors writer)