The rain couldn’t stop people from bringing their kids to the 19th annual Take a Kid Fishing event at Edgewater Park Saturday morning.

The event started at 9 a.m., and organizers said they wouldn’t stop for rain — only lightning. By 9:30 a couple dozen fish had been caught, but the number of kids coming out to fish was much smaller than past years.

The event is put on by the Fountain Lake Sportsmen’s Club, and they do fundraisers all year for it.

“Everything is geared towards this event,” said Dave Villarreal, club president.

Many area businesses donate to the event, and the Sportsmen’s Club holds breakfast fundraisers as well as their annual ice fishing contest where all the proceeds go to Take a Kid Fishing Day.

“It’s fun to see little tikes with a fish,” club member Orien Loe said.

All the club members agree that seeing kids smiling and holding a freshly-caught fish is the highlight of the event and worth the fundraising and time put into making the event.

Vice president of the club, Lance Frank said getting kids out there and fishing is the whole point. The Sportsmen’s Club wants to create interest in fishing so these future generations will want to keep fishing throughout the years.

All kids who came to the event received a free rod, reel and bobbers. There was also bait available for those who wanted to use it. The club raises the money to buy the rods and reels, and businesses in town either donate money for equipment or for prizes.

“It’s takes a lot of time to get it all lined up,” Loe said.

Loe also said there would be another fundraiser breakfast on July 16 to start raising money for next year’s Take a Kid Fishing Day.

The kids were shore fishing in the 59 degree weather, so there weren’t too many large fish. Mostly the kids get blue gills and other smaller fish. Villarreal said last year the largest fish was a two-pound bass.

Melody Yost, 9, was out fishing on Saturday and caught a small bass. Gavin Anderson, 7, was out fishing on Saturday as well. He caught two fish within a matter of minutes and was excited. He caught a fish and it fell off the rod, which then fell back into the water and another fish hooked on. He took both fish and ran to the trailer to get them weighed before going to the prize trailer.

Trophies were given out for first, second and third place in boys’ and girls’ categories. Prizes were given out throughout the event over the loudspeaker.

Even though the weather left much to be desired there were kids at Edgewater Park excited about the fish they had caught, and that was the goal of the Fountain Lake Sportsmen’s Club.