Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Times's first fishing derby huge success

More than 50 youngsters and their parents gathered at Gurdon Lake Saturday, July 28, for the First Annual Gurdon Times Fishing Derby.

No one seemed to mind getting up early, as the derby began around 7:30 a.m., and the fish cooperated by biting quickly. Even the weather was cooperative, as the skies were overcast, temperatures comfortable and a breeze kept everyone cool.

Registration began at 7 a.m. to make sure all the children involved had their name in the pot so they could win one of the prizes from local and area merchants, along with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

No child involved went home empty handed, as the derby was set up to make sure everyone won something.

Still, the most important part was the fishing. While no prizes were awarded for the first fish, biggest fish, smallest catch or ugliest fish, the children had a good time being on the lake and reeling in catfish and bream.

The AG&FC stocked the lake with 200 pounds of catfish Friday, July 27. This helped as the fish hit early and often in the beginning stages of the derby.

Around 9 a.m., the fish began slowing down on their biting, and the prizes were distributed. This was done by calling a child's name from the registration list and having them draw for their gift.

At the start, though, all of the children were given a gift bag from the AG&FC, along with their T-shirt. The T-shirts went to the first 36 who registered, with the final tally being 54 children registering for the derby, though not all showed up.

The prizes included two NAPA truck sets, a basketball, bait bucket, plush dog, plush turtle, plush ape, something called icky poo games, a fox tail sonic game, a parachute guy, plush worm, tackle box, water jug, silly string, glass chalk, compact disc rack, four $5 gift certificates from Sonic, AG&FC flying discs, an assorted tackle box, two boxes of freezer pops and six packs of soda pop, along with assorted posters from the AG&FC.

The Gurdon Rotary Club showed up with free orange juice and Twinkies for those in the derby, parents and children. There were also free sodas for the participants as well.

It could well be said the First Annual Gurdon Times Fishing Derby was a success.