5-06-2023 9:35pm

Photo Gallery: In Pursuit of the Biggest Catch at Westwood's Fishing Derby

Darlene Cancell Editor

Photo courtesy of Katie Colby. Ethan Colby holds up his 11 ounce sunfish, which earned him a 5th place finish. Ryan Colby (center) and Bodie Skogland (right) join him in celebrating.

Anglers came out on Saturday, May 6th to compete in Westwood's annual Fishing Derby, held once again this year at Buckmater Pond, and while the event was open to all ages, it was the competition group of children aged 15 and under who reported by far the most catches.

On the competition leaderboard, the rightmost column reserved for recording the catches of adult competitors remained empty. However, the left column showed the the list of young competitors who had caught fish, and that list steadily grew over the course of the event that ran from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Brody, age 13, had caught a 1 pound, 1 ounce trout, placing him in second place for heaviest catch, behind Henry who registered a 1 pound, 7 ounce catch. The top two competitors hooked their prize-winning catches near the beginning of the fishing derby. A few more people caught fish later in the morning, but none would be as big as the early catches.

Upon arriving, anglers registered at the white tent set up by Westwood Recreation (Westwood Rec). The leaderboard stood to one side, displaying the name of the competitor with the weight of their catch. On another side of the tent stood a table of prizes for all youth participants.

Upon registration, participants were offered the ability to purchase Canadian nightcrawlers for $1 per cup. Bait brought from home was also an option. It was hot dogs for some and artificial bait for others.

After casting, it was a waiting game to see what fish, if any, would bite.

As time ticked toward the end of the event, no adult had yet registered a catch, although five youth competitors had.

Waiting for a fish to bite could be a test of patience. Some anglers were not content to let a line lie, but would try again and again to get their line into the perfect spot. Sometimes a bite was quick. Other times, it could take awhile.

Near the competition's end, Rick of Dover Road in Westwood caught a sunfish. His successful strategy was using worm and scented, artificial bait.

Although the competition results for the youth division were announced at the event, the adult division was not; however, it would appear that Rick is the winner in the adult category if he registered the sole catch.

In the youth division, the competition results in descending order from first place to seventh place, from heaviest to lightest catch are:

Henry - 1 pound, 7 ounces
Brody - 1 pound, 1 ounce
Aiden - 14 ounces
Christina - 14 ounces
Brynn - 12 ounces
Ethan - 11 ounces
Craig - 4 ounces

In an indication of how participants enjoyed the event, more than a couple of participants in this year's Fishing Derby stayed the entire duration, from a 7:00 a.m. start until the 11:00 a.m. finish.

After winners were announced, and Westwood Rec had packed up its tent, some anglers remained and continued to fish, spending some relaxing time under the sunny sky on a warm day.