Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette The 20thAnnual Kids Fishing Derby had its highest turnout yet, with 208 children signed up to participate in a friendly and educational competition at Swedetown Pond. Fishing equipment and bait were provided to the children at the event so everyone had the opportunity to participate.

CALUMET — The Calumet-Keweenaw Sportsmen’s Club and Keweenaw National Historical Park held the 20th Annual Kids Fishing Derby at Swedetown Pond Saturday. The event saw the highest attendance ever, with 208 children participating. The derby is part of this year’s Junior Angler Program, a joint effort between the club and park aimed at educating children to the importance of fishing and conservation.

The derby saw hundreds of people surround the pond looking to catch any of the stocked fish, which included hybrid bluegill, yellow perch, bullhead and shiners. The competition was split between boys and girls, with the largest of each species caught claiming a prize. There were also prizes awarded to the smallest fishes caught.

The winners for the boys were Carson Ylitilo for a nine inch bullhead, Olli Butkovich for a 9.25 inch yellow perch, Liam Johnson for a 5.5 inch bluegill and Ownen Thorton for the smallest fish measuring 3.125 inches. The girl winners included Charlotte Pennala for a 8.75 inch bullhead, Anitra Fortin for a 8.375 inch yellow perch, Macy Kampe for a 5.875 inch bluegill and Fortin also caught the smallest fish measuring three inches.

While the young anglers would wait for space to open up at the pond to fish, they had a plethora of educational booths to visit. Some of these booths returned from prior years such as Keweenaw Invasive Species Management Area (KISMA) and the Keweenaw National Historical Park, but there was also new additions such as Michigan Tech student Greyson Wolf informing attendees of a burbot survey to further study burbot and the impact anglers may have on the fish. Nearing the end of the event, families were welcomed to a free lunch and snacks.

Calumet-Keweenaw Sportsmen’s Club Board Member and head of the derby Mark Johnson said he was thrilled to see such a high turnout for the event. “It’s just fun to see all the kids come year after year, and then watch them grow up and learn skills such as catching fish,” Johnson said. “The first few years, they’re not catching much. And then after that they start catching more as they learn.”

Johnson said the club believes children should be outdoors as much as possible, and getting them interested in fishing could push them to spend more time outside. He said he is happy to see the event also grow in guests, pointing out Michigan Tech and other local clubs who wanted to attend.

KISMA Outreach Coordinator Elam Mauer said the group was present to spread awareness about invasive species and the services KISMA provides such as washing boats at various boat launches. KISMA is funded by the National Park Service and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Some invasive species KISMA introduced children to included the zebra mussel, Eurasian watermilfoil and the curly pond leaf.

Mauer said it was important to be at the event and speak with children to raise awareness at an early age. “A lot of the times the best way to control or deal with invasive species is to catch them before they even get there,” Mauer said. “Awareness and prevention is is by far the best way. And so talking to kids and families about dealing with your bait properly and and not spreading things from one place to another is a really important way of making sure that we’re getting the word out about all of this invasive species knowledge.”

Junior Ranger Angler Program Coordinator Tessa Tormoen was at the Keweenaw Historical Park booth where she taught children about fish and habitat identification and how the area’s history ties into the local fish species. “The role that we bring to this event is we tie history in with fishing,” Tormoen said. “So we’re talking about how there is historical impact on our waters, and that kind of also gets kids invested in conservation when they learn about how waters may have been impacted in fisheries throughout history and how they’re changing now. So giving some context to the ecology and the fisheries around us, it’s really important in helping kids understand where things might be moving in the future, and just giving them more information.”

She was also present to push more awareness of the rest of the fishing events that are part of the Junior Angler Program. The future events include the Annual Junior Angler Fishing Camps on Saturday and Sunday, Fishing Discovery: Aquatic Invaders Sea-Lamprey presented by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Fort Wilkins State Park in Copper Harbor on August 1 and the Fish with the Ranger event which comes right after the Fishing Discovery event.

Tormoen was also delighted to see the derby reach its 20th year. “I think it’s really fantastic that this has been going on 20 years. It means that there’s enough investment from the community in the event. And I think every year there’s returning kids, there’s new kids and there’s always opportunities for kids to learn something new. And once you get children invested in these kinds of activities, in fishing, there’s just never ending learning opportunities,” Tormoen said.