Cold weather means hot hooks at Kids Fishing Day
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NINEPIPE — Bad weather meant good fishing for the annual Kids Fishing Day held Saturday at Ninepipe Pond. Last year, young anglers enjoyed blue skies and warmth, but only hooked one fish. But Saturday morning, youngsters caught more than 100 fish, although most of the 70 young fishermen and women headed for shelter from the blustery weather before the morning was over.
“We were hoping that the cool weather would make the fish bite a little better, and it did,” said Jim Vashro, Regional Fisheries Manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “(But) it was pretty unpleasant.”
The rain couldn’t do much to dampen the spirits of Xavier and Caitlyn Ward, the brother and sister from Polson who caught the two biggest fish of the day at 2 1/2 pounds each.Six-year-old Xavier’s rainbow trout measured 18 3/8 inches, and 4-year-old Caitlyn’s was barely smaller at 18 1/4 inches — a whopper for her first catch ever.
“Xavier’s caught fish before, but nothing remotely this big,” mom Stephanie said, adding that the family enjoyed a trout dinner thanks to the kids’ success.
Prizes like complete fishing kits were awarded to the kids with the biggest fish in each age division, and more goodies like lures, hooks, baseball caps and Frisbees were given out for door prizes. Ronan Sports and Western and Polson Outdoors, Inc., co-sponsored the event, which is part of FWP’s Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs program.
“I think any young anglers who stayed to the end walked away with something just for being tough,” Vashro said.
Those who didn’t brave Saturday’s weather should know that the Ninepipe Pond was stocked with several thousand catchable rainbow trout just a few weeks ago, so there should be good fishing for a few weeks to come before the weather warms, Vashro said. But there’s also a new regulation — fishing is catch and release only for people 15 and over.
“(Catch and release) had been voluntary in the past, but wasn’t being adhered to, so we made it mandatory,” Vashro explained. “Older anglers are still welcome to fish with their kids, but they’re gonna have to turn everything loose.”
