Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
Despite a little rain over the weekend, young sportsmen and sportswomen remained undeterred in Calumet as Swedetown Park hosted its 14th annual kids fishing derby.
Children of all ages participated and several went home with new fishing gear or many other prizes.
“We are having an event that keeps growing every year. We had 243 children last year attending and fishing here which was a great thing. Our community support with our sportsmanship club, Calumet Township, and this year we have the National Park involved here as well, and with all the local sponsors, it just keeps growing and becoming a larger event,” said Greg Nakkula of the Keweenaw Sportsman Club.
As each participant caught his or her fish, they then walked it over to the recording station where a volunteer measured and documented the catch before tossing it back into the pond.
Nakkula said, “The grand prize for the largest fish is a $50 cash prize. For the largest fish for the boys we have bicycle, as well as the girls, and then multiple prizes as you can see. Fishing poles—everyone will leave with something.”
Hunter McMahon is an 11-year old who frequents Swedetown pond along with many other Keweenaw waters. “I go here a lot in the summer and Gratiot Lake. We have a camp down there so I’m practically there almost all year long. We’ve recently been doing a lot of lake trout fishing and salmon fishing. I got my new PB lake trout which was 12 pounds,” he said.
Hunter had a pretty good day of fishing and is in direct competition with a sibling along with other the other participants. “I have a ten inch perch and my sister is beating me for the girls by an eighth of an inch.”
Hot dogs and refreshments were donated from a local business and prepared in a shelter that was recently added to the park, and more improvements are still to come.
Nakkula said, “We have a new pavilion which was provided by Calumet Township which was awesome. We had some brush removal to make the area more open for us, and then we have some new toiletries coming in for 2019.”
Along with a day of recreation, activities were also educational. The Keweenaw National Historical Park had an activity booth that helped the children to identify different species of fish.
“I just want to thank everybody for their support for our club and it’s exciting to watch it grow and have the kids have a great day,” said Nakkula.
McMahon added, “If you want to come next year, it’s free to join. It’s just a blast to come out.”
