Kids Fishing Day brings hundreds to city pond

By Matthew Nash • April 26, 2023 1:30 am

Children were casting and catching aplenty at the 21st-annual Kids Fishing Day.

Hundreds of families circled the reclamation pond on April 22 north of Carrie Blake Community Park for a chance to hook a fish with help from the Puget Sound Anglers-North Olympic Peninsula Chapter.

About 1,000 rainbow trout from Hurd Creek Fish Hatchery were planted prior to the event.

Following tradition, club members provide poles with bait and hooks and any help with casting and netting fish along with cleaning and bagging each trout caught.

Volunteer Glen Humphrey said he’s been helping at the event since its inception.

“Just look at (the amount of kids). You can’t beat it anytime you can put a smile on a kid’s face,” he said.

Fishing opened on April 21 at the pond to children with disabilities for a special event and remains open to all children 14 and younger for free without a license and a catch limit of two fish per day.

Last October, the Anglers group announced its decision to limit fish stock to one time a year due to concerns of space and warmer water temperatures in the summer as dead fish were found during warm weather events.

In previous interviews, City of Sequim staff said the pond was designed to hold reclaimed water and not fish, but they wanted Kids Fishing Day to continue.

The annual event is offered by efforts from the Anglers, City of Sequim, Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Hurd Creek Hatchery.

For more about the Puget Sound Anglers-North Olympic Peninsula Chapter, visit psanopc.org and facebook.com/psanopc.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Five-year-old Ryder Dahl nets his catch-of-the-day, 2-year-old, little brother Ashton during Kids Fishing Day. They caught a few fish earlier with their dad Rylan, they said.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Zayleigh McCullem, 7, reels in a fish on April 22 with help from her dad Andy. She fished after a soccer game at the Albert Haller Playfields, and this was her second time fishing at Kids Fishing Day.

Volunteer Claudia Eklund with the Puget Sound Anglers helps Zayleigh McCullem put a worm on her hook on April 22.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Dale Scheet and volunteer Robert Wilson help 11-year-old Paul Scheett take in a jumbo trout. This was Paul’s fourth time fishing at Kids Fishing Day, he said.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Volunteer Robert Wilson with the Puget Sound Anglers nets a trout for 11-year-old Paul Scheett at Kids Fishing Day.

Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash/ Volunteer Glen Humphrey with the Puget Sound Anglers readies some fishing poles for families at Kids Fishing Day. Humphrey said he’s been helping at the event since its inception. “Just look at (the amount of kids). You can’t beat it anytime you can put a smile on a kid’s face,” he said.