Caleb Sealy was a busy boy Saturday morning.
During the 90-minute run of the 14th annual Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs (HOFNOD) fishing derby, Sealy pulled 19 fish from Craig Abbott’s pond at the north edge of town. Total weight of Sealy’s catch was 3.74 pounds. Jimmy Fry caught the largest fish, a 12.81-pound catfish, and McKenzie Schubert checked in with the smallest specimen, a sliver of a fish that barely activated the digital scales at .02 of a pound.
The event started with registration at 8 a.m. and by the time fishing started at 9:30, 142 kids were poised on the pond’s banks. An hour and a half later, they had caught 272 fish weighing 409.75 pounds, an average of a smidgen over a pound and a half each.
By categories, winners were:
2-8 years old: Brandon McKarnin, four fish, 22.66 pounds; Jake Fudge, six fish, 13.23 pounds; Trevor Patman, two fish, 9.85 pounds;
9-12 years old: Bryce Malloy, six fish, 32.28 pounds; Dalton Kerr, three fish, 19.73 pounds; Gary Lower, two fish, 19.31 pounds;
13-17 years olds: Aaron Dix, three fish, 26.24 pounds; Dylan Mayo, two fish, 20.74 pounds; Shawn Fry, two fish, 15.26 pounds.
All kids involved picked from a premium of prizes, ranging from fishing tackle to Coleman lanterns, prior to the derby’s start. At its conclusion, the young anglers feasted on a lunch of hot dogs, chips and drinks.
Anglers land 272 fish
