“Alright, we’re going fishin’.”

With this call from C.J. Applegate, athletic supervisor for the parks and recreation department, a herd of children, parents, grandparents, friends and volunteers moved from the Lake Charleston pavilion to the lakeshore.

As the Alex Russell Memorial Kids Fishing Derby officially began, some parents provided advice; others helped their young children cast their poles.

The lakeshore became a quiet haven, with the sense of tranquility only being broken by the talking of participants and volunteers, the chirping of birds and the sound of fishing bobbers hitting the water.

For many participants, the derby has become an annual tradition. For others, it has been a family affair lasting for several years.

The Campbell family of Charleston is one of these families. With three participants in the derby this year, and one who has become too old to compete, the derby has become a part of their summer lives.

For Kaity Campbell, this year’s derby was a special one. Since she is 15 years old, this was the last year Kaity was eligible to compete. Kaity said it will be hard for her to leave the derby behind.

“I don’t want to quit,” she said. “It’s fun. I love coming out to fish.”

Kaity’s brother Travis Campbell, 9, said that his favorite part of the fishing derby was “winning, and I figure I can win this year.”

Unfortunately for Travis, at the end of the day he was the only Campbell who did not walk away a winner. Kaity took home first place in the 13-15 year old division, and her brother Jesse Campbell won first place in the 9-12 year old division.

Kaity said it felt “pretty good” to win the derby in her last year of competition.

Other competitors shared Kaity’s sad feelings about leaving the tournament behind, as this year was their last year eligible to compete.

Robin Houston, 15, of Charleston has been competing in the fishing derby since she was very young, said her father William Houston. William was a friend of Alex Russell, the man who founded the fishing derby in the 1980s and whom the derby is now named in honor of.

“It’s kind of sad [being my last year] considering that Alex was one of my best friends,” said Robin.

Robin said that her most embarrassing memory from her more than 10 years of participation was the time that her little sister beat her in the competition and earned first place honors.

While many participants in the derby are multiple year veterans, there were also some first time derby participants competing.

Lee Sherwood of Charleston brought his two daughters, Morgan, 8, and Emma, 5, to the derby for the first time.

Lee said he brought the children out so “they could come out and enjoy a day of fishing.”

At first, Morgan was afraid to cast her own pole because she feared getting it tangled on her sister’s line. With support from her father encouraging her to “just try your best,” she managed a successful cast. Less than a minute later, Morgan had caught her first fish of the day.

Lee said that he will probably be bringing the girls out to the derby again in the future.

In addition to awards for the top three finishers in each of the age divisions, prizes were also awarded for the largest bass and the largest catfish.

Eric Haynes, 13, of Alvin, Texas, won the largest bass award with a 12″ bass. He was very excited to have won the contest.

“It feels really good,” Eric said. “At first I thought I wasn’t going to make it.”

After the awards were presented and the winners chose their prizes, names were randomly drawn to pick from the remaining prizes. There were also grab bags for each child participant to take. This ensured that every participant walked away with at least one prize for the day.

“I’m really glad that my sister got drawn for a prize,” said Eric Haynes. “She really needed a new fishing pole and now she got one.”

Among the prizes that were given away were fishing poles, tackle boxes, minnow buckets filled with other gifts including movies tickets and free bowling, a tent, a sleeping bag, a bow and arrow target and various children’s toys.

With 78 participants, the attendance was lower than last year.

“I expected a little more but you never know what people have going on,” Applegate said. “There’s always so much going on during the summer.”

Despite the decrease in turnout, Applegate and Brian Jones, director of parks and recreation, were pleased with the way the event went.

“It went as well as we expected,” Jones said. “It looked like everyone had a good time and had fun.”

Many people were worried about the weather and possible storms, but the weather held off to make for a good fishing day.

“We just get lucky with the weather,” said Applegate. “It’s never really stormed on us.”

“The weather held out for us,” said Jones. “It was a little cool, but there were no storms.”

Eastern professor John Pommier sits with his three sons, Wyatt, 7, Forrest, 10, and Justis, 5, during the Alex Russel Memorial Fishing Derby Saturday morning at lake Charleston.

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