Fort Sill, Okla. -- Medicine Creek became a prescription for Fort Sill's drought shrunken fishing holes as about 300 children ages 3-15 lined the banks for the annual kids' fishing derby June 2. The event was free and open to the public.
Fort Sill Natural Resources personnel stocked about 2,500 blue and channel catfish in the creek. Screens at the eastern boundary of the campground kept fish in the derby area which included the reservoir at the base of Medicine Bluffs. Though no screens were installed to prevent fish from swimming upstream, they baited the area with catfish junk food to keep the 'cats nearby.
"We'll see how it goes," said Glen Wampler, Natural Resources and Enforcement Branch supervisor. "It may be better as there's more shade. The fish are a little smaller last year with most 11-12 inches long, but a few will go a bit longer and up to 3 pounds."
Fisher-folks began lining the creek about 45 minutes prior to the 7:30 a.m. start time as volunteers made their rounds in golf carts offering free cartons of night crawlers or chicken livers. Right on time young casters tossed out their first offerings as the derby started in earnest.
Fishing from the corner of the reservoir near the spillway and behind Sportsmen Services, Alyssa Butac's first cast may have produced the first fish as she reeled in a hefty channel cat two minutes into the derby. Her dad, Arsenio Butac manned the fish net hauling the wriggling channel 'cat onto dry land. Even as he did so, his son, Raymond, announced his own catch and reeled it ashore.
So went the early moments of the derby as fish and fisherfolk seemed eager to meet one another.
Downstream Christian Walsh staked his claim along a section of the creek where he'd caught fish earlier this spring. Eight minutes into the derby he already had three catfish lounging at the end of a stringer in shallow water just off the bank.
Action near the bridge at White Wolf Crossing suggested that cats and dogs sometimes do co-exist peacefully. Christopher Schertle, age 7, cast his two-hook rig down near the concrete piles that supported the span. His first battle of the day took place moments later and two catfish struggled in tandem and separately challenging the young fisherman to hold his rod tip high and let his composite fishing rod bear the tension from the struggling fish. Schertle with assistance from his dad, Charles, caught his limit quickly then released a fish each time he caught a bigger one.
Children who fished had to have an adult accompanying them, though the rules prevented the adults from reeling in the hooked fish. However, no stipulation forbade the adults from suggesting to their children to move closer to Schertle, and soon many fish left the swirling depths to become stringer material.
Though many of the frisky fish would later serve double duty as dinner entrees for hungry families, derby participants also competed for largest and smallest fish, and heaviest stringer of up to six fish. Age determined these categories with winners selected in 3-5 years, 6-7 years, 8-9 years, 10-11 years and 12-15 years. Only bass, sunfish, crappie and catfish qualified for awards consideration.
Boys and girls proved adept at fishing, though Brianna Allen took her expertise to another level. Early on with two fish on her stringer, she set the hook on another, reeled it in and took the hook out of the fish's mouth. So comfortable was she that she carried the fish over to her stringer despite knowing about its dorsal spine that can inflict an irritating sting if gripped wrong.
As with previous derbies, young people had plenty to do in case fishing slowed down, lines got snarled or attention spans failed to reach the creek's far bank.
Sean Rietcheck and Dustin Plunkett found a shady area for the Lawton-Fort Sill Bass Club to give casting lessons, and toward the end of the derby young fishing enthusiasts queued up to develop new talents and perhaps win a free rod and reel fishing combo.
Ian Bailey, age 5, grandson of Samson Tatum teamed up with Plunkett and was a quick study in the flip, pitch and cast contest. One technique required a fisherman to swing a lure back and forth in pendulum fashion while gripping the line. With the lure moving forward, the person would let go of the line and the lure would arc through the air, and hopefully, drop into a plastic pail placed about 20 feet away. Successful casters walked away with prizes for their new-found expertise.
"We try to give them a new fish pole or fishing tackle," said Plunkett, a 14-year volunteer veteran of the derby. "There's nothing better than seeing kids' faces light up when they get a chance to learn about fishing."
The college-age man should know, Plunkett's first derby happened at age 4 when he won the biggest fish prize for his age group.
Nearby an aquarium that could serve as a bathtub for most of the young participants displayed fish common to Oklahoma lakes and streams. The aquarium, provided by Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation personnel, is another fixture in the annual derby. One day scientists may study the peculiar magnetic properties of the tank. For it seemed to draw people, young and old, to gaze at the largemouth bass, spotted gar, bluegill and carp that together formed one of the most unusual schools of fish ever found in close proximity to each other.
Bradley, age 2, and Ken Whittington, age 4, were two of those fish fans who stood close by in rapt attention mesmerized by their finned friends. Slightly further away, Jason Whittington, their father, likely imprinted the moment on his mind for periodic recall as his sons grow up.
As the sun rose higher, hidden by the overcast skies, the derby closed at 10:30 a.m. and children and parents trudged up to the measurement station where possible award winning fish were measured and weighed.
The derby offered parents and their children or friends multiple opportunities to bond and enjoy time together enjoying Fort Sill's natural environment.
Enjoying time away from his duties at the 100th Brigade Support Battalion, John Thomas took a photo of his son, Jayden, age 4, who hefted a stringer full of catfish. Jayden's fishing success was as much an exercise in persistence as that fickle variable called luck.
"I caught six more, but I lost the stringer in the water," he said, a grin still filling his face from displaying his catch.
Those fish, and many just like them, didn't make the long journey home to family photo shoots. New to the derby, Fort SiIl Fish and Wildlife personnel stood by armed with electric knives to fillet the catch. Each participant walked away with his or her fish fillets in an ice filled plastic storage bag that kept their fresh caught meal safe for the fry pan.
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