The tales at this year's Take a Kid Fishing near Alexandra were mostly about the ones that got away.
About 150 young anglers took part in the three-and-a-half-hour fishing contest on an Earnscleugh orchard dam and 29 fish were landed. Three-year-old Izaak Danischewski, who abandoned fishing to concentrate on eating snacks, said he had one on the line ‘‘but it jumped off''.
Brothers Arn (5) and Ted (6) Cuthbertson caught one trout but a much bigger one broke their hook and got away, they said.
The annual fishing contest is organised by the Alexandra District Club's fishing section, helped by Fish and Game Otago, which stocked the dam with trout. Most of the fish caught were trout, along with a few perch.
The heaviest fish weighed 2.65kg and the smallest reached 110g. Event convener Keith Bennetts said the organisers were grateful for the use of such a safe venue for the event and he also paid tribute to the volunteers who helped out and the businesses which donated prizes.
‘‘We hope these kids will grow up to be anglers. That's one of the reasons we run this event,'' Mr Bennetts said.
Families were out in force, with three generations of some families enjoying the sunny morning by the dam and a couple of fathers went above the call of duty by swimming in the dam to untangle snagged lines.
