OUTDOORS: Kid’s Fishing Derby Saturday in Port Angeles
Published 1:30 am Friday, April 10, 2026
EXPERIENCED ANGLERS STILL feel the thrill of a fish biting their line, that electric spark that shoots through your hands and keeps you chasing more.
The Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishers know that feeling well, and the organizers of Saturday’s annual Kids’ Fishing Derby at the Lincoln Park Ponds hope youth anglers ages 5-14 will feel the same tug.
No fishing license is needed for participants. There is a five-fish limit per angler. The junior anglers should bring their own poles. A bullhorn will signal the start of fishing at 8 a.m. No early birds, please. Measurement of fish will begin at 8:30 a.m. and conclude at 10:30 a.m.
Awards will be handed out at 10:45 a.m., beginning with the youngest (ages 5-6) of five age brackets.
The top six fish in each age bracket will win a rod and reel set. The biggest fish overall will win the fanciest rod and reel and a tackle box filled with fishing gear to keep pursuing the pastime.
Fly Fishers members will be on hand to assist the spin casting-focused derby. Expect lots of bobbing bubbles on the surface of the park pond as youngsters (or their parents) seek a tugging trout.
Members of the Olympic Peninsula Fly Fishers also will walk around the ponds to help solve tangles and other fishing maladies.
Kids’ Fishing Day
The Water Demonstration Pond at Carrie Blake Park will be the venue for Sequim’s annual Kids Fishing Day on April 18. It is sponsored by the North Olympic Peninsula chapter of Puget Sound Anglers in conjunction with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the city of Sequim.
Fishing will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude at 2 p.m.
The club will provide rods and reels, bait, volunteers to bait hooks and remove fish, and cleaning, icing and bagging fish. No fishing license is required for kids ages 15 and younger. There is a two-fish limit, and all anglers should be accompanied by an adult.
Groundfish talk
Kathryn Meyer, a senior research scientist with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, will discuss her work studying populations of bottom-dwelling species such as rockfish, lingcod and Pacific cod using remotely operated vehicle surveys at Wednesday’s meeting of the North Olympic Peninsula chapter of Puget Sound Anglers.
The meeting will be held at the Sequim Elks Lodge, 143 Port Williams Road, with a social half-hour at 6:30 p.m. and Meyer’s presentation at 7 p.m.
Meyer is part of the Puget Sound Groundfish team that works to provide the science that supports sustainable fisheries management and the recovery of Endangered Species Act-listed rockfish in Puget Sound.
Her presentation will provide an overview of Fish and Wildlife’s current research on groundfish populations in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
This talk will highlight how scientists monitor species like rockfish, lingcod and Pacific cod, what recent data tell us about their status, and how that information is used to inform fisheries management.
It will also discuss ongoing management questions related to groundfish species in the region and invite anglers to share their observations and perspectives from time on the water.
The event is free and open to the public.
A general meeting and raffle prize drawings will follow Meyer’s talk. You must be a member to win a prize, but visitors can join at the meeting.
An annual individual membership is $25, a family membership is $35 and includes a monthly subscription to The Reel News.
Whittaker’s passing
I grew up in Port Townsend attending school with Jim Whittaker and Diane Roberts’ sons Joss and Leif.
My best memory of Jim, beyond seeing a tall, elegantly dressed gentleman at school events or walking around Uptown, came in 1990 when he re-summited Mount Everest on the historic 1990 “Peace Climb,” which brought together climbers from the United States, China and the Soviet Union during a period of geopolitical tension and removed two tons of trash left by previous expeditions from the summit.
He returned home and we had a school assembly with photos and even a camcorder video of some of the climb.
Later that year, Seattle hosted the Goodwill Games, and with the collapse of the USSR, it looked like The Cold War had ended with both sides choosing peace.
We all know how that has worked out since. Maybe we can take a little inspiration from Whittaker’s famous climbs, all of which were made with an international cast of climbers and Sherpas working together and choose a more lasting peace.
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Sports reporter/columnist Michael Carman can be contacted at sports@peninsuladaily news.com.
