Lake: Wet weekend dampens activities
By TOOTSIE SNELLING
Marion County Park & Lake Reporter
The kids' fishing derby was held from 8:30 to 11:30 Saturday morning. Suffield's Heating, Air Conditioning, and Plumbing was the sponsor, along with the Marion Recreation Commission. The entries were slow coming in and we didn't know if there would be enough entries to have a derby, but lo and behold on Saturday morning, 14 kids showed up. Duwayne, Bryce, and Karen Suffield, Rusty Hurst from Ellinwood, and Margo Yates helped with the contest. It started with Dale giving a short seminar on fishing rules and how-to's, then the kids went fishing.
At 11:30 all met on the beach for weigh-in. Courtney Williams won in the biggest, smallest, and most fish categories with an 8 1/4 inch bluegill. All the other fish caught, which included a short walleye, a 15 1/2 inch saugeye, a 17 1/2 inch black bass, were all too short to keep and had to be returned to the water. That made for some unhappy kids!
They also had a fish casting contest on the beach and Kyler Klassen from Ellinwood won.
Lunch of hot dogs, chips, and pop was served on the beach. Kids really enjoy this event. Next year bring your kids and grandkids and come enjoy the fun.
We had several campers out over the weekend, some came just to get their spot for next weekend. There were several boat fishermen, a few boaters and tubers, jet skiers, and swimmers out to enjoy the day Sunday. The water still is too cold for me to swim in, it's only 65 degrees, maybe that's telling my age!
Fishing is picking up a little. Still no crappie, they must have gone on vacation. (Dale says it's because the water temp isn't warm enough yet, too many cool nights and not enough warm days to warm it up and keep it there.) The channel cat continue to bite best on liver, dip bait, and worms. There have been several reports of short walleye, saugeye, and wipers. All have to be 18 inches to keep, but they keep the fishermen busy catching them.
This was graduation weekend around the county. We had three graduation parties here at the lake. McLindens had the shelterhouse, Vetters and Leikers were in both ends of the hall. Congratulations to all the graduates, who worked hard to finish 12 years of school.
This coming weekend is Memorial Day. We're expecting a big crowd, depending on the weather — hope all this rain clears out before then. (No one likes to camp in the rain, especially in tents.) Chingawassa Days are June 6, 7, and 8. Margo Yates brought out some brochures on it and it looks like a full, fun weekend. Don't forget to buy your buttons and support your community.
