Community News

Huck Finn Fishing Derby

by: HB News staff writer
Posted: August 13, 2018

HUNTINGTON BEACH...Over hundred youngsters dipped their fishing lines into the blue Pacific water at the historic Huntington Beach pier on Saturday morning, August 11th for the annual Huck Finn Fishing Derby.

The fishing derby is open to both boys and girls ages 4 - 15. Parents brought their children to the far end of the pier, some brought their own fishing poles while others registered participants were able to use limited number of poles from members of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Another popular part of the derby is the costume event. Boys dress up as either Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer and the girls as Becky Thatcher, characters in the Mark Twain books.

Now in its 55th year, children have been catching everything on the pier over many years from tiny bait-sized fish, bottom-feeding sharks, stingrays to bunches of seaweed and when you are a kid with their first pole and line, catching anything is a big event.

Children from all over the county participated in this fun event. For many of the youngsters, this would be the first time they ever caught anything except maybe a cold.

Remi (R) caught her 5 oz fish

 

Many of these youngsters knew nothing about the fine art of casting for fish, baiting a hook or even landing a fish, but that didn't stop 'em from trying and having a day of fun doing so. Parents and old time fishermen were busy helping to show the kids how they would catch the whopper fish or just show a youngster the best way to bait a hook. Many people watched on the pier as the youngsters pulled in several fish and hoping that one would be the prize winner.

It didn't matter to the youngsters that the fish they just reeled in was the size of a sardine. With the smiles on their little faces as they reeled in the line and on the end of the hook was to them a prize catch, their first ever catch of a fish.