Free Kids' Fishing Derby Casts a Line in Fountain Valley

Young anglers'll go fish at Mile Square Regional Park.

What to Know

  • Saturday, March 2, rain or shine
  • Mile Square Regional Park
  • 9 a.m. to noon

Tackle boxes aren't quite lining the front shelves at the local sporting goods shop just yet, and Fishmas, the much-anticipated kick-off of the fishing season in the Eastern Sierra, is still two months away, happening, as it always does, near the end of April.

But spring is but a few weeks away, and March is here, which means cast-a-line events will begin showing up, with fish-tastic frequency, on the schedules of nature-based locations.

And coming up on the first Saturday in March?

Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley will be the gill-filled go-to for kids hoping to reel in some fun, alongside their families.

Make that free fun, for the annual Kids' Fishing Derby isn't a pay-to-join kind of thing. It's just a fishing-focused community to-do, one that gives participants between the ages of 6 to 15 the chance to enjoy the sport.

Behind this popular happening? OC Parks, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Anglers Chronicle.

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And while there are "multiple prizes for different age groups," the big fish is the chance to get your name inscribed forever on the Mile Square Fishing Derby Trophy.

In the lake? Over 1,000 pounds of recently stocked trout and catfish. In the loaner area? A limited number of fishing rods, if your kid doesn't have her own.

Is there a tot around your house that likes to fish or has wanted to give it a go? Fishing clinics, chances to pick up tips, and lakeside camaraderie, shared by people with a shared interest, are all on the docket.

Or "dock"et, perhaps? Best unreel all of the fishy puns you have, for your kids, before Saturday, March 2, when fishing season begins for lots of local kids at Mile Square Regional Park.

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