The 2010 St Louis Fishing Derby was held Saturday, June 12.  I was lucky enough to attend again this year and participate in the days activities.  I had big ideas of how the day should go, and to be honest, it by far exceeded even my expectations.  I got over there about 8:30, and Joe quickly appeared.  For those of you who don't know Joe Sholtz, he is now the mayor of St Louis.  His involvement in both the Fishing Derby and concern for the Pine River waterway goes back long before his mayorship.  He has largely championed the cause for the cleanup of the river system to rid it of the contaminants of years past.  Joe told me that there was a spot for me to park the truck and boat in the grass off to the side of the pavilion in an open grassy  area.  Perfect.  The morning was kind of cloudy and quite honestly, it looked as though it could rain at any minute.  Mother Nature understands how much work Joe and the others have put into this event, and how much it means to so many people. So she decided the sun should come out and it should turn out to be a beautiful day.  And so it did.  Besides the Mayor, there were a couple other celebrities there participating also that day.  Duran Martinez, of the AM Outdoors Radio Show was there all day, as was Ron St Germain. Ron is a nationally published outdoor writer as well as a book author.  All of the participants got registered, got any needed rods, reels, tackle, or worms, and staked out their favorite section of bank along the Pine River.  With the blast of the fire siren, the contestants all knew it was time for the action to begin.  Away went their baits, all hoping to catch the big one and get their back tags filled with fish catch information.  It didn't take long, and the fish catcing began.  With each fish caught, Jim or Gary would go weigh or measure the prized catch, then record the information on the contestants back tag.   Most all of the fish were immediately released back into the river.  A few were, however, kept for research purposes.  I mentioned all of the work that has gone into cleaning up the river.  The Pine River has been designated an EPA Superfund site.  On this day, there were representatives from the Michigan Depart of Natural Resources and Environment, Alma College, and the Department of Environment Quality.  Some of the fish were put on ice, for research to measure the levels of unwanted chemicals that may be in the fish,  The fish kept for research were all taken downstream from the former polluting site.  It saddened me a little to see the fish die, but looking at the big picture, it is a very good program, and will be very beneficial to evaluate these fish.  Ok, back to the fishing.  Each time a fish was caught and I was aware of it, I was right there with my camera.  I wanted to get as many people with fish as possible to put all of their pictures up on this page.  There were people of all ages, sex, size, shape, and variety catching fish. I was loving it, snapping away.  Between fish catches, I was helping put worms on hooks, untanlge lines, helping cast lines out, and otherwise goofing off and talking fishing and making new friends.  This went on for all three hours of fishing.  I took pictures of people who had caught all kinds of species of fish.  About 11:00, the food was started on the grill.  By the time the fishing ended at noon, there would be lots of hungry fisherman.  They were going to make sure no one went home hungry.  They had prepared hot dogs, chips, donuts, cupcakes, and all sort of good stuff.  There was a few thousand bottles of water ready to help wash it all down, too.   Right on que, the fire siren went off at noon to let everyone know the fishing part of the derby was over.  People began congregating around the pavilion, turning in their back tags with all of their fish catch information on it.  There would be awards for biggest fish, most fish, and honorable mention for each of the 4 age categories.  While the cards were all checked and tallied to determine the award winners, everyone partook in all that delicious food that was graciously prepared. I happened to eat a little myself, and let me tell you.....mmm mmm good!  Once lunch was done and the awards ready, the funnest part of the day began.  I spied a lovely young lady named Jackie, sitting in the front row of the crowd.  I asked her if she planned on staying.  When she confirmed, I somehow suckered her into taking my camera and taking pictures for me.  Joe said a few words, Ron talked about his book, all of the wonderful sponsors were recognized, and Duran and I said a lot.  One of the things I said was reminding everyone that the boat was sitting there and welcoming anyone to go check it out.  Furthermore, I wanted all of the kids that wanted to, to get in it for pictures after the award ceremony was over.  Each category winner was announced, and the contestant came up to receive a plaque and a nice prize.  Once the category prizes were awarded, the contestants who were not already winners became winners. Starting with the youngsters, back tags were drawn to award prizes to those who didn't already win somehting.  This went on until every single participant was awarded a prize.  There were some darn nice prizes, too.  Many rods and reels were given away, camping chairs, tons of tackle boxes and fishing lures, balls, hats, shirts, and lots of other really nice stuff.  The sponsors of this event made sure every single participant left with a prize.  Simply amazing.  Once the ceremony was over, I reminded everyone about the pictures I wanted to get with the boat.  Joe went on to tell everyone that every kid that went to help with my picture project would be given a frisbie donated by the DEQ.  He then told everyone that any adult would be given a book.  I'm not sure how many people would have gone over without the extra incentive, but I know lots of people went.  I said go, and it was a kidly mad dash for the boat.  By the time I walked over there, there were so many kids in the boat, I think the fenders were sitting on the tires.  Exactly what I wanted.  We got a few pictures, and then we had to have the adults get in on the action as well.  So we took more pictures.  In the middle of the picture taking, I was asked by one of my newfound fishing friends if I would sign his hat he won as a prize today.  I promised I would, and announced to all that Duran and myself would be happy to sign anything they would like, as soon as we were done taking pictures.  Not sure what Duran thought about that, because I never bothered to ask him first. I just volunteered him.  The response was amazing.  I signed dozens of items that day.  Lots of frisbies, books, hats, shirts, and even a football that was won as a prize.  There were quite a few people that wanted pictures together for themselves, and I made sure to oblige every single one of them.  I sure enjoy fishing bass tournaments, but being able to spend a day at the derby with all these fans is just unbelievable.  As the crowds dispersed, most all smiling widely, the cleanup process had already begun.  The local Boy Scout Troop was long underway, making sure the park would be left even cleaner than when the day began.  I myself eventually made my way to the truck to head home.  I left smiling with what was probably the biggest smile of anyone all day.  This day was without question one of the best days I have ever had.  I have to thank all of my new fishing friends, Joe, Duran, Ron, and of course Jackie, for making it a day I will never forget.  Thanks to everyone and I can't wait for next year. 

To see more information about the derby, and to contact Joe, check out the website www.stloiusmi.com.  

Special thanks to Duran Martinez for spending the day with us as well.  You can contact Duran on his website at www.amoutdoorsradio.com

Ron's book is something you will surely enjoy.  It is titled "True Funny Fish Stories ad Only One Lie"   The book is hot off the press and not even on Ron's website yet, but you can keep in touch with Ron and request your copy at Ron's website www.daphotodude.com 

The pictures below are the compilation of what I took and what Jackie was kind enough to take.  Please enjoy what remains of one of the greatest days I've ever had.  And I want to thank everyone in these pictues for becoming a new fishing friend, oh yeah, thanks to the fish, too.  Until Next Year.....


Eric