State parks tournament invites parents, children to go fishing
A Mistletoe State Park-sponsored parent-child fishing tournament scheduled for Saturday doesn't necessarily mean a middle-aged father and his preteen son.
"When it's parent-child, the parent can be a 70-year-old and the child a 50-year-old," Mistletoe Park Clerk and Naturalist Brenda Bettross said. "It's about family involvement in their various forms."
Now in its 13th year, the fishing tournament is one of the more popular annual events at the lakeside park, Bettross said.
"We average, if it's a pretty day, around 55 families," she said.
Registration for the tournament will be between 7 and 10 a.m. with the weigh-in at 3 p.m. at Mistletoe's group shelter.
"Prizes and trophies will be awarded to the largest game fish, the largest nongame fish, most weight fish and most weight nongame fish - most weight meaning the weight of all the fish caught combined," Bettross said.
Prizes include items from Coke, a sponsor of the event, and donations from fishing supply companies. The grand prize is a two-night state in a cabin at Mistletoe.
"The only requirement we have is that the fishing has to be done along the banks of Mistletoe State Park," Bettross said.
The entry fee is $5 per family.
For more information, call the park at 541-0321.