FORT SMITH – The Fort Smith Boys & Girls Club and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will be sponsoring a free Family Fishing Derby at Wells Lakes, adjacent to the AGFC’s Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center, on Saturday, Nov. 6.
The event will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The AGFC will be stocking the lake with catfish and bream, including some tagged fish that, if caught, will result in prizes for lucky anglers. Free Lil’ Angler rods and reels will be handed out to children, and loaner poles also can be checked out from the Nature Center. A lunch and a drink will be provided to all the attendees.
Everyone is invited to join the Boys & Girls Club members and their families, and members of Girls Inc. also are invited.
Bennie Westphal, vice chairman of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and a native of Fort Smith, said he has been working with the AGFC’s Education Division, led by Education Chief Tabbi Kinion, to set up the event with the Boys & Girls Clubs. “We have four Boys & Girls Clubs (locations) and we serve a lot of underprivileged kids,” Westphal said. “We’re excited about this coming up.”
Arkansas River Valley Nature Center staff are planning to visit Boys & Girls Club locations in the days leading up to the event to teach the kids how to rig the fishing poles and offer fishing tips.
Pradco Fishing, a fishing lure and accessories company based in Fort Smith, has donated hooks, weights and bobbers, thanks to Pradco’s Bruce Stanton, Westphal said during the Oct. 21 monthly Commission meeting in Little Rock.
“A buddy of mine, Ralph Duda, has a patent on kids fishing rod-and-reels; he’s donated 2,000 of those,” Westphal said. “These poles are no-tangle.
