With the weather perfect and fishing rods in hand, over 270 children hit the banks of Mozingo with their parents and friends this past Saturday to participate in the annual Elk's Kids Fishing Derby, which was in conjunction with the Mozingo Fishing Festival.
The event is set up annually to promote fishing to kids and family togetherness.

Children ages 1-14 were broken down into four divisions by their age and competed in three different fish categories, which were bass, catfish and bluegill/crappie. Free lunch and drinks were provided to all of the kids by corporate sponsor of this year's event.
With the Elk's donating the hot dogs, Coke donated soda while Wonder Bread donated the buns. Frito-Lay brought in chips and Nabisco donated cookies.

Crossman set up a free test range so kids could try their luck at the latest BB and and pellet guns on the market.

Winners of each division were given prizes ranging from rods and reels to tackle boxes. Special prizes were given for the smallest and largest fish caught. Lacey Gabriel hooked the smallest fish with a 0.01 lbs. catfish that wasn't any bigger than her thumb while Mikeal Christian hooked the largest fish with a massive 6.95 lbs. catfish that would hardly fit on the scale.

Once the event concluded the kids prizes given out, the fish of the professional boaters were weighed and then some bonus prizes were awarded to the lucky contestants that participated in the event, which you didn't have to fish, but simply needed to register at the local Wal-mart store prior to the event. As the names were drawn out of the box, participants waited anxiously to hear their name drawn. Prizes including fishing rods, fishing reels, Ambush tackle packs, movie tickets, Crossman BB guns, Bank Midwest Royal's tickets, a pop-a-shot basketball game, a Coke huffy bike, a Cabela's boat, a Wal-mart HD flat-screen TV and a Wii video game.

Sponsors of this year's Mozingo Fishing Festival include Ambush Lures, Wal-mart, Coke, Frito-Lay, Wonder Bread, Mike Driskell Electric, Burny's Sports Bar, Bubba's BBQ, Schreck Motors, Dannon, Crossman, Accent Printing, St. Joe Beverage with Miller Lite, Cabela's, Nabisco, Bank Midwest, Pizza Hut and the City of Maryville.