Ephrata Youth Fishing Derby Saturday
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month, 3 weeks AGO
The Ephrata Lions Club will host its annual Youth Fishing Derby this Saturday.
COURTESY PHOTO/BILL SANGSTER
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | April 15, 2026 3:10 AM
EPHRATA — The Ephrata Lions Club will host its annual Youth Fishing Derby from 6 to 8 a.m. this Saturday at Ping Pond, formerly Oasis Park Pond, according to Lions Club member Bill Sangster.
The event is free for all children 4-14 years old. No registration is necessary; kids can just show up and fish. A fish farm is stocking the pond, Sangster said.
“They (said they’re) going to put some big ones in, six- or seven-pounders,” Sangster said.
There will be prizes for the biggest fish in three age classes, plus a grand prize for the largest fish overall.
This is the 54th year the Lions Club has put on the derby, and Sangster said it usually draws 300-400 young anglers. After more than five decades, it’s become a family tradition for some fishers, he said.
“Every time I talk to somebody about it (they say) ‘I went there as a kid and now I’m bringing my kids or my grandkids,’” Sangster said.
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