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   Mark your calendars for every Tuesday, June 9 to August 11, 2026 for our 29th Annual Contest Year.

A total of 912 Youth showed up on Tuesdays to catch 2205 fish. That was an average of 2.42 fish per youth for the year. It was another wonderful year of contests.No rain outs. Some historic numbers for the 10 weeks. We saw 153 kids on the Fourth of July week. We had 105 kids on week 8 and again on week 9, not sure we’ve ever had that happen. And the last 3 weeks saw exactly 300 kids show up.

Grand Prize Winner

Cora V. from Pequot Lakes took home top honors from the August 12 Children’s Fishing Contest. Photos submitted.

Kids fishing contest ages 0-5

At the Hackensack Kid’s Fishing Contest Tuesday, August 5, 22 kids in the 0-5 year old group, caught and released 35 fish. Jasper V. caught the largest fish (4.7 oz.); Charlie R. reeled in the first fish; Hudson H. landed the most fish (8); and Jackson H. hooked the smallest fish (2.625 inches).

Kids fishing contest ages 6-9

34 kids in the 6-9 year old group, caught and released 53 fish. Jackson B. caught the largest fish (13.2 oz.); Emily K. reeled in the first fish; Ella H. landed the most fish (13); and the smallest fish award went to Beau D. (3 inches) .

Kids fishing contest ages 10-15

34 kids caught and released 111 fish. Westin V. hooked the largest fish (14 oz.); the first fish was caught by Logan S., Eli P. caught the most fish (34) and the smallest fish (2.625 inches) was landed by Jacob H.

Minnow Racing Winner

Owen K. of Walker was last week’s minnow race winner.

Casting Contest Winner

Logan S. of Hackensack shared top honors in the casting contest.

   Largest fish caught this year was 35 ounces, smallest fish was 1 ¾ inches, and the most fish caught was 42. If you want to beat these records, join us next year.

   The winner of our Backback Tackle Box this year was Jackson M. from Dexter, IA.  Congratulations!

   The hot dog sponsor this week was Hackensack Chamber of Commerce (hackensackchamber.com). Thank you for your help cooking and serving hot dogs.

   Visit our Facebook page to view the weekly photos. You can search Facebook for “Hackensack Children’s Fishing Contest” and click on the Photo Album link on Facebook. Once on the photos page, you can select Album and go to the week you would like to look at.

   If you are interested in helping as a volunteer or in sponsoring our contest next year, contact Bill Kennedy at (218) 838-9468 or [email protected].

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