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54 °F 5 Day Forecast Tuesday, October 21, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend June 5, 2003 Derbies part of the freebies State tries to lure more people to fishing with 15th annual weekend By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Brad Weller envisions a series of wheelchair-accessible fishing facilities on all of Southern Oregon’s popular lakes. "We did Howard Prairie Lake last year and Emigrant Lake is next," Weller says. Dave Nadler, however, simply wants to lure kids to the pleasures of angling by offering prizes for catching trout. "I want kids to put down their Nintendo and see what the tug on a line feels like," he says. "It’s pretty good and maybe they’ll want to do it more." Advertisement With different agendas and different audiences, both men are banking on the same type of event — a Saturday fishing derby — to further their cause. Weller and Nadler are spearheading the two newest events in the state’s 15th annual Free Fishing Weekend aimed at introducing more Oregonians to angling. The state waives its license and tag requirements Saturday and Sunday, but anglers must follow all other regulations such as open angling areas, species and bag limits. The weekend is marked by dozens of organized events across the state, including several in Southern Oregon, where experienced anglers help novices — particularly children — try their hand at angling without digging into their wallets. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is sponsoring clinics at 43 sites statewide, including popular regional waters such as Lost Creek Lake, Expo Ponds and Hyatt and Fish lakes. The derbies organized by Nadler and Weller are not ODFW-sponsored, but they are legal under Oregon laws governing fishing derbies, says Russ Stauff, the ODFW’s Rogue Watershed manager. Nadler and Weller are new to Free Fishing Weekend, and each bring a fresh twist to the traditional event. A Medford man who books lodge and guide services and who formed his own International Trouters Society, Nadler has organized a free kids derby Saturday at Lost Creek Lake. As many as 200 people, mostly kids, can fish for trout anywhere on the lake from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with gift certificates as high as $50 and fishing-gear prizes awarded in seven categories. There’s a separate category for anyone 16 years or older to weed out the more seasoned anglers, and Nadler is awarding prizes to the three youngest kids who register a legal-sized trout over 8 inches long that they caught. "You can have 3-, 4- and 5-year-old kids winning prizes," says Nadler, 45. A state-sponsored event is held annually at Stewart State Park, where participants can get loaner rods and reels if they have none. Nadler’s derby will be centered around the Takelma day-use area near Lost Creek dam, where he organized a similar but smaller derby during spring break. "We’re trying to build this into the largest prize base for a free derby in the area," he says. Weller, however, is going a different route by actually taking part of the "free" aspect out of Free Fishing Weekend. Weller’s running the second annual trout-fishing tournament at Howard Prairie Lake as a fund-raiser for future projects that will provide fishing access for seniors and people with disabilities, especially those in wheelchairs. Entrants pay a $12 fee and sign up before the derby, then fish any time between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m. Entrants compete in a senior category for those over 55 and an adults-with-disabilities category covering contestants 16 and older. The top four heaviest fish in each category win a prize, with first prizes set at $500. A separate category, for 4- to 15-year-olds with disabilities, offers four prizes. The derby is centered around the Howard Prairie Resort, where a similar derby was held last July to help fund the wheelchair accessible fishing ramp off a jetty near the resort. Weller, a 47-year-old Central Point man who runs a men’s group called the Bull Pen, hopes to raise as much as $5,000 in this year’s derby. About 100 people have signed up already, he says. Proceeds will go toward providing a wheelchair accessible fishing ramp on Emigrant Lake near Ashland. He is working with Jackson County parks officials on the project, which could cost as much as $50,000, Weller says. "I’m trying to pull the public in as much as I can," says Weller, a maintenance supervisor at Ashland’s Linda Vista Care Center. "That’s why we chose to move it to the weekend where people don’t need fishing licenses." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? 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