Ellis Lake hosting derby

What began as a way to introduce Yuba-Sutter children to fishing will continue Saturday morning when the 49th Jim Watson Annual Youth Fishing Derby comes to Marysville.

About 1,000 anglers-in-training are expected to pursue stocked catfish at Ellis Lake during the derby, according to Ray Baker, a Marysville Kiwanis Club member and an event organizer. The contest is open to children from preschool to the eighth grade.

Founded by the late Jim Watson, a Marysville mayor and real-estate broker who helped found the Marysville Kiwanis in 1947, the Fishing Derby is meant to provide the young with a pastime they and their parents can share, Baker said.

“We tell people as much as we can to bring their kids so we can teach them how to fish,” he said Thursday. “Word of mouth is the way it works. We try to make it a family thing, to let the parents assist their children in fishing.”

Some 2,000 pounds of albino catfish - most shipped from Red Bluff and weighing a pound or two - were released into the man-made Ellis Lake Thursday morning, Baker said. The Kiwanis Club will award prizes for the boy and girl reeling in the largest fish; a handful of the stocked fish tip the scales at 8 to 13 pounds.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Howard Yune can be reached at 749-4708. You may e-mail him at hyune@appeal-democrat.com.