Children and their families enjoyed a day of fishing at the annual Ashfield Playground Fishing Derby Saturday. The derby was open to children ages 1 to 15 years of old.

“There are certain rules the children need to follow,” said East Penn Township Supervisor Dennis Pearson. “We had to register with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to hold this, so they have certain rules that must be followed.”

Each child had a 5-fish limit. The children need to be the ones to reel in the fish. They can have some help if they need it, but the child’s hand must be on the reel when bringing it in.

There were awards for the first fish caught, the first palomino caught, the first child to catch their 5-fish limit, plus there were 10 fish with numbered silver tags, each winning a prize.

The fishing derby has been a long-standing tradition in the community.

“My grandparents, Loretta and Norman Smith, started the derby around 30 years ago,” said Sessa Lenhardt, who coordinated this year’s event. “This year they retired from it. I’ve been working with it the past nine years.”

Proceeds from the derby go to the Ashfield Playground.

“One of our bigger projects is to renovate the pavilion,” Pearson said. “Once that happens, we hope to name it after the Smiths for all the work they did for the park.”

Each participant received a gift bag. The bags, a coloring book, and crayon pencils were donated by Health Network Laboratories. Other donations to the gift bags came from Chantilly Goods, Foothill Farms, Pocono Fly Fishing, Loretta and Norm Smith, and the Fishing Derby Committee. BC Bait donated the bait. Other donors included Pizza Como, Bucks Sporting Goods, Alfie’s, and Zimmerman’s Dairy.