EAST LONGMEADOW – With the April 13 spring fishing derby at Heritage Park Pond in under two weeks, the East Longmeadow Lions Club is ready to announce all of the exciting prizes they’ll be offering to participants, and is inviting the public to pre-register for the event.

On April 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. the Lions Club will be selling raffle tickets at the Ninety Nine Restaurant and Pub at the East Longmeadow location for a four-person, half-day deep sea fishing trip out of Eastham, Cape Cod on Bhookend Fishing Charters with Captain Eric Newhouse. Only 100 raffle tickets will be sold at $20 a piece, with the funds going to benefit Lions Club eye research.

In addition, at the April 10 event, participants must bring a flyer which can be printed out on both the eastlongmeadowweather.com website or the Lions Club website https://ellions.org/. By bringing the flyer, 15 percent of the patrons meal cost will go toward the fishing derby. Finally, the Lions Club will be giving away 20 children’s fishing poles with full rods and reels that will be randomly given away every 15 minutes by the pulling of a raffle ticket. Each child that comes in with the flyer will be given a raffle ticket and will have the opportunity to win a pole. The fishing poles range from Sleeping Beauty themed, to Spiderman themed, to the Ninja Turtles.

The spring fishing derby will host registration at 6 a.m., with kick off at 7 a.m. on April 13, and fishing will cease at 10:30 a.m. As children arrive they will be given wristbands that indicate the age group that they’re in. From there, the fishing commences. Once the fishing ends, prizes will be awarded.

Immediate Past President and spokesperson for the East Longmeadow Lions Club Paul Cunningham shared with Reminder Publishing the array of prizes that will be awarded to those who catch the biggest and heaviest fish in their age groups.

Two kayaks, one 10-foot kayak and one 7.5-foot kayak will be given as prizes for the first place biggest fish overall prize and second place most fish by weight of three fish, respectively. First place in each of the four age groups for most fish by weight will be an age appropriate bicycle and helmet. Second place prizes for all age groups are fishing packages that contain a new fishing rod and reel combination, a tackle box, net, bait box, and other fishing gear. This prize is valued at $150. Third place prizes consists of two adult and two children tickets to any of the Springfield museums with a basket of outdoor toys and games. This prize is valued at roughly $100 to $125.  In addition, there will be a wide variety of raffle prizes that will appeal to all participants.

At the fishing derby there will be a concession stand stocked with snacks, candy, coffee, cocoa, tea and Dunkin’ Donuts. Each item, Cunningham stated, will be sold for $1, with the funds going to Lion charities.

A note Cunningham shared that is important for derby day is that as children catch the fish, they should immediately take the fish up to the weighing station. There will be four fish weighing stations, however in an effort to speed up weighing times, children should bring their fish to the station once they are caught.

Leading up to the event, Cunningham stated, has “been a phenomenal success.”

Registration for the fishing derby is free. Pre-registration for the derby is available at the East Longmeadow Recreation Department at 328 North Main St. suite one where children can be registered during business hours, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Additionally, children can be registered by email at ellionsfishingderby@gmail.com so long as the parent leaves the child/children’s names, ages, name of parent or guardian with contact phone number, and the email address. Children who pre–register for the event can pick up their wristbands at a special table which will be set up at the derby registration tables. Finally, pre–registration will also be available on April 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Heritage Park parking lot that is located across from the Stop n’ Shop parking lot, as well as on the morning of the derby.