The annual Cops’n Bobbers fishing derby took place at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources pond at the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Thursday, June 28, 2012. Kayley Murray, 8, hooks a bluegill with the help of event volunteer Torie Crocks. Photo by David Spencer.
Kids brave heat for Cops ‘n Bobbers event
The State Journal-Register
It wasn’t a record, but Thursday’s heat had 12-year-old Michael Keller questioning his decision to go fishing.
“It’s super hot. Don’t go in this type of heat,” advised Keller.
Temperatures Thursday topped out at 100 degrees about 3 p.m., four degrees shy of Springfield’s record, set in 1934.
Keller was one of 44 children with fishing poles catching bluegill and golden perch in a pond just south of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources building at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. He was part of a fishing derby with local law enforcement officers.
The event, Cops ‘n Bobbers, invited kids from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois and unmatched children in Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Illinois Capital Region to learn how to bait a hook, cast a fishing pole, and catch some fish.
DNR staff members taught the kids about the fish they were catching, and police taught the students about law enforcement practices and tactics.
Event organizer Ellen Price, an investigator with the secretary of state, said she had expected about 70 children to attend. She speculated the heat had something to do with the drop.
Matt Barnes, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Lincoln, said the heat wave is expected to linger into next week. Temperatures will hover around 100 this weekend.
Comments :: 
Advertise on Illinois' top outdoors Web site.
RSS
Atom
Next entry: FishinPals fishing derby Saturday at Virginia Junction Pond
Previous entry: Michigan DNR finds illegal grass carp in southern Michigan lake
Log Out