A few snapshots from Spring Lake from the opening day of the ’24 trout season.
The Shark River Surf Anglers (SRSA) hosted their annual Trout Contest for Kids at Spring Lake on the April 6th opener, alongside the American Legion Post 432’s opening day festivities at assisted by the Surf Kings Fishing Club. It was another huge success at Spring Lake, bringing smiles to the faces of a lot of young anglers at the Jersey Shore. Truth be told, I don’t fish the trout opener anymore, because I wouldn’t miss grabbing a few snapshots at this event for just about anything!
The first trout of contest came minutes into the 2024 season when Liam Schmitt brought his fish to scale to collect his boogie board prize.Giovanna Gallo (age 9) was the first young lady on the board at Spring Lake, also earning a boogie board for an impressive 4-pound, 4-ounce rainbow.Shark River Surf Angler Greg Hueth greeted 6-year-old Noah Matusiewicz at the scale in celebrating the first golden trout of the tournament, a 3.1-pounder.Tara Babcock (age 4) was the essence of cool weighing in a beautiful brook trout that she scored at Spring Lake.Four-year-old Lance Sikorski gets set to give his 4-pound, 15-ounce ‘bow a bear hug in hopes of scoring a prize at weigh-in.Giovanni Galladay (age 3-1/2) first ever fish was an elusive tiger trout stocked in the days leading up to the Spring Lake contest for kids.At 14, Amanda Robbins has another year of eligibility in the SRSA tournament, hoping to get another fish on the big board again in 2025.It wouldn’t be possible without the parents, as 4-1/2-year-old Ava Manetta gets from here “fish caddy” mom in weighing in this 2-pound, 9-ounce rainbow.
