LANSING – In some Michigan communities, fishing festivities don’t involve one fish or two fish, red fish or blue fish, but a spout of trout celebrations.
Starting on April 23, the Kalkaska National Trout Festival will return for its 88th year.
The festival includes a pizza-eating contest, car show, concert and a kids fishing contest.
The pond will have 750 fish, 102 of which will be tagged as prize-winners. Prizes are new rods and fishing reels.
Two other fish will be tagged as Papa Phil and Mama Ruth, and whoever catches them will receive a gift basket.
The Kalkaska gala and Baldwin’s Troutarama, as well as Freeland’s Walleye Festival are among the state’s annual fish-themed festivals. Others include the Michigan Brown Trout Festival in Alpena, St. Helen Bluegill Festival and the Mancelona Bass Festival.
Diana Needham, the president of Kalkaska’s Trout Festival, has been working with the festival for about 35 years.
According to Needham, about 12,000 to 15,000 visitors come yearly, with the village having a population of only around 2,000.
“I took my kids when they were little, and now my grandkids like to come whenever they’re in-state,” she said.
As for whether local businesses benefit from the festival, Needham said, “Of course they are.”
The trout season and festival help “gas stations, hotels and stores that are opening for spring business,” she said.
In Baldwin, the Troutarama Festival and world’s largest brown trout statue symbolize Lake County’s love for all things scales and tails.
“We’re in a big farm area and don’t have a fair for our county,” said Seth Wenger, the vice president of Troutarama.
“It’s to help the businesses in the area, bring people to town, celebrate who we are and what our area is known for, which is trout fishing,” he said.
Wenger, who can be seen in the beer and entertainment tent, said although the festival hasn’t included fishing since 2018 due to flooding and hatchery resourcing problems, the event still celebrates the community’s love for trout season.
“It was a good opportunity to give a 5-year-old kid their first chance to hook up a trout,” said Wenger.
“We’re hoping to bring it back.”
The 69th festival will go from July 16 till July 19.
The celebration will include a watermelon-eating contest, horse-pulling competition, egg toss and live music.
According to Wenger, it’s getting more popular every year, with the average 250 volunteers still not enough to run the festival.
Just to run the beer and entertainment tent takes 70-100 people, according to Wenger.
The festival aligns with the town’s tourism and fishing season, bringing about 10,000 people to the county, he said.
For comparison, Baldwin has a population of about 1,000.
Despite the massive turnout, the festival doesn’t make a profit most years.
“Our budget’s about $40,000, and if we break even, we’re pretty excited,” said Wenger. “I’d say seven out of 10 years we’re in the red.”
The challenge is that it only lasts only three days, he said.
About a quarter of the budget comes from donations from local businesses, he added.
Wenger said he’s looking forward to seeing visitor turnout this year, and from what he hears, the community is buzzing with anticipation for the annual tradition.
“People with young children are excited because we’ve got a carnival and a lot of kids games,” said Wenger.
As a kid, Wenger said he was always thrilled to go since his father was in a clown band and Michigan didn’t have many places with carnival rides.
On the other side of the state, visitors are hooking bait at the Walleye Festival in Freeland.
With a duck race, fishing contest, comedy show, bingo and more, Freeland is preparing for its 39th festival.
According to Chris DeRosier, who chairs the festival, local schools will be shut down during festivities due to heavy traffic blocking the buses.
DeRosier, who owns My Boy Chris’s Disc Golf Shop in Midland, ran the disc golf tournament for the last six years before being asked to serve this year as chair.
One event that has his three children jumping for joy is the kids’ trout pond.
“We sink about $2,000 worth of fish every year into this little pond right off the highway,” said DeRosier.
“We usually get hundreds of kids out there waiting to fish, my kids included,” he said.
“My kids don’t fish all year, but as soon as that pond opens, they get so excited.”
The kids can receive free rods and reels, along with other prizes.
DeRosier said about 30,000 people will come to the festival across the weekend.
Restaurants in the area benefit, he said.
“For example, the Riverside Restaurant has fish fries during our Walleye Festival,” said DeRosier.
“There’s not an empty seat. There’s probably at least a 40-minute wait to be able to sit down.”
The festival’s proceeds will go to the Freeland Lions Club, an organization that raises money for kids to receive eye care and reading glasses as well as service animals, said DeRosier.
The festival will go from April 24 to April 27.
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