Chad Erickson Fishing Derby - WXOW News 19 La Crosse, WI – News, Weather and Sports |

La Crosse, Wisconsin (WXOW) - Some of you may have noticed some small anglers in the Pettibone Lagoon area Wednesday evening. They were taking part in the Chad Erickson Memorial Fishing Derby. Chad Erickson was a special Olympian who died back in 1995 at the age of 15. The Chad Erickson memorial fund was set up to keep his name alive with events aimed at keeping youth active and engaged in the community.

Tonight's event was free and designed to promote the teaching of children how to fish. There were prizes for the kids for both biggest and smallest fish. Chad's father Dave Erickson hopes that next year the event will take place at Chad Erickson Memorial Park, which was recently named and is currently in the process of construction and revitalization.

Dave Erickson said, "You listen to the kids screaming and yelling, they're so excited. And you hear that the parents are excited. They're wondering how they're going to get that little fish off the hook. So that's the big thing..."

The final totals came in for the prize winners Wednesday and the biggest fish was a 31 centimeter large mouth bass. But the closer competition was the smallest fish, which the winner took with a 6 centimeter bass.