August 6, 2018 –Summer is the season for fishing derbies, and a perennial favorite is the Knights of Columbus-sponsored “Get hooked on fishing, not on drugs,” held at secluded Mello’s Pond about a mile from UMass Dartmouth.
Young people ages 6 through 16 are invited each year for the last 29 years to take a Saturday morning and head down to the pond, an isolated body of water measuring a few acres whose owner, Bob Mello, has opened the pond to the tournament since Day One three decades ago.
Ed Viveiros of the K of C said that the pond is not stocked, “Otherwise we would have to open it to the public.” Not to worry. The 24 boys and 9 girls who competed in this year’s derby had no trouble yesterday snagging the large mouth bass that seemed to be in abundant supply. This contest is catch-and-release, so it could be that the young anglers are having the fish bite the bait more than once.
In any case, the young fishermen were reeling them in all morning long, even as the day progressed and the light and warmth of an August morning slowly tapered off the number of fish being caught.
Mello’s Pond is encircled by a dirt road, which the contestants use to find a nice spot on the embankment leading to the water’s edge. Saturday’s growing mugginess was held at bay by trees and a breeze that kicked up mid-morning.