The 42nd annual Rose Holland Trout Derby was held at Montauk State Park on October 1 and 2. The event raised $8,772.80 for the American Heart Association, falling short of last year's total of $9,466.85 and the 2003 total of $8,967.
     Roosevelt Holland was hatchery superintendent at Montauk for almost 24 years. After his death from a heart attack in 1963, journalist Charles O. Stewart and some of Holland's fishing friends formed a committee and organized the annual derby held the first weekend in October. The derby was first held in 1964. $389 was raised that year and there were about 200 participants. This year there were 1,652 fishing tags sold for the 2 day derby.
     Prizes, donated by businesses and individuals, were awarded for men's heaviest fish, women's heaviest fish, kids heaviest stringer (up to four fish), and heaviest brown trout. There were also prizes awarded to contestants who caught tagged fish. There were one hundred tagged fish. 62 tagged fished were turned in. 25 lunkers, a fish over 3 pounds, were weighed in during the derby.
     The Slippery Liz I award, given to the person with the first tag number to select a prize, was won by Harold Eckert of Licking, MO.
     The Slippery Liz II, the men's heaviest fish award, went to Larry Stagner of Mountain View, MO.  His rainbow trout weighed 9 pounds and 1 ounce.
     The women's heaviest fish was a 8 pound, 14 ounce rainbow caught by Sharon Eudy of Wood River, IL. Second place in the women's division went to Julia Bowen from St. Louis with a 2 pound 13 ounce trout.
     The heaviest brown trout was caught by Randy Edmonds, Licking, MO.  It weighed 2 pound and 1 ounce.
     The kids heaviest stringer prize went to Kutis Mills, Festus, MO with a 5 lb. 2 oz stringer. Second place went to Dustin Blackburn from Houston, MO with a 5 pound stringer. Hanna Stan from Farmington, MO took third with a stringer weighing 4 pounds 14 ounces.
     25 Lunkers, fish over 3 pounds, were caught during the weekend derby.
     Trout season at Montauk ends October 31st.  The Rose Holland Derby is the last big event of the season and for many fishermen, the last time they will fish for trout until next season opens March 1st.
     You can fish for trout in the Current River below Montauk year round and a catch and release season inside Montauk begins the second weekend in November. The catch and release season is on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 8 am till 4 pm. It ends after the second weekend in February.

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