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# Kids fish for fun at Douglas Park
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/kids-fish-for-fun-at-douglas-park/
- Published: 2007-06-23T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T01:17:01.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: local, Mid-City, #archive-import

MID-CITY Children can get a taste of what life was like for a famous Mark Twain character today, covering their faces in sticky, sugary pie, staining their hands with ink and dressing up in costumes from the 1800s deep south era.

For the 52nd straight year, the Santa Monica Junior Chamber (Jaycees), a youth leadership organization, will host Huck Finn Day at Douglas Park, a fun-filled event featuring live trout fishing, pie-eating contests, games, face-painting and fingerprinting.

Members of the Santa Monica Police Department will be on site to fingerprint and paint the faces of the children. The pie-eating contest will feature apple, boysenberry and pumpkin pie.

Expected to be the biggest draw for Huck Finn Day, as usual, is the live trout fishing.

“Fishing is the most popular part of the event,”said Jaycees President Robert Acherman.

Jaycees members were at Douglas Park on Friday morning to set up the “fishing pond” — a low boy dumpster lined with plastic, surrounded with bales of hay.

Approximately 150 pounds of trout was delivered from a fish farm in Riverside, each weighing about a pound, said Kristin Chapin, the vice president of the Santa Monica Junior Chambers.

A Jaycees member was on site all Friday and into Saturday morning to monitor the pond’s water temperature, adding a block of ice every few hours to maintain a temperature of about 40 degrees.

Though the Jaycees have been successful in keeping the trout alive overnight in most of the Huck Finn days, there have been a few mishaps in the past.

In 1994 — before the Douglas Park renovation — city crews had forgotten to dechlorinate one of the former ponds before the fish arrived, killing every one by morning, Baxter said.

When the Jaycees arrived the next day, the fish were all floating at the top.

Expecting better results this year,organizers will allow between eight and 12 children to fish at a time, spending roughly five minutes in efforts to catch a fish. Those children who are successful will be directed to a tent where a Jaycees member will gut the fish for the child to take home. Those who aren’t so lucky will be allowed to go to the back of the line. Fishing poles made from bamboo will be provided.

Fishing has been restricted to the low boy dumpster since the Douglas Park renovation process in 1999, when the Jaycees temporarily moved the event to Reed Park, which does not have any ponds.

When Douglas Park reopened, the old fishing pond was gone and city officials did-n’t want any of the remaining ponds to be used for the event, Baxter said.

Growing up when her father was a member of the Jaycees, Chapin remembers the Huck Finn days, fishing with a bonnet on.

“I remember being excited when I caught a fish,” she said.“We have the bamboo poles, so there’s the old time look to it.”

Huck Finn Day begins at 9 a.m. at Douglas Park, 2439 Wilshire Blvd. The event is free to the public.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 23, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/062307.pdf?ref=smdp.com)