 Hackensack has spent more than two decades showing kids how to reel in the big one for their annual summer children's fishing contest. The first contest was held in 1996 and believe it or not, no kids had actually shown up. Now, in 2018, the contest will sometimes see more than 100 kids participate. Every child walks away with a goodie bag, but there are special prizes for kids who catch the biggest, smallest, first and the most fish in their age group. In recent years, the contest has become a draw for kids who live outside of the state. Obviously, we have a lot of local kids. You'll see them come up here. They catch a lot of the most fish because they know the little spots, they know the little secrets, and they've done it a whole lot. But we get kids coming from other local areas and as far away as we've had them from Hawaii, you know, for continental United States. Every state in the union has been here and even other countries. We recently gave away prizes to kids from Germany. The fishing contest is held every Tuesday at 11 in Hackensack. There are still two contests left for the summer. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.