Children's Fishing Rodeo

2024 Children’s Fishing Rodeo, Saturday, June 8, 6:00 - 8:00 AM (NEW fishing time)

Do your children like to fish? The City of Bartlett is once again hosting the Children’s Fishing Rodeo for ages 12 and under at Appling Lake in the Bobby K. Flaherty Municipal Center located at Highway 70 & Appling Road in Bartlett. This is a great way to kick-off the summer with your children. There will be prizes awarded in four age categories; 5 and under, 6-7, 8-9, and 10 to 12 with two overall Grand Prize Winner. So bring your fishing pole and get ready to catch a lot of fish! This is a FREE event but you must register before fishing. Starting on June 3, you can pre-register at Gator Brown’s Bait & Tackle located at 6816 Highway 70 in Bartlett, (336-9699) or at the event the day of the rodeo.

For more information on this fun event send an email to Community Relations.
This is a CATFISH Rodeo. (the lake will be stocked with catfish prior to the rodeo)

Appling Lake will be closed from Monday, June 3, until after the completion of the rodeo on June 8. NO FISHING is allowed at Appling Lake during this time! The lake will open to the public after the fishing rodeo.

This is a rain or shine event. There is no rain date for the event. In the case of dangerous weather, the event will be canceled.

Fishing Rules and Prizes Awarded (PDF)

Congratulations to all our winners at the 2023 Children’s Fishing Rodeo Winners

We had 426 registered fisherman for the 2023 event. See you in 2024.

Overall Winners

Heaviest String of Fish:

Jaze Griffin - Weight: 25 pounds - age group 8-9

Biggest Fish:

Joshua Arnold - Weight: 6.35 pounds - age group 5 and under

Age Group 5 and Under

Heaviest String of Fish: Daxton Allison - Weight: 17.94 pounds

Biggest (heaviest) Fish: Alexander White - Weight: 3.34 pounds

Age Group 6 to 7

Heaviest String of Fish: Denver Pittman Weight: 14.35 pounds

Biggest (heaviest) Fish: George Luster Weight: 3.27 pounds

Age Group 8 to 9

Heaviest String of Fish: Cannon Stephens Weight: 16.48 pounds

Biggest (heaviest) Fish: Piper Haywood Weight: 5.8 pounds

Age Group 10 to 12

Heaviest String of Fish: Matthew Walko & Aiden Phelps Weight 17.27 pounds

Biggest (heaviest) Fish: Matthew Walko Weight 4.35 pounds

The first "white" catfish was caught by Silas Owens in the 8 to 9 age group.

* Overall winners cannot win in their age group*

A Special Thank You to Our Sponsors

Gator Brown Bait & Tackle
First Citizens National Bank