Vidalia — Fish all over the Miss-Lou were swimming for cover Saturday morning from boat-loads of the Miss-Lou’s youngest anglers who were out on the waters trying to bag some big ones.

The 21st-annual Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office/Miss-Lou Merchants D.A.R.E. Youth Fishing Tournament took place Saturday, and hundreds of young anglers brought their catches to the Vidalia Riverfront RV Park to show off their trophies.

“Today is absolutely wonderful,” Concordia Parish Sheriff Randy Maxwell said. “We are blessed with a beautiful day and a wonderful tournament. I can’t tell you how many kids have come through here in 21 years. We’ve made a lot of memories.”

The tournament started at 6:30 a.m. with weigh-in starting at 11 a.m. Maxwell said he was impressed with the turnout.

“We have in the neighborhood of 400 kids registered,” he said. “The kids are having a great day, and every child gets a prize.”

Trophies were awarded to the top finishers in each of the four age groups, but each child received a prize for participating.

Monterey-native Katie Coco, 13, caught the biggest fish of the day, which weighed in at more than 28 pounds, on Black River Lake.

“It hurt and nearly scared me to death (when I hooked it),” she said. “It took awhile (to reel in), and I felt weird and excited (when I got it in the boat).”

Coco’s Silver Carp was the talk of the weigh-in, and she said she was happy to have caught a fish that had everybody talking.

Coco took first place in the ages 11-14 other fish species category. She also won first prize last year, she said.

Vidalia-native, and professional angler, Buz Craft was the tournament director, and he said there was no telling how many fish were weighed.

“They could only weigh their best five bass, brim or other species,” he said.

Craft said he really enjoys the D.A.R.E. event, and tries to help out when he can.

“My son fished it years ago, and the weigh-in used to take hours,” he said. “I stepped in to help sometimes to make it quicker.”

Each child was treated to a fun experience during the tournament and at the weigh-in, even if they did not hook a winner, Maxwell said.

Twin-brothers Cameron and Colton Franz, 9, and their younger brother Carson, 8, said they really enjoyed fishing the tournament with their dad, Dennis.

“We caught three fish,” Cameron said.

“(The best) was catching the big fish, and we saw a lot of alligators,” Colton added.

Dennis said he and his sons have participated in the event for a few years.

“(We’ve been coming) since they were old enough to fish,” he said. “I love it, and the kids love it. It’s great spending time with the family. They love hunting and fishing. If this one (pointing at Cameron) shoots a squirrel then this one (pointing at Colton) tries to beat the dogs to it.”

Maxwell said returning participants are what make this tournament important.

“It’s extremely special (to me),” he said. “We started it 21 years ago, and it’s something we do as a community that brings us together. We can take time to spend time with our most precious commodity, our children.

“It’s a huge tradition, not only for us but for the whole Miss-Lou. I’ve seen people who were brought by their parents, and now they come back and bring their kids.”