By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

Nearly 30 parents and children turned out to Marion County Lake on Saturday during the fifth annual kids’ catfish day.

The event is meant to be an electronic device-free family day, organizer Shannon Allen said.

“It started out to get kids out from in front of video games, and parents out from in front of their phones,” he said. “It gets them to interact.”

Parents don’t need to have a fishing license or know how to fish, Allen said.

“We’re certified fishing instructors, so while we’re having our class on kids’ day, parents are not required to have a fishing license,” he said. “It falls under our instructor license because it’s a class. We’re teaching the kids and parents how to fish.”

Allen has been fishing since he was a child, and said he took his son to the lake a few months after he was born.

“We always used fishing as family time,” he said. “We always went out and fished as a family. It brings you closer together. I’ve caught a lot of fish in my life, but I get just as excited watching one of these kids with a little perch as my son catching a 50 pound flathead.”

Tails BBQ of Peabody catered the event, but using them had more than just the convenience of a free meal.

Owner CJ Stuckey, who goes fishing across the U.S., was also speaker.

While the children could be left to learn on their own, it would be less effective, Allen said.

“The more we can make it fun for the kids, the more responsive they are,” he said. “If we just gave them a fishing pole and they had no clue what to do, it wouldn’t be fun.”