Tons of children in the Lakes Region area got hooked on ice fishing Feb. 23 during the Kids Fishing Derby on Thomas Pond off Route 302 in Raymond.

Tom Noonan, the primary organizer of the Sebago Lake Ice Fishing Derby, said the event went well. Attendance was free and children were given a free ice trap to keep from sponsor ALR, a South-Portland based project management firm. Children who caught a fish were awarded with a ribbon.

“I would say between 1500 and 2000 people were out there,” said Noonan. He said the only complaints they received were from people who didn’t register in time.

“It’s better than video games,” said George Lekousi of Windham. He was out on the ice bright and early with his sons Christopher, 9, and Thomas, 7 and said he likes getting them involved in outdoor activities.

“I think it’s fun, and you don’t have to stay on the dock like regular fishing,” said Christopher Lekousi. He said when summer fishing you have to keep some distance from other people, while ice fishing lets friends clump up.

“I think it went fantastic,” said Dale Southard, who owns and operates Tailfeathers outdoor store on Route 302 in Raymond. He sold traps to the organizers at a discount and helped drill holes the morning of the kid’s derby before running back to open his store.

Noonan said people from the ice fishing forum IceShanty.com teamed up with members of the Rod and Gun Club from Gorham and Windham and drilled more than 600 holes in the ice that morning.

“They were having more fun than a barrel of monkeys,” said Bruce Andrews, president of the Rod and Gun Club, said of the children in attendance. He said activities like fishing, hunting, camping and hiking are good for today’s youth and should be encouraged.

“Kids typically who get involved in the outdoors,” he said, “have fewer opportunities to get in trouble.”

Tommy Herring, 12, and Nadia Barry, 9, of Gorham were there with their parents Rob and Jenn Herring.

“I probably started fishing when I was their age,” said Rob Herring. His family clustered between a few holes together and waited for their traps to spring.

“You never know which one is going to go off first,” said Tommy Herring. He said it gets dull when the fish don’t show up.

“I want something that’s going to fight back, like a trout,” he said. “I want something we can keep.”

Kidsderby1: Tommy Herring, 12, of Gorham waits by a readied trap on Thomas Pond in Raymond during the kids ice fishing derby last Friday.Kidsderby2: Tommy Herring, 12, and his sister Nadia Barry, 9, of Gorham wait by a readied trap on Thomas Pond in Raymond during the kids ice fishing derby last Friday.Kidsderby3: George Lekousi of Windham shows his son Thomas, 7, the difference between line fishing and trap fishing on Thomas Pond in Raymond during the kids ice fishing derby last Friday.Christopher Lekousi, 9 shows his brother George, 7, how to scoop debris out of a drilled hole in the ice. The two Windham boys participated in the youth fishing derby on Thomas Pond in Raymond last Friday. Kidsderby5-6: Christopher Lekousi, 9, of Windham, scoops debris out of a drilled hole in the ice on Thomas Pond in Raymond during the kids ice fishing derby last Friday. Kidsderby5-6: Christopher Lekousi, 9, of Windham, scoops debris out of a drilled hole in the ice on Thomas Pond in Raymond during the kids ice fishing derby last Friday. Kidsderby7: Volunteer Phil Boothby drops off a bait box of shiners for the kids fishing derby on Thomas Pond in Raymond last Friday. Boothby, an avid fisherman, said he volunteered at the fishing derby the past three years and loves being outdoors.