It can be a lot for a 4-year-old to absorb, reeling in her first fish.

“I am so proud of you,” Alissa Jandt told her daughter, Lillie, as they walked along the Oak Harbor Marina dock after the Oak Harbor Yacht Club Buccaneers’ Kids’ Fishing Derby.

“Thank you, mom,” said Lillie, who then left her grandpa’s side, caught up to her mother and squeezed her hand as they walked the rest of the way.

The Kids’ Fishing Derby is about building confidence, said Gary Jandzinski, who’s been helping to put on the event with the Buccaneers for the past 11 years.

Saturday’s outing, which drew 89 children, marked the event’s 36th year.

“If they have success catching fish, they’ll be fishing in the future,” Jandzinksi said.

The event was a hit for even the few who didn’t manage to feel the tug of a small fish on the line.

The Buccaneers, a philanthropic arm of the yacht club, came dressed in pirate garb to assist the young anglers.

Their pirate ship float, a regular entry in community parades, was on display near the yacht club. Naturally, it fired a cannon to signal the end of the derby.

“Next year, I want to be a pirate,” said Oak Harbor’s Emilia Rathbun, a fourth grader in the fall. “How old do you have to be to be a pirate?”

Like her younger sister, Rathbun was catching one tiny perch after another. She counted 59 at one point.

The anglers collected their catches in plastic tubs and took them for derby officials to count before they were released back into the water.

“I like to fish and I like the prizes a lot,” Rathbun said.

The prizes were impressive and bountiful.

Grand prize winner for biggest fish was Oak Harbor’s Zachary Miller, 9, who used the provided piece of squid as bait and caught a small silver salmon, which was quickly weighed and released.

The fish was about 12 inches and about a half pound.

Miller won a new bicycle.

“That was pretty nice,” he said.

Miller said he  first thought it was a perch on his line until he felt a stronger tug and saw the silver flash.

“He’s always doing stuff like that,” said Brian Miller, his dad.

The Buccaneers decided to relax the derby rules Saturday after some anglers came with smelt herring jigs, a multiple-hook setup that proved to be enticing to perch.

One angler had four perch on the line at one time.

Normally, the derby is limited to single hooks and bait, but no one wanted to fuss over particulars Saturday.

The idea, after all, was to have fun.

Kadence Yonkman, 10, had fun. She wound up with 125 fish caught — the most by any angler. She received a scooter as a prize.

But others who only caught one fish also had big smiles. One told her fish to stay in the tub when it acted up a bit and splashed in the water.

“He’s so mad,” she said.

The derby is designed to teach kids about the environment and also exposes them to an outdoors activity that doesn’t involve a game controller or digital technology.

It’s also a family event.

“It brings the community together,” said Hannah Rathbun, Emilia’s mom.

“It’s pretty cool,” said James Havranek, watching his son Lukas, 9, and daughter Ella, 6, try to lure perch to their bait.

“They’re playing tug-of-war with the bait down there. It’s fun.”