The annual Wilgress Lake Family Fishing Derby was reel-y fun for the whole family over the weekend.
Hosted by the Boundary Community Metis Association, the two-day derby invited people to ice fish at Wilgress Lake, in the hopes of reeling in a winner. In addition to fishing, games and activities ran throughout the days.
The winners of the derby are:
Under 16
First place: Stephan D’Appeloni (catch: 1 pound, 5 ounces)
Second place: Josh Hlookoff
Third place: Marcus Manseau
Adult
First place: JP Fournier (catch: 2 pounds, 4 ounces)
Second place: Jerry Lalonde
Third place: Doug Bannert
The other activities also included a tradition Indigenous “snow snake” game, wherein wooden “snakes” and launched down a snow trough; and “tea boiling,” where teams of four had to build a fire and boil a can of “tea” (in this case, water) over a fire, and the first team to bring their water to a rolling boil wins.
Cash prizes were awarded for the fishing derby; adult winner JP Fournier took home $150 and a CannaFest weekend pass; the games also had prizes and the chance to be drawn for a participation prize.
Overall, the derby had 125 registered participants, including 35 kids. Doug Arnott stepped up to be the lead organizer for the event this year for the first time, after last year’s event was cancelled. Arnott said he hopes the event continues to grow, and bring even more kids out to the lake to try ice fishing and other activities next year.
The organizers of the fishing derby send out a big thank you to all of the volunteers and sponsors who helped make this event possible – especially the outdoor leadership class from GFSS who came out to the lake on Thursday to help shovel off the ice and create the snow snake track. A big thank you to all involved!