The scorching summer sun did little to dim the enthusiasm of competitors at the Sulphurous and Hathaway Lakes Fishing Derby last weekend.
Sixty-three fish weighed: 13 Lake Trout and three Rainbows, as well as 12 Kokanee from Hathaway and 35 Kokanee from Sulphurous. There were four prizes this year for the biggest one of each.
Nine-year-old Elise Schnieder caught the largest Lake trout at 9 lbs, while Adrian Wynnik snagged the largest Rainbow at 1 lb 9.5 oz. Andrew Robitaille hooked the largest Kokanee on Hathaway Lake, at 1 lb 3.5 oz, while Dan Stoelwinder caught the largest Kokanee on Sulphurous Lake. It was 2 lbs 7.5 oz.
Organizers Tom and Patty Nash said the derby has taken place for years, but this was the first one since COVID-19. They had begun planning for 2020 but hit a wall with the restrictions.
Stores, companies and individuals donate the prizes for the event. “After three years off, everybody’s been really generous,” said Tom.
This derby this year was also a raffle.
“Whoever buys a ticket is entered in the raffle and in the derby but you don’t have to fish,” said Patty.
Three of the four big raffle prizes were donations from area residents. They had hoped to sell all 600 tickets at $10 each.
The derby is run by the Spruce Mountain Community Centre Society
“It’s fun to do. But it’s lots of work at times. In my retirement, I’m a procrastinator so it’s a lot more organizational skills.” laughed Tom.
The largest fish they remember being caught in a previous derby is a 10-lb Burbot.
The weigh-in crew on Sulphurous consisted of Ted Weight, Richard Scott, Steve Sahaydak and Ron Marchuk.
Jerry Boscariol came in with a 2 lb 2 oz Kokanee. It was not his first time at the station as his son, Avery also caught a 2 lb 6.3 oz Kokanee earlier that day.
After the fish was weighed and recorded, its bottom tail fin was clipped to prevent it from being caught and submitted for weighing a second time.
fiona.grisswell@100milefreepress.net
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