A warm day kept the fish away.
That was the dilemma facing Lucien Lake Regional Park, as they hosted their annual ice fishing derby in Middle Lake on March 17.
Despite the fishing derby seeing an increase in registrations, with 102 competitors, it was a quiet afternoon for the fishers as Matt Schidlowsky’s 4lb 3oz catch was the lone one of the day.
Despite the low number of fish caught, seeing 102 registrations was really nice, says Lucien Lake Secretary/Treasurer Irene Giesbrecht.
“It’s really busy with that basketball going on and everything so I didn’t anticipate quite that many, I thought it would be a little bit lower so it was nice to see that the support was still there.”
Of course, it was also a perfect afternoon for fishing with temperatures hovering right around 0 C, which was great to see as well, says Giesbrecht.
“The kids are running around, they had no toques or gloves on and having a great time out there.”
“Maybe that’s why no fish were caught,” she laughed.
The fishing derby was a fundraiser for the park with money raised this year helping to replace their filleting shack.
“We ripped ours down, (because) it was very old,” noted Giesbrecht.
Of course, helping raise money for the club were local sponsors, who donated between 40 and 50 items, guessed Giesbrecht, who says she is pleased to see all of the support.
“I know that everyone’s looking for donations and stuff… so it’s really good because that just brings in more money that we can spend within the park where it’s needed.”
