Poster

The 2nd Friends of Bridge Lake Fishing Derby 2010 was held on June 12th, once again at the Moondance Bay Resort on the north-west corner of the lake. After the persistend rain of the last weeks, the first warm and sunny day encouraged nearly a hundred fishermen (and -women of course) to go out and try their luck.

Starting at 10 o'clock, the first Kokanee were brought in for weigh-in, but it wasn't before 2 o'clock that we finally had a Rainbow entered into the competition. But what a beauty! Putting 2lb 13.5oz on the scale, this was also the biggest fish of the day. It remained a mystery to everybody, why the rainbow just weren't biting this day ...

Nearly 50 Kokanee were brought to the weigh-in station, more than 30 of them over 2 pounds! Gail Ramier of Williams Lake beat out the competition with her 2lb 11.1oz catch. Runner-ups were Mario Delmaestro, who presented a 2lb 9.3oz fish, and Ed Van Gool, who landed a 2lb 7.3oz kokanee.

Teresa Van Gool of Langley won the 1st prize in the Main Draw, a Harrison Hot Springs Resort Stay and Play Package for 2. Brent Vivian was the happy winner of a truck load of top soil, and Geoff Middleton can now go out with a new fishing road and assorted gear.

Congratulations to all the winners in the Fishing Derby and in the Main Draw. The (estimated) $1,000 profit from the sale of tickets will be donated equally to the Bridge Lake Community School and the Bridge Lake School P.A.C.

A big “Thank You” to all who bought a ticket and to the sponsors, who donated over $2,000 worth of prizes for the Main Draw. For a list of all prizes click here.

On Saturday, June 13th, the Friends of Bridge Lake held its 1st Annual Fishing Derby. The event was hosted by Paul and Celine Desaulnier at Moondance Bay Resort and the Highway 24 Interlakes Lions Club provided a food and beverage service.

The weather was fabulous and an estimated 100 fisherman contested the event, bringing in about 100 fish between them, split fairly evenly by species between Kokanee and Rainbow Trout. The winning fish was a Kokanee caught by Sylvia Hoogstins and weighing in at an impressive 2lb 3.7oz (1.01kg). Rolf Kirmse finished in second place with a 2lb 2.9oz (0.99kg) Rainbow, and in 3rd place, Joe Panni had a 2lb 2.2oz (0.97kg) Rainbow. In the Kids Division, Heather and Hunter Kellerman each presented fish of an ‘indeterminate’ species in the 3.5lb (1.5kg) range. While not strictly eligible for the derby, the fish were caught off the Moondance Bay Resort dock and were returned to the lake unharmed. As nobody under the age of 16 presented an eligible fish, Heather and Hunter were both awarded prizes for their efforts.

About $800 worth of prizes were awarded to the winning anglers and an additional $2,200 worth of draw prizes were handed out to winning ticket holders. The event raised $500.00 each for the Highway 24 Interlakes Lions Club and the Bridge Lake Community School.

The overwhelming response to the event was extremely positive with many anglers expressing their delight that Bridge Lake can once again boast a major annual fishing derby. This being our first fishing derby, we really had no idea what to expect or whether we were ‘doing it right’. Judging by the response though, we did okay and, as an organization dedicated to lake stewardship, the Friends of Bridge Lake would like to express its sincere appreciation for the excellent spirit in which the derby was contested. Despite the large number of boats on the water, the lake was quiet all day, the silence broken only by the gentling chugging of small outboards, the hum of electric motors, and cheerful bantering of the contestants. There was no disorderly conduct and only one person fell in the water! The boating etiquette and respect for our lake shown by the contests was a pleasure to see and we look forward to next year’s event.

For a list of all the winners and their prices click here.