WEYBURN – The Weyburn Wildlife Federation hope that Sunday’s fish derby will be the first of many to come, after they had 95 entrants try their luck at Mainprize Park.
“It was awesome. We had lots of positive comments from sponsors and fishermen, and you can look for a lot more to come,” said Larry Olfert, president of the Weyburn Wildlife Federation.
“Fish derbies have been missed during COVID, and we are looking to do more work in this area,” he added.
Of the 95 entrants, they had 84 adults and 11 youth in the catch-and-release tournament, with the holes all pre-drilled for the participants.
Ben Sonnenberg had the first fish caught on the afternoon, and he also won the Best Youth Angler prize for his walleye which weighed in at 7.6 ounces.
The first place walleye of the day was caught by Kelly Gawel at 12.2 ounces; second place was Lee Tochor, 10.8 ounces; third place was Rod Nieviadomy with 9.3 ounces.
The prize for the largest pike went to James Ereth for his fish that weighed two pounds 11 ounces.
No perch were caught, so a name was drawn for the prize for perch, and Nate Smart was chosen as the winner.
The prizes were $400 for the first place walleye, $250 for second place and $150 for third place, with $200 for the biggest pike, and $200 for the biggest perch.
Garth Hilts won the 50-50 draw, and Mike Kopec won the prize for the two hidden weights on the day.
