聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 鈥淭he fish was this big!鈥� Is usually the fisherman鈥檚 tale told, but at Moose Creek Regional Park the tales were verified as participants in the Alameda Community Rink鈥檚 19th Annual Fishing Derby brought in their catches to be weighed and measured on Saturday, June 27.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The day began at 6 a.m. with a pancake breakfast hosted by the Prairie Pride Credit Union. During this time people ate and then happily launched their boats awaiting the 8 a.m. start.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A grand total of 392 people registered (336 adults and 56 youth) to participate in the fishing derby, with 179 being served the pancake breakfast.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The top fish this year weighed in at 14.72 lbs and measured 39 inches leaving Keegan Wahl this year鈥檚 fishing champion winning $2,000. In second place was a 12.58 lbs catch by Steven Valentine who took home $1,000. Ken Lang caught an 11.86 lbs fish which won him $500. Also taking home a $500 prize was the fourth place catch by Chase McNabb of 11.78 lbs. Fifth place to eighth each took home $250 prizes: Jordan Lang with an 11.16 lbs catch, Cory Purvis with a 10.8 lbs fish, Sheldon Coder with a catch weighing in at 8.98 lbs, and finally Elmer Molner bringing in an 8.84 lbs fish.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The winners this year in the youth category were Braden Arndtt with a 6.62 lbs fish earning him $200. Second place received $100 and went to Nate Robertson with a 4.94 lbs fish. Austin Hewitt took third with a 4.82 lbs fish and won $75. Fourth to sixth place each took home $50 which included Jesse Debruyne with a 4.5 lbs fish, Jaslyn McNabb with a 4.16 lbs fish, and Xavier Gervais with a 4.1 lbs catch.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Following the action on the water a BBQ beef supper was held in Alameda at the rink, which is the facility that benefits from the efforts of the volunteers for the fishing derby.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 One of the organizers, Darryl Davis, explained, 鈥淲e are hoping to start off a new project for the rink. We are hoping to get a grant to help us replace the hockey boards in our arena as well as cement the artificial ice lined in the cement, if we don鈥檛 receive the grant we hope the money raised will still go to fixing up the hockey boards in the rink.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Davis was very happy with how the event turned out.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 thought we had a great day, with all the things going on this past weekend we still managed a record amount of fisherman registered, we had 336 adults and 56 youth registered,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚 want to thank all the people that came out and fished as well as the people that donated prizes, cash donations, and lent a hand during the day as well as leading up to it.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚 want to thank all our volunteers and fish derby members for all their hard work, and a special thanks to Darin McNabb, our president of the Rec Board in Alameda. His hard work, commitment, organizational skills, and passion for fishing is a big reason why our derby seems to get bigger and better every year.鈥�
