By Kelly Burgess, Bruce Peninsula Press
Over 600 local anglers cast lots of ‘Lures and Lines’ throughout the beautiful waters of Georgian Bay over the course of the 10-day fishing derby from May 5 to May 14. The 3rd annual Lures N Lines Spring Trout Derby had their greatest ticket sales of $17,000 which meant $8,500 in cash prizes and a generous donation of $8,500 to the Barrow Bay Channel Project.
Kevin Harders, owner of Lures N Lines in Wiarton started running the spring derby to be able to raise funds for community fisheries, hatcheries, and local conservation projects. He stated that the derby was, “Just another way of letting our anglers in the community give back to recreational sport fishing on the beautiful Bruce Peninsula.”
Harders is grateful for the many sponsors and support he received from the community in making the Derby a success. This year, in addition to the generous cash prizes for the biggest fish categories, a few extras were added. There was a daily $100 prize sponsored by Harrington Plumbing for the catch and release photo of the day. Also added was a special Mother’s Day Big Fish of the Day prize, won by Dru MacGregor in the amount of $200 (sponsored by Tyson Schnurr Plumbing) and a $25 gift card from Josie’s of Wiarton.
One of the winning catches in the derby was an 8.38 pound great Brown Trout caught by Gary Elson. Harders was very enthused about this catch because it was caught in Barrow Bay. “A great success story again for the derby as we are trying to create conservation awareness on our stocking efforts at Little Lake and Barrow Bay,” he expressed.
One reason Harders chose to give to the Barrow Bay Channel project is due to the timeliness, as the project involving dredging and break wall reconstruction, it really should be completed this year.
At a special meeting in Lion’s Head on May 20th where the $8,500 cheque from Lures N Lines was presented, the Barrow Bay Property Owners Association (BBPOA) announced they have finally received permit approval they have been waiting on in order to start the project. They now have confirmation that they can do the project work between July 15 and September 30 so they do not interfere with the fish spawning period. They were also happy to announce that the Municipality of Northern Bruce has generously given them $20,000 for the project and support for road maintenance.
Both Harders and the Barrow Bay Property Owners Association executives share the same goal to continue to generate awareness to not only the members of the BBPOA but to the entire community. “Assisting with the Barrow Bay Community fundraising project will hopefully help bring even more awareness to the project and help enhance opportunities to create a better aquaculture for our fisheries in their community,” stated Harders.
For more fantastic pictures from the derby and information on new fishing products visit https://www.facebook.com/LuresNLines. For more information on the Barrow Bay Channel Project visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-save-barrow-bay-channel
Donations can be made on the page or e-transfers at bbpoatreasurer1@gmail.com.
