The Bluewater Anglers Sarnia Salmon Derby was set to start April 30 before being cancelled by COVID, but anglers have another event to look forward to.
Tourism Sarnia-Lambton, the Bluewater Anglers and Angler's Atlas have partnered to host Southwestern Ontario's Blue Coast Walleye Challenge.
Bluewater Anglers Board of Directors member Paul Heckley said the event from June 4 to June 13 will raise funds for their hatchery operation and conservation initiatives.
“We are very fortunate to have such a resource in our backyard and we enjoy sharing and educating people about preserving this amazing fishery," said Heckley. "Every year the club members work hard to safely raise thousands of salmon and trout in our fish culture station in Point Edward. These fish are then released into lower Lake Huron and the St. Clair River for the enjoyment of all. We raise over 130,000 fish, Chinook salmon, rainbow trout, and brown trout each year”.
Tourism Sarnia-Lambton Special Events and Sports Marketing Co-Ordinator Vicky Praill said the goal is to welcome and encourage anglers to have fun.
“This event will encourage our participants to support local businesses, generating an economic impact for our community," said Praill. "The event will also gather important data for the fisheries researchers on the state of our fisheries, and continue to support the Bluewater Anglers with restocking our river and lake."
She said the tournament will use a mobile app called MyCatch to create a COVID safe environment, by allowing anglers to simply take a picture of their fish on a measuring device to participate.
"MyCatch not only tracks your catch it also assists the fisheries biologist in getting real time data from anglers about catch rates, species distribution and other research topics," said Praill.
The walleye tournament will be held on the St. Clair River and Lake Huron within the boundaries of Sarnia-Lambton.
The prize board will be determined by the number of anglers that register for the event at www.AnglersAtlas.com.
The Bluewater Anglers Salmon Derby was to run from April 30 to May 9th this year but had to be cancelled when Ontario's stay-at-home order was issued.
With the event cancelled, The Outdoorsman is holding a virtual salmon derby.
