Organizers are excited about a few changes happening for this year’s Big Lake Fishing Derby.
The derby will kick off on Friday, May 31 at 1 p.m. and run right through Sunday, June 2, said Marianne Woods, one of the organizers and vice-president of the Big Lake Community Association.
“It’s going to be quite an exciting derby this year. We are having an envelope draw where people have a chance to win $10,000. It is something new we are trying.”
One of the derby committee members suggested the draw idea and connected with HUB International Barton Insurance to find out how it works.
“For $600 we could enter into this envelope draw,” Woods explained. “Kim Preeper at D&S Electric decided to sponsor it from the get go and it all went through smoothly and quickly.”
Every adult who enters the derby has a chance to have their name drawn. Whoever’s name is drawn then picks one envelope out of 100 and in one of those envelopes will be a cheque for $10,000.
Proceeds from the derby are going toward buying a new truck for Big Lake Volunteer Fire and Rescue, which needs to be replaced by 2028.
“We have lots of money to raise,” Woods said.
Saturday the derby will go from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., followed by a dance featuring Run Home Jack, a four-piece rock band from Williams Lake that has played at the derby before and been very popular.
On Sunday the derby will go from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“Those hours are for registration. Some people get out fishing earlier than that,” she said.
Throughout the whole weekend there will be 50/50 draws.
Additionally, almost all of 2,000 tickets have sold for the 2024 Polaris Sportsmen 570 raffle.
“It went very well,” she said, adding they were so lucky to be able to sell tickets outside of Save-on-Foods, Canadian Tire, Walmart, Williams Lake Stockyards, FreshCo and during the Likely May Day parade. “Overall we have had great support from the public.”
There will be a few books of tickets available at the derby.
Fishing is “pretty good,” at Big Lake, she said.
“We don’t have huge trout like Quesnel Lake. Our biggest trouts will be between one and three pounds. If you go out fishing for an hour, you are guaranteed you will probably catch a fish.”
Kokanee at Big Lake are smaller and more difficult to catch and then there are the sucker fish, which she said nobody likes to catch, although there is a prize for sucker fish this year.
Adult registrations will be kept separate from the teen registration because the envelope draw will be for 19 and older.
“We do have a teen category from 13 to 18 and then the children is 12 and under. We’ve added a whole extra prizes for the teen category. In total we have $2,900 in cash prizes to be awarded for the fishing portion.”
Sponsorship has been overwhelming for both cash and merchandise for the silent auction.
Even if people are not interested in fishing they are invited to enjoy a meal at the Cook Shack where breakfast will be served until 11 a.m., burgers, hot dogs, drinks and snacks the rest of the day, all with reasonable prices.
Woods used to sneak away and fish, but said now she does not think it would be good if she registered and won.
“I actually enjoy sitting in the boat and being out on the lake.”
Woods has been a member of the Big Lake Community Association for the last 20 years as vice-president.
The association is the organizing umbrella for the Big Lake Fishing Derby, Big Lake Volunteer Fire and Rescue and the Big Lake heritage and cemetery sites.
“We only have one governing body in Williams Lake and it really helps with dealing with all the properties and organizations. Graham Kelsey, a retired university professor who lived here was very involved and set us up from the get-go, with the building of the fire hall. We were extremely lucky.”
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