13th Annual Elk Lake Take a Kid Fishing Derby

The 13th annual Elk Lake Take a Kid Fishing Derby was held April 13^th.  There were 174 adults and 50 junior anglers participating in this year’s derby, down a little bit from last year with weather-related issues the probable cause. With high winds forecast for the early morning and showers during the day, it wasn’t quite as hectic on the lake as last year but there were still lots of anglers having fun. There were prizes for all the junior anglers and smiling kids’ faces and laughing voices were all around. Thanks to the sponsors, each junior received a prize pack and a rod or net!

There was a total of 176 trout weighed in on Saturday and the people on the weigh in boats, strategically placed around the lake, were busy. Congratulations and honors went to Ed Driesbergen who caught the largest trout.  At 3 lbs. 1 oz, his trout won him the $1000 first place prize. Coincidentally, that was the same weight as last year’s winning trout!

Top 5 Trout Prize Winners

1st       Ed Driesbergen – 3 lbs. 1 oz

2nd     Taye Julien – 2 lbs. 8 oz

3rd      Peter Grossman – 2 lbs. 4 oz

4th      Nick Quirk – 2 lbs. 1 oz

5th      Josh Gladman – 1 lbs. 13 oz

Ed Dreibergen with his first place winning trout

The bass competition was very close. I don’t have a tally on the total number of bass caught but the weigh in boat in Beaver Lake weighed in excess of 40 bass.  Most of the bass were largemouth bass, but some heavy smallmouths were caught as well.  Andrew Grant took home 1st place and a $1,000 cheque with a 7 lbs. 3 oz Largemouth from Beaver Lake. Andrew also won last year with a 7 lb. 2 oz largemouth. I’m starting to think that he has a trained bass somewhere in Beaver Lake.

Top 5 Bass Prize Winners

1st       Andrew Grant – 7 lbs. 3 oz

2nd     Chris Grant – 6 lbs. 10 oz

3rd      Nolan Ramon – 6 lbs. 9 oz

4th      Kevin Phillips – 6 lbs. 9 oz

5th      Doug Webb – 5 lbs. 13 oz

Andrew Grant with his first place winning largemouth bass

After the fish prizes, there were lot of draw prizes for both the adults and juniors. The top draw prize for a junior was a 5-hour fishing charter out of Victoria with Island Outfitters for themselves and a guest!

Although there were many great fish and draw prizes, the moment many wait for is the grand draw prize. This year, the grand prize was a 12′ Lowe aluminum boat and a 4HP Yamaha Outboard Motor. Special thanks go to Yamaha and SG Power for supporting the Elk Lake derby each year.

The boat and motor draw prize

The history of the derby goes back 15 years to when the Victoria Fish & Game Protective Association started a family fishing day at Elk Lake. Island Outfitters was a major sponsor and participant and when the Fish and Game club decided not to put on the event after its second year, Island Outfitters seized the opportunity to start the derby. Getting kids and families out for a day of fishing and introducing young people to the sport of fishing has been the main object of the derby. Island Outfitters values our youth and is encouraging the next generation of anglers to take every opportunity to get out on the water. It is evident by the number of junior anglers that there is a solid future for our sport.

Congratulations to everyone who weighed in a fish in the derby! Check out the Island Outfitters Facebook page for more photos from the 13th Annual Elk Lake Derby.  We hope to see you all again next year!