
The Kamloops Fish and Game Club is inviting families to head up to Walloper Lake this weekend for its annual Ice Fishing Day.
The free event, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 19, is open for anyone who wants to try out ice fishing. Club members will dig the holes, set attendees up with equipment like fishing rods and bait, and dole out advice for new ice fishers.
“It’s very gratifying — it’s so much fun,” said Randy Nelson, who sits on the club’s board of directors.
He said Walloper Lake, located adjacent to the Coquihalla Highway just south of Lac Le Jeune, gets stocked with lots of fish.
“It's the whole idea of just giving people the experience of catching a fish — and it's probably the best place in the area where you where you can go to experience that,” Nelson said.
He said each year, the event draws hundreds of attendees, including plenty of kids and international students from School District 73. Some end up catching a fish for the very first time.
"There was one little kid two years ago, he was four or five years old. … That little kid must have caught 15 fish, and people around him are looking at him and trying to figure out what he's doing,” Nelson said.
“They were catching the odd one, but he just, whatever it was, he had the charm that day, and that's how fishing goes.”
A six-decade tradition
Dave Helmer, who has been involved with organizing Ice Fishing Day for more than a decade, estimated the event has been running for about 60 years.
He said Ice Fishing Day is one of a couple events the Kamloops Fish and Game Club runs each year in order to introduce newcomers to the sport, and to help teach people of all ages how to look after fish and other wildlife.
“We, of course, are fishers and hunters, but we're also conservationists, and teaching people how to look after the fish and the bush and everything like that is part of our mandate,” Helmer said.
Attendees are encouraged to dress for the weather. Coffee, hot chocolate and hot dogs will be provided by donation, and the money will go to the club in order to further its various projects.
Participants won’t require a license for the one-day event, but will need a licence if they want to fish on other days.
“We need more people out enjoying the outdoors, fishing and hunting,” Nelson said.
“Because we live more and more in the cities, less and less people are able to experience this, and it's just so much fun and so good for you to get out there. There will be people that show up that have never fished, I’m sure some of them will go buy a fishing rod the next day.
“It's just something that, if you haven't experienced it, you really should give it a try.”
