Friday at the Derby

 

After the rain on Thursday, and early Friday morning, it looked like it would be a very wet Wawa Salmon Derby this year. The weather cleared for afternoon, and other than a few showers the weather was pretty good.

 

The anglers attended the Participants Meeting chaired by Chuck Farand, and then everyone headed out to the lake. At 5 p.m, Derby Officials Brad Buck signalled with the horn, and Ken Netzel shot off the flare.

 

Photographer Marcus Grundt was able to see that there were indeed fish being displayed on Brad’s fish finder. Then, a complete surprise – a couple of anglers landed a beautiful salmon within the first ten minutes of the Derby! As the Derby boat came close they held their fish up high for a photo op!

 

 

Then the Officials came across a couple of dead trees floating in the bay posing a potential navigation hazard. The co-ordinates went out over the radio for all participants to be aware of their location. Sault Search and Rescue came over and towed one to shore and the Derby officials took the other to shore.

 

 

 

As the evening progressed, more and more fish came in. A 20.8 lb Salmon caught by team 4 (Pierre Gauthier and Barry Charsley) is in the lead with the largest fish so far, and the largest fish caught Friday.

The anglers went out this morning, and it looks like it will be a great day of fishing!