POINT EDWARD – Ed DeSantis and Hank Dykhuizen found some strange items while tidying up the shorelines here and in Sarnia Saturday morning.
“We found a big, huge carpet,” DeSantis said, estimating it weighed more than 20 kilograms.
“It’s amazing what you find,” Dykhuizen said.
The pair were part of a small group that met around 9 am at the Bluewater Anglers hatchery in Point Edward, then were sent out with sticks and garbage bags. DeSantis, member of the non-profit club from Bright’s Grove, and Dykhuizen, another club member from Point Edward, were sent to the Andrew S. Brandt Marina at Sarnia Bay.
Aside from the carpet, which was stashed in DeSantis’ truck, the pair found a fair amount of garbage and a lot of feathers.
“Feathers all over the place,” DeSantis said.
Dykhuizen, who also pulled some garbage out of the water, said it’s important to clean up as fish will eat just about anything.
“We just like to keep stuff away from the waterfront,” he said.
Event organizer Ross Bishop was expecting a few more volunteers as only four people – all club members – had shown up halfway through Saturday’s two-hour event.
“Still, that’s more than nothing,” he said.
The other duo were dispatched to the boat ramp area near Purdy Fisheries.
A two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and moving the event from earlier in the spring to mid-June may have also played factors in the small turnout. Either way, Bishop plans to keep it in June next year.
“I’m not going to change it,” he said. “Once, I think, people find out we’ve been doing it maybe they’ll start coming back out.”
The event concluded with food and beverages, which were provided by the club.
With salmon derby and shoreline cleanup now in the rear-view mirror, next on the Bluewater Anglers’ agenda is a family fishing day set for July 9 and a walleye derby slated for Aug. 12-13. It’s helping with the ongoing Blue Coast Walleye Challenge, which wraps up Sunday, but it’s not their event.