The second annual Blue Coast Walleye Challenge will return to Sarnia Lambton this June.
Title sponsor Carpenters Local 1256 have teamed up with Tourism Sarnia-Lambton, the Bluewater Anglers and Anglers Atlas to be host to the fishing tournament June 3-12 on St. Clair River and Lake Huron.
Fishing will be open on both the Canadian and American sides of the St. Clair this year, and the event will raise money for some great local initiatives, said Bluewater Anglers board member Paul Heckley.
“The event will raise funds for the Bluewater Anglers hatchery operation and conservation initiatives,” Heckley said.
“We are very fortunate to have such a resource in our backyard and we enjoy sharing and educating people about preserving this amazing fishery. Every year the club members work hard to safely raise thousands of salmon and trout in our fish culture station in Point Edward. These fish are then released into lower Lake Huron and the St.Clair River for the enjoyment of all. We raise over 130,000 fish, Chinook Salmon, Rainbow Trout, and Brown Trout each year.”
Anglers interested in participating in this year’s tournament need to register (at https://www.anglersatlas.com/tournament/559/BlueCoastWalleyeChallenge) and then download a mobile app called MyCatch. Once they catch a fish, anglers simply need to take a picture and the MyCatch app does the rest.
Not only does the app track catches, but it provides important information for fisheries biologists by gathering real time data about catch rates, species distribution and other research topics.
Tourism Sarnia-Lambton’s Vicky Praill said the event will also bring many dollars to the region, giving out-of-town anglers an opportunity to support Sarnia-Lambton’s many businesses.
“The goal of this event is to welcome and encourage anglers to have fun this spring in Sarnia-Lambton,” Praill said. “This event will encourage our participants to support local businesses, generating an economic impact for our community. The event will also gather important data for fisheries researchers on the state of our fisheries, and continue to support the Bluewater Anglers with restocking our river and lake.”
“Working in partnership with Vicky Praill at Tourism Sarnia-Lambton and representatives from the Bluewater Anglers, we believe this event will attract anglers to your community and the great fishing it has to offer,” said Angler’s Atlas president Sean Simmons. “Our MyCatch team will be reaching out to community leaders over the course of the next few weeks to build support for this event and encourage the community to continue their support of this worthwhile effort to ensure that the fishery is kept strong and healthy for years to like.”
For those interested in sponsorship opportunities, contact Jack Compos at [email protected].