The volunteers behind one of the largest fishing derbies in southwestern Manitoba hope changes to rules and possession laws don’t have too much of an impact on their group’s fund-raising event.

The 10th annual fishing derby hosted by the Healthy Lake Committee took place March 4th at Pelican Lake. This year a record 1,200 anglers took part.

The derby was a great success with 1030 Adult anglers and 182 Junior anglers that came out to fish, for a record high total participant number of 1212! During the four hours of derby fishing a total of 181 fish were measured; 79 Northern Pike, 39 Perch, and 63 Walleye.

Trevor Maguire Chairs the Healthy Lake Committee and he was pleased to see so many people dropping lines to the lake. “We had 1,200 people this year and that’s great. We were about 150 over last year’s total.”

While 2023 was a record year for the derby organizers aren’t as confident, they’ll be able to attract the same number of people in 2024.

“There’ll be some changes to derby rules next year along with the possession laws. So, you won’t be able to have a walleye over 55 centimeters in your possession and that will make it hard to measure. The province is encouraging groups to go to photo release on your cell phone but that’s a problem when you're in an area where cell service can be sketchy,” said Trevor Maguire.

The new rules are expected to be announced in April. Trevor Maguire says the group looking after the fishing derby will have to sit down and decide what will be in place for next year.