The Flinty Fishing Derby is coming back for the first time since 2019 - with some changes.
The event, organized by the Flin Flon Rotary Club as a fundraiser, typically takes place on the arm of Lake Athapapuskow as a one-day mass event. That won’t be the case this year. Instead, organizers plan to run the competition as a two-week fish-off, with competitors able to enter from March 19-April 3.
Fishers can enter their favourite catches into the competition using the mobile app Fishdonkey, where participants can upload photos and information about their catches. Participants are able to fish in any lake north of the 53rd parallel in either Manitoba or Saskatchewan - in Manitoba, that range extends as far south as Clearwater Lake and Rocky Lake near The Pas, while in Saskatchewan, lakes north of Namew and Cumberland Lake are eligible for entries.
Prizes for this year will be given for categories like the biggest lake trout, biggest burbot, biggest pike and biggest pickerel, as well as a biggest overall prize and a mystery length prize for entries in all categories.
Proceeds from this year’s fishing derby will go toward the Aqua Centre Community Committee, with that money going towards building a new pool complex within Flin Flon to replace the now-demolished Flin Flon Aqua Centre.
The 2020 and 2021 editions of the derby were both cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. In years past, the event took place in April.
