About 80 boats and more than 175 anglers hit the waters of Lac La Biche Lake this morning for the first of two days competing in the inaugural La Biche Walleye Cup.
The morning starts are split into two groups with half the entry heading out at 7 am and the remainder at 8. The fisher-folk will be on the lake until 3:30 each afternoon, looking for the largest walleye in the catch-and-release tournament.
The top prize in the event is approximately $14,000, with a variety of bonus and special awards and cash prizes as well.
Competitors are equipped with unique camera memory cards to record their catches over the two-day event. A specific order of images is needed to record each catch. Organizers say the images must include a photo of the angler with their specificallly-assigned measuring stick, as well as images of the fish being measured and released. If the sequence of images — which includes a few other captures — is incorrect, the caught entry can be disqualified.
One of the event's organizers, Mel Kuprowsky with hosting group, Lac La Biche Lions Club, said COVID guidelines and competitive derby regulations are being enforced at every stage of the event.
With COVID-19 measures still restricting many social and sporting events, Kuprowsky said organizers were fortunate to be allowed to host the derby. In keeping with those measures, he said there will be no 'awards and prize ceremony' following Sunday afternoon's wrap-up. Instead, winners will be notified after the event and prize money will be sent to them.
Anglers from across the region, the province and the Prairies entered the first-time event. Kuprowsky said with just hours to go before the registrations closed on Friday afternoon, they had filled all but four of the available 260 spots. Two of those vacancies could have been filled, he said, but a pair of fisher-folk from Montana in the US couldn't travel over the border due to the pandemic restrictions in place.
The Lac La Biche event is one of just a few sanctioned fish derbies taking place across the Lakeland and northern Alberta this year as several events have been cancelled due to COVID or tighter fishing restrictions on area lakes.
Fish tales around the boat launch following the first day of fishing hinted that the long-fish of the day was in the mid 70 centimeter range. Participants in the derby will use the top five lengths of fish they catch over the two day event. The highest aggregate score wins the trophy.