Introduction to IceFishing
for Young People and Adults

It was a great day for icefishing at Walloper Lake (Jan18, 2009) as over 400 people, including 346 guests as the Kamloops Fish and Game Association hosted their annual event, Introduction to Ice Fishing for Young People and Adults.

Over 30 volunteers and a handful of generous sponsors put together a memorable event for everyone to enjoy. The weather was absolutely spectacular. With local valleys (Kamloops, Merritt, Shuswap Lake, socked in with fog and low cloud for the last week, the +4000ft elevation of Walloper Lake was truly a ray of sunshine that reflected on the faces and attitudes of all that were involved.

We found young children ages 2 years old up to enthusiastic parents and grandparents all enjoying the activities. There were plenty of ice augers around (both power and manual) to keep everyone fishing. Afternoon temperatures reached +3C as the sunshine warmed both air and hearts. Fishing success started slowly however, just like the dinner bell rang, fishing success seemed to pick up substantially around the noon hour. Walloper lake has plenty of small fish to excite the kids.

For those who didn't have gear, the Kamloops Fish and Game Association supplied small hand lines along with bait so that every one who wanted to participate, could.

With fresh air and sunshine comes big appetites and again, food was plentiful. Hot Dogs, hamburgers, cookies, chocolate, hot chocolate, coffee and donuts were heartily devoured by the participants as members of the Association kept the supply coming as long as there were people that were hungry.

Event organizer, Mo Bradley, spent weeks tying ice flies and assembling gear at his post in Surplus Herbys as well as helping in organizing the sponsors and volunteers. Asking Mo about the work involved in such an event, his answer was "it wasn't work, it was pleasure".

And after seeing the results of his and the efforts of the volunteers and I can't help but agree.

As you can see, it was written all over the faces of those who enjoyed the event.

Photos by Dave Ouellette

---

---