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Fishing, fundraising and fun coming up on Shuswap and Okanagan lakes this spring

Deadline for fishing derby’s early bird registration March 15, funds go to BC Children’s Hospital
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The time to go fishing for funds for BC Children’s Hospital has arrived.

Team Brewed in Canada’s 2nd Annual Fishing Derby takes place on Okanagan Lake on April 23 and Shuswap Lake, May 14, both running from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.

However, the registration deadline to qualify for the early bird prize draw is fast approaching – March 15. You can also be one of the first 50 boats to register for a free derby T-shirt. T-shirts can be purchased for $20 each, with all proceeds to BC Children’s Hospital.

The registration fee is $100 per boat; $25 from each goes towards the first-place prize for the lake you’re on and $75 per registration to BC Children’s Hospital. The more boats that register, the higher first place gets.

Co-organizer Mandy Davis said the idea began with her brother Mike Bridge. In 2008 Bridge put together a mixed slow-pitch team – mostly family – and entered a wooden bat tournament called Bats for a Cause. The proceeds went to BC Children’s Hospital. Every year since, Bridge and his team continued to support the cause by playing in the tournament. Each year the tournament grew, with friendly rivalries between brother and sister upping the fundraising efforts.

In 2020, however, when Covid-19 hit, fundraising plans and the tournament were cancelled.

In its place in 2021, Brewed in Canada’s first fishing derby was born, raising more than $18,000 for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation.

In 2022, both the fishing derby and the Bats for a Cause slo-pitch tournament are going ahead.

BC Children’s Hospital was chosen as the fundraising recipient because, as Davis says, “it kind of affects everybody in the whole province when you have a sick child. Everyone has to go down there. It’s not just a local charity, it’s more provincewide.”

She said participants in the derby will be going for the largest rainbow trout, with catch and release promoted.

As for the first prizes on each lake, Davis said they will be a minimum of $1,500 thanks to sponsors, which will increase with each boat registration.

In 2022, the friendly family fundraising competition will no doubt continue.

“$2,600 was first prize on the Shuswap and $2,000 on Okanagan,” Davis said. “I had more entries than my brother did so it was a little bit of a competition.”

If you’d like to find out more about the fishing derby or the slo-pitch tournament, go to: teambrewedincanada.ca

For more information or to register for Okanagan Lake, email: mike@teambrewedincanada.ca. For Shuswap Lake, email: mandy@teambrewedincanada.ca.

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martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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