What could be Prince George’s newest annual winter event is off to a hot start.
The Ness Lake Recreation Commission (NLRC) will be hosting an ice fishing derby on Sunday (January 29), charging fishers $20 each to participate.
“Currently we are sitting at 120 [fishers],” Mark Stofer, an NLRC Director, told My PG Now.
“Knowing Prince George, it could be a lot more than that as we get closer to the date – we are thinking 150 is where we will end up, but we will see.”
So far, sponsors have donated $7,000 that will go towards prizes for the event.
“We have 66 prizes ranging from $600 items to $5 items, there is a pretty good chance somebody will win something if they come,” Stofer said.
Some of the top-end prizes include a smoker, fishfinders and underwater cameras, and coolers, ranging down to fishing rods and tackleboxes.
Stofer said because sponsors are covering all of the prizes, they have been left with more freedom to use the proceeds for a good cause.
“We are going to take half of the money and donate it to Ness Lake Bible Camp to send kids to camp who otherwise could not afford to go,” he said.
The early success and uptake for the event already has the NLRC planning to make this an annual tradition.
“Our vision is to grow it each year and make it a well known thing, fun for everyone in Prince George.”
It costs $20 to enter the competition, you can sign up and track the derby’s leaderboard here.
People who do not live at Ness Lake, or do not have friends who live at the lake, are being asked to park at Ness Lake Bible Camp in order to keep roads clear.