Allan Mather is now a three-time winner of the Kootenay Lake Angler Incentive Program trout derby, including last year’s grand prize boat and trailer.

Mather fishes weekly with friends, two of whom have also won monthly derby prizes. But with the win for his November entry, this is Mather’s second prize of $1,000.

“There’s a group of four of us that fish together, but I’ve been very lucky,” said Mather.

Despite being busy this year with a long to-do list around the house, the retired farmer went out often enough to bag 14 trout last month, which he entered in the derby.

Can he win again? There’s no rule against it and he means to try.

“I’ve cleared my list of chores now, so it’s ‘Look out, fish,’” said the Creston resident. “I’m going to get a lot of use out of that boat next year.”

As winner of the monthly prize for November, Mather selected $1,000 in gift certificates from Wynndel Foods & Outdoors in Wynndel.

The program encourages anglers to harvest rainbow and bull trout in the main body of Kootenay Lake and then turn in the heads to local depots to enter a monthly draw for a prize worth $1,000. In addition to the monthly prizes, this year’s grand prizes include a 2022 Ford F-150, with the off-road Tremor package, from Nelson Ford and the recently-awarded 2022 Polaris side-by-side.

This citizen-driven initiative is intended to reduce the over-abundance of rainbow and bull trout in the lake and promote the recovery of their main prey, the endangered kokanee salmon.

HOW TO ENTER: Anglers must bring an intact fish head (or full fish for Woodbury tissue sample) to one of four return depos: Balfour Gill & Gift Gas Station, Woodbury Resort, Crawford Bay Market, or Wynndel Foods & Outdoor Gear.

Kootenay Lake Angler Incentive Program is managed by the local West Arm Outdoors Club with support from B.C. Wildlife Federation, Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, and several local merchants from around Kootenay Lake.

The Ministry urges anglers to continue to participate in this program and harvest all of their catch within daily quota limits to support the recovery of Kootenay Lake’s kokanee salmon.

More information on the Kootenay Lake Angler Incentive Program.

Lead image: Allan Mather with a big catch on Kootenay Lake. Photo submitted

B.C. Wildlife Federation

Article Share