As you may have guessed, due to COVID-19 the Healthy Lake Committee will not be able to host our regular Ice Fishing Derby for the first time in 8 years. However, we have decided to make the most of a challenging situation and will organize a Fun Family Fishing weekend in place of the derby this year! Participants will be able to interact virtually on our facebook page while fishing in their household/cohorts at Pelican Lake on March 6th and 7th. Participation is free! Full info on how to participate is below (PDF link here). Winning a prize won’t necessarily involve catching the biggest fish! Instead, our focus will be on participation and families getting out on the lake. 

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RULES / How to participate:

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1. Go fishing anywhere on Pelican Lake any time on March 6 or 7th (or both!). All eligible photos must be taken and posted during these two days.

2. Like or follow our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/healthylake/. This is where you will be posting all photos.

3. Download a time stamping photo app onto your phone. A good one is Timestamp. There must be a time and date stamp on every photo you submit for it to be eligible! Practice ahead of time so you know how to use it, where pictures are stored, etc.

4. To start, post a picture of yourself (and your family if you like) that shows us that you are at Pelican Lake on March 6/7. This could mean a picture in front of a landmark, a sign, a business…something that shows you are at Pelican Lake. To post a picture, go to our facebook page and click ‘Create a Post’. All posts will show up under the Community tab after you have posted.

5. The Healthy Lake Committee will have compiled a list of picture criteria for prizes BEFORE the start of the weekend and will hand the list off to a 3rd party on Friday March 5th for safe keeping. Examples of photo criteria could include things like: “Walleye caught closest to 2:17 PM on March 6”, or “Picture of a family of 4 taken closest to 11:47 AM on March 7”. Some photo criteria will be fish catch related, some won’t be. 

6. Participants should take lots of pictures and post them on our facebook page (make sure they have the time and date stamp on them or they won’t be eligible). Post pictures of your catches, yourself/ your family fishing…whatever you think might win you a prize (be creative)! There will also be a couple of random draws of all participants, so as long as you post a picture you will be eligible to win a prize.

7. If possible, please post pictures as you take them, rather than waiting to the end of the day to post multiple photos.

8. Please note that the person posting a picture to facebook is the person whose name will be credited to that picture, unless you specify in the caption that it is someone else’s entry. For example, if your child catches a fish and doesn’t have their own phone/facebook account to post a photo, you may post it for them and specify in the caption that it is their entry if you like. To limit confusion on this we recommend you post your own entries from your own phone/facebook account when at all possible.  

9. All pictures must be posted before midnight on Sunday March 7th.

10. On Monday morning March 8th the 3rd party will deliver the prize winning picture criteria envelope back to the Healthy Lake Committee. We will then look through all eligible posted photos to see who the winners of each prize are according to the criteria, and post the winners list on facebook. Winners will be contacted by facebook messenger for prize pickup arrangements. Winners may be asked to email their winning photos to the Healthy Lake Committee for verification.

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Don’t forget that YOU are responsible for adhering to whatever COVID restrictions/rules/laws are in place on March 6 and 7. Expect Conservation Officers and possibly COVID Enforcement to be present to make sure everyone is following proper protocol. Fishing license rules must be followed as always. We encourage catch and release; especially with mature fish that may contain eggs.

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Local businesses please reach out to us if you would like to engage with our participants by offering a Special or Deal for that weekend, or if you would like to contribute to our prizes. Facebook message or email info@healthylake.ca. Happy Fishing!