Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular Sign (Photo by Nathan Shubert)
The Co-Chair the of 37th Annual Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular says this year’s event was a success despite anglers facing tough fishing.
The 10-day event wrapped up over the long weekend and Chris Geberdt says he chalks this derby up as one of the better events they have had.
“We were averaging 3,000 and 4,000 people a day, and then you take a look at the derby entrants and the kids that were outside, we were probably in and around the 58,000 coming through the tent,” says Geberdt. “Last year I think was 62,000, may be down a bit that way, but overall the final figures will tell the tale.”
He adds while the quality of fish this year was beautiful, the weather impacted the number of fish anglers were able to reel in.
“Silver fish, not a lot of dark fish and there was fewer fish no question. The weather played havoc with it, the first weekend we had the windstorm,” says Geberdt. “It was tough fishing no question, but that is fishing.”
Geberdt estimates they had 1,600 entered this year, down from the about 2,700 fish last year.
“We are down on fish, but there is all kinds of things that happen with fishing,” says Geberdt. “People have to realize that the fish are there. I hear people say there are no fish, they are there and that will tell the tale when we take the fish eggs in the fall.”
Geberdt adds they had no shortage of entertainment including his highlight, having former Toronto Maple Leafs player Darryl Sittler make an appearance.
“Darryl Sittler was an idol of mine growing up when I was young,” says Geberdt. “Talking with them, we are probably going to have a Maple Leafs day next year or a Toronto Maple Leafs day and he is going to try and get some of the regular players up.”
The salmon spectacular also expanded its tent this year to 270 feet, 25 feet longer than usual.
“We were able to get a lot of the exhibitors in that paid to be in here and a lot of the people sat down on the picnic tables because we had picnic tables to sit down on,” says Geberdt.
Here is the final leaderboard:
-Terry Kirkland – Top Salmon 25.57 lbs
-Tim Colborne – Top Lake Trout 23.93 lbs
-Andrew Dimis – Top Rainbow Trout 10.88 lbs
-Daniel Burdz – Top Brown Trout 8.5 lbs