A really big fish story

St. James-Assiniboia

Dakota Crossing

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This article was published 27/03/2024 (652 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On March 12, more than 700 students from 42 schools across the province took to the thick ice of Balsam Bay, a beach off the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg, for Manitoba’s first annual high school ice-fishing derby.

The derby was conceived of and created by Dustin Bruce, a teacher at John Taylor Collegiate and was originally meant to be exclusive to students from St. James-Assiniboia School Division, as part of its outdoor education program. However, organizers expanded to a provincial level just before the pandemic. Now, after a delayed start of a couple years, the educational yet competitive ice-fishing extravaganza attracted students from as far away as Thompson and stretches of the province Bruce never could have expected.

“My No. 1 thing, no matter what outdoor activity we do, is that we’re creating ambassadors,” said Bruce, an avid ice fisher himself. “Because the worst thing I could do would be to set up a kid to go use the resource, and then have them treat it poorly. Not through (a fault of their own), but through me not preparing them,” he added.

“Things like cleaning up your garbage, knowing the rules, the mantle-angling rules. And then how to handle fish properly, and how to treat fish with respect.”

Through his outdoor ed classes, he said, Bruce is able to prepare students through hands-on experience, providing the proper tools and resources so that when the time came to hit the lake they knew everything from what to wear, what knots to tie, which fish were being caught, and how to take care of the fish once they were reeled in.

The competitive aspect of the day was a success, too, with 57 fish caught and released. Centre scolaire Léo-Rémillard won the day with five fish caught. The school also claimed the biggest walleye of the day, which measured at a whopping 23.5 inches.

The event was put together by teachers and student, parent volunteers. A group of roughly eight or nine, Bruce included, went as far as to drill every hole — all 900 of them, which meant they slept on the ice — the night and morning before the event.

“I’m thankful for the little community of volunteers that were willing,” Bruce said. “It’s kind of one of those fun camping things. Like, you’re miserable, but you know what’s coming.”

“I can’t convey enough … the passion behind this to make it happen,” said J.J. Ross, physical education and health co-ordinator at SJASD. “We didn’t know what we would get. And obviously there’s a thirst for this because the number of schools, and the number of people that got involved … I guess the biggest thing would be the passion of people like Dustin. It’s such a positive thing having people like that in our schools.”

After a successful first event, organizers hope to not only keep the derby going but also to enable it to grow and thrive in years to come.

“Some of the schools, they’re not prepared to put on and provide that type of experience,” Ross said, noting that this was the first time many participants had been in that situation. His favourite memory of the day involved the “one that got away,” and a disgruntled student losing their first fish.

“By having all the buckets and measuring devices and release tools … They’ve had a set experience just to get them started. Then I anticipate it growing from there, within their schools, and this derby getting more and more popular. It gets programs off the ground in more schools, because they’re provided with the equipment and that experience. It takes one less step out of it. They could just show up and do those things, with help on board,” he said.

Visit SJASD.ca for more information, stats, and a story from the division.