Folks and families in the Lakes District who are interested in trying their luck or introducing kids to fishing will have a great opportunity on Family Day.
On Feb. 15, 2016, the Burns Lake Visitor Centre will launch the rod loan program in Burns Lake, with a free ice fishing event down at Radley Beach.
The rod loan program is a program by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. where families that may not have any fishing equipment are welcome to borrow spinning rods and reels complete with a tackle box of gear.
Susan Schienbein, Burns Lake and District Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Centre Manager, said the visitor centre decided to bring this program to Burns Lake after a causal conversation with members of the Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C.
“We have very few docks on our lakes and so I asked this gentleman how we could get a dock here; he said the first step was to show that the community was interested in fishing and that the rod loan program is a good way to track visitors, children, and families who may not have equipment, so the need to fish from a dock could be measured.”
“We jumped on it,” said Schienbein.
Burns Lake received four lake rods and four ice fishing rods, complete with tackle boxes, an ice auger and a skimmer last year. However, Schienbein said it was too late to launch the program in the summer, so the visitor centre decided to wait until the upcoming Family Day.
After the rod loan program is launched, people will be able to stop by the Burns Lake Visitor Centre to borrow fishing equipment at any time.
Blain Cunningham, co-owner of Woods N’ Water Sports and Recreation, said the rod loan program and the free ice fishing event will make fishing more accessible for folks in the Lakes District.
“Some of our best memories from living in the Lakes District have been fishing as a family,” said Cunningham. “Kids often want to try new things and this gives them an opportunity.”
Woods N’ Water is co-sponsoring the ice fishing event and will be providing extra rods for people who come down to Radley Beach.
During the ice fishing event, the visitor centre is also planning to have an “Instameet,” where people take pictures at a certain event and flood the Instagram with hashtags such as #visitburnslake or #icefishing.
Schienbein said the Instameet is an effort by the visitor centre to raise the profile of the Lakes District on social media.
“Instameets are practiced around the world and are a way to build an audience on Instagram; it’s is an amazing tool to market how beautiful this area is, and it’s free.”
But if you don’t know how to use Instagram, don’t worry. Event organizers will be providing people with a basic overview on how to use the app during the event.
“We will have a handout suggesting how people can use it [Instagram] to improve our presence to the outside world; we’ll be giving them some hashtags and showing them how we can grow an audience,” said Schienbein. “Instameets provide an opportunity to showcase something unique; and on Family Day, our unique feature will be family ice fishing right on Burns Lake.”
Schienbein said families can expect an opportunity to enjoy a traditional family event without having to head out to the back country. The event starts at 11 a.m. and will go until 1 p.m.
People will also be able enjoy hot dogs during the event, courtesy of Overwaitea Foods.