Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: Rodney on April 15, 2009, 10:11:38 PM
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(http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc90/fishingwithrod/2009/090415-1.jpg)
For a long time now I have been writing about different, unexplored fishing opportunities in the Tidal Fraser River. I get many questions in emails about them. Here is a great opportunity for those who are interested to find out more, by coming to this year's Fish for the Future on Saturday July 11th!
Fish for the Future is an annual fishing festival in Steveston that we have started on the website since 2003. The purpose of the event is to promote sportfishing, biodiversity of the Fraser River ecosystem and conservation. The event is supported by both the BC Family Fishing Weekend and the National Fishing Week. At this event, kids have the opportunity to try out fishing with all the free fishing gear provided. When fish are caught, they are placed in an aquarium for the kids to observe and learn before they are released back into the water. Flycasting and flytying workshops are available for anyone who wishes to learn. Various stewardship groups will be onsite to let the public know what projects are currently happening to enhance urban streams and re-establish their inhabitants. DFO is also present at the event to answer questions that you may have.
Please visit the event website for more information: http://www.fishingwithrod.com/fftf
You can be both a participant and a volunteer. The event is only possible with dedicated individuals who help out on the day. We need people to...
- help kids with fishing on the floating dock.,
- set up tents, signs, tables and chairs before the event,
- take down after the event,
- teach people how to tie flies,
- organize the fishing gear for loaning,
To make things a bit more interesting, I've decided to be out of town until July 8th. This means I need someone to put up posters at the rec centres, Save on Foods, Safeway and other public places two weeks prior to the event.
If you are interested in voluteering, please send me an email at info@fishingwithrod.com.
Volunteer list (updated on April 20th)
Rodney
Lucky + Mary
Dragonspeed
Fishersak
Newsman
Murf + Taffydoll
Rantalot
Buckeye + Buckwife
Floon + Deb
Chrome Mykiss
Skunkaroo
Chris
RP3 Flyfisher
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I think I see some familiar faces.... :D
At this point in time, the plan is to head out your way for the event again. I imagine you'll come up with something for us to do..... ;)
Seems we always get put to work wherever we show up.... :P
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Great! So we can expect good sandwiches again right? ;)
Anyone else? I am not looking for 100% commitment right now, but rather a rough idea on how much help I would get so I can decide whether this year's event is actually doable in the next couple of weeks.
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Im in again always glad to help ;D
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Hi Rod
I will book the day off
love helping the kids to fish
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Thanks for the support, looking forward to see you two again. I'd like to think that all volunteers, participants can mutually benefit from each other at this event instead of just for the kids. Perhaps this year the flycasting section can be more advanced. Any other ideas?
I'd like to see increase of educated angling participation in this area, the event is one way to accomplish that. Making sure people don't toss sculpins on dry land to die, which is a pretty common abuse in the summer, is important since bull trout and cutthroat trout feed on them. This event is also a channel for DFO to get more interactive with the public, so people would be motivated to work with them to combat violations.
Maybe this year we'll finally do the post-event group eat-out at Sockeye City. I'd suggest sushi, but Chris... :-\ ;)
Anyone else? The event is slowly coming together.
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I think you mean to say that you will finally JOIN us for dinner after the event..... :P ;D
I can make sandwiches again if you like, it's not a lot of work really. It's just like I have a few more kids over for lunch.... :D
Maybe let the volunteers know this time though.... ;)
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No Sushi :o
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Put me down for the fly casting again Rod. You say you would like to see advanced; Okay. More detailes please.
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I think you mean to say that you will finally JOIN us for dinner after the event..... :P ;D
Yeah. :-[
I can make sandwiches again if you like, it's not a lot of work really. It's just like I have a few more kids over for lunch.... :D
Maybe let the volunteers know this time though.... ;)
Yes please. :) Let the volunteers know? I need my food ration for the rest of July. :-\
No Sushi :o
You're missing out, R. ;)
Put me down for the fly casting again Rod. You say you would like to see advanced; Okay. More detailes please.
Not really sure. I think Rick will probably be coming out this year too. I'll let you guys explore for new creative ideas as it is your specialty. Maybe a casting comp of some sort. :)
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Please vote in the poll even if you have replied. This way I'd have an idea on participation. I've started an updated list of volunteers in the first post.
Exhibitors are starting to confirm their attendance. Slowly coming together. :)
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Fishing in the tidal Fraser can be a fun time..... once threw a bar rig by the No 2 Bridge (south side)... high tide... just for the heck of it... as a few yrs ago lived in an apt building close by.----(after 30 min) Seen my rod move a few times ... then something got hooked... It was big whatever it was as my rod was bent over. ----Never did get to see what it was as my line broke after a matter of secs... (10lb test) ------------- Got my heart beating----------- Rod your recent article on the "middle arm" is a good read....lots of info --------- Ironically the chap who is on that interesting tv show WINGS OVER CANADA also lived in that area ( I don't know about if he still does today) Think his name is John Lovelace ??? (at least that is what pops in my head) He flys his float plane to various locations in Canada.... talks about the location ... history... most times he gets a fishing rod out... & he gets so excited when there's a...... "fish on"............ Definately lots of adventures to be had on the TIDAL FRASER !!! ---------- :)
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An event page on Facebook has been set up for this now. :)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=101818878624&ref=mf
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Please note that our seed funding from the Family Fishing Weekend Society, which comes from the Provincial Government, has been cut in half this year. Instead of getting $500 to run the event, we'll be gettin $250 instead. It should be ok as I will be putting a fair amount into this fund from the website subscriptions as promised. The money will go into paying for an ad in Richmond Review a few days before the event, plus various little items that we need during the event.
The event is also only possible with various individuals supplying their services for free. Bwi Bwi supplies all the printing of posters and flyers at his shop. Chrome Mykiss brings a couple of fish tanks since he has a gazillion at his place. Newsman sets up the entire flycasting section with tarp and everything. Pacific Stream Keepers supplies 10X10 tents for the event, which cuts down the cost tremendously. Redli supplies lots of fishing equipment. Tables and chairs are usually supplied by the Abbotsford Hatchery and Randog. etc etc... As you can see, the event is very grassroot, very community-based. If anyone else wishes to supply stuff (I'm not sure what's needed yet, but it'll become more apparent as we get closer to the event), please do let us know.
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Rodney
do you need any drinks or snacks ???
I am sure i can get the company i work for to donate some goodies
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Hi Britguy, usually I go to Costco to buy pop, water and some chips for volunteers, and buckwife makes sandwiches for volunteers. I'm not permitted to sell drinks or food for the general public, as that is one of the requirement in hosting this event in the City of Richmond. Would that be something you guys can provide (drinks and chips)? If so let me know and I'll let you know how much I need specifically when the date gets closer and I'll add the company to the sponsors list on the event website.
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Just an update. :)
Thanks to those who have emailed me and expressed their interests in helping out on event day. It looks like we will be able to run it very smoothly again this year, just need the weather to cooperate like every other year. If you haven't replied but are still interested, you're absolutely welcome to join us.
Just about all the organizations have replied back and confirmed their attendance at the event. Seymour Salmonid Society will once again bring a tank of coho smolts and their insect lab. Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC will be on site and hosting ongoing learn to fish sessions for kids. OWL will once again bring their popular birds of prey. DFO Steveston will be on site to answer your question on saltwater fishing around the Lower Mainland, the officers will most likely bring their boat around too for the kids to see. Vancouver Aquarium will be attending once again to let everyone know more about the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. We'll have a flytying booth, flycasting section, an aquarium section for kids to display their catches and a fishing tackle section. That's about it! Next update will be sometimes in May or early June. :)
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We are now just over one month away from this year's event. Thanks to several people who have taken up some of the planning tasks of the event while I am out of town. :) If you still want to volunteer but have not replied, please feel free to send me an email.
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hey rodney i would be intrested in helping out i rep for a bunch of comanpys and i can see if i can get some fishing tackle donated to help jsut let me know what you need and all see what i can come up with just let me know or msg me your email address and ill send you a list of the companies i work for and see if there is anyhtig we can do to help out
andy
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I could help out in the beer garden :)
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;D I could help out in the emptying of the beer garden ;D
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Thanks for the offer Andy. I am actually quite well taken care of on the fishing tackle. The event is operated under the BC Family Fishing Weekend, which is sponsored by various companies. They provide rods, reels and other terminal tackles each year.
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Bump! We are just over two weeks away from this year's event now.
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Just less than two weeks to go. Thanks to Daniel from DNE and Fishersak, posters and flyers went out to all the stores etc a few days ago. :)
Both RP3 and Newsman will be running flycasting lessons throughout the event, so if you want to get into flyfishing this year, make sure you come on out!
We're still looking for a couple more people to do the licence writing and helping on the floating dock.
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:)
sounds like its all coming together. have made a post on the HS'ing forum like I mentioned. will send out 1-2 reminders in the upcoming weeks.
I could probably write out licenses I guess, as long as I have someone to trade off with after awhile, but I actually had fun putting worms on hooks too......hmmm what to do, what to do!!! ;D
(ps. apparently the tent is not as easily fixed as we thought.....so that's up in the air yet, whether its coming or not :( )
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:)
sounds like its all coming together. have made a post on the HS'ing forum like I mentioned. will send out 1-2 reminders in the upcoming weeks.
I could probably write out licenses I guess, as long as I have someone to trade off with after awhile, but I actually had fun putting worms on hooks too......hmmm what to do, what to do!!! ;D
(ps. apparently the tent is not as easily fixed as we thought.....so that's up in the air yet, whether its coming or not :( )
If the CVRCC display comes down they will need the tent fixed, can not sit out in the sun. ;D ;D
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well then the SALMON SOCIETYshould have TAKEN BETTER CARE OF THE TENT!!!
:o ;D
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Right it was being used for the CVRRC display until The Master took it over, better send Frank a bill. ;D ;D
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We are now just over 10 days away from the event! Between this forum and Flybc.ca, we now have around two dozen volunteers for the event. Thank you. Food and drinks will be provided for volunteers.
Come on out with your kids on July 11th for a fun day of family fishing! :)
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One week until the event! The weather forecast is looking quite promising, not too hot and not too cold.
Chris will be coming out to this year's event so if anyone who's interested in info on barfishing and other fishing techniques in the Fraser Valley, you should definitely come out and chat with him!
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Picked up the CVRCC sign from Don today, looking forward to the event and putting some faces to names.
Also dinner after. ;D ;D
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Good to hear. ;) You should bring a barfishing setup down as well to show people the secret. ;)
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On a more serious note, there will be an information table set up at the event for the proposed project Garibaldi at Squamish and its possible impact on the Cheakamus River by drawing water from its headwater for the resort's water usage. We will have comment forms available for people to fill out, which will be submitted to the environmental assessment office by July 19th.
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what time do you want us there?? & do i need to bring ice and coolers for the drinks too? :-\
our to do list is this:
water
pop
sandwiches
tent
correct? ???
(oh, and fix bug pumps for Chris, since he likes to "borrow" the kids so he can get lots of bugs..... ;D)
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Come on down around 9am. We'll start the setup around 8:30am.
If you can bring cooler with ice too that would be great. :D If not, either I or Chrome Mykiss will do it. We'll talk tomorrow after I land in Vancouver. :P
Yep, water, pop, sandwiches, tent and Buckeye's camera. ;D
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Come on down around 9am. We'll start the setup around 8:30am.
If you can bring cooler with ice too that would be great. :D If not, either I or Chrome Mykiss will do it. We'll talk tomorrow after I land in Vancouver. :P
Yep, water, pop, sandwiches, tent and Buckeye's camera. ;D
And my new video camera. ;D ;D Watch out u tube. O and a new computer being installed tomorrow, can up load pictures at the press of a button. :-\
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Weather presently.... WET... forecast for Wednesday ....WET....but weather for weekend ...... SUNNY !!!!
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New video camera! Digital... You're gonna have to spend a lot of time learning how to connect it to your computer. ;D
Yep, sunny weather as usual, hopefully the wind will be light.
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New video camera! Digital... You're gonna have to spend a lot of time learning how to connect it to your computer. ;D
Yep, sunny weather as usual, hopefully the wind will be light.
17 hours of time on a hard drive if you call that digital. ;D
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Thanks to Berry's Bait and Tackle, I now have 300 dew worms sitting in my fridge. :-X Come on down on Saturday to make them swim.
Berry's and other local stores have been active supporters of this event since the beginning.
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yay worms!!! :D
don't forget hats and sunscreen, its gonna be a warm one 8) calling for 31 in the 'wack, good thing we're heading away from it! ;)
well, off to the store for me, hmmmm what else can I add to the grocery receipt that Rod won't notice....... :o ;D
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If you're coming down tomorrow to fish, or to help out etc, bring a chair. :) It'd make the experience much more enjoyable with the weather that we are expecting to have. :)
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Perfect weather as expected! See you all at 10am!
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Went to THE FISH FOR THE FUTURE EVENT today... & just want to say CONGRADULATIONS to all involved as everyone was having a great time. All the people at the booths were A-1 friendly people. Ya could tell they had their "heart in it". Also nice to have met Rod 1st hand & Trevor (DFO) whom I've met in the past. That falcon bird really was GREAT TO SEE up close !!!
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whew, long busy HOT 8) day, but it was GREAT!! :D I'd say it was a job well done by all, especially Rod, who has to put it all together. :)
Nice to see everyone again, at our once a year get together, lol. I know our family quite thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Thanks to all the volunteers for eating almost all of the sandwiches. The kids are very appreciative that they don't have to eat tuna and egg for 3 days straight. ;D ;D
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A big thanks go out to all the volunteers and all the parents who brought their kids down for the event. :)
Some stats:
124 juvenile saltwater fishing licences were written up. Some kids also came with a fishing licence already, so we probably had around 150 kids today. Last year we wrote up exactly 200 licences. Attendance was down slightly, but traffic was still very steady at a relaxing pace, except the first two hours, which was almost a controlled chaos.
102 fish were caught and released.
- 62 coastrange sculpins
- 21 pacific staghorn sculpins
- 10 northern pikeminnows
- 5 peamouth chubs
- 4 starry flounders
Every kid who caught a fish was given a prize. The prizes available included T shirts, hats, fishing rods, lures, etc.
Ten rod and reel setups, which were provided by the BC Family Fishing Weekend Society (down from last year's 25), were used during the event and given away to kids at the end. The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC provided additional 30 loaner rods during the event so we could accommodate over 40 kids fishing on the pier at one time.
Here are some memorable shots from today.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2636/3712259052_340911130f_o.jpg)
Aaron (Skunkadoo from FlyBC) teaching a future fly tyer.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3512/3711443633_6f74c6dace_o.jpg)
Bullhead city.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/3711450861_b8c4e89453_o.jpg)
Exploring the micro-critter world.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2532/3711442459_f9d261e98d_o.jpg)
The star of the show.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2674/3711448625_51280e6b13_o.jpg)
Baiting worms is also a part of their job.
The rest of my photos can be seen at:
http://www.fishingwithrod.com/member/gallery/2009fftf
More about the event later. :) Feedbacks of course please on what different or more improved things we can do next year. Time to relax on the couch. ;D
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Good event, thanks for all that helped make it a success including Cathy who made all the sandwiches for the volunteers. Dion was fortunate to get a rare float off me for a cup of Tims, I think he called it a Bandera Float, at least it sounded like that, said it was worth $12???
Maybe he better buy me a few more cups then. ;D ;D Floon received a Maple Leaf Drennan in exchange for a fly he said would guarantee me a trout. ;D The MLD will guarantee him a steelhead too.
FA did not show up for his MLD I owed him on a bet. :o.
Rodney, George, Cathy and family along with Carlo had an enjoyable supper at Sockeye City after we looked at all the fish being sold at the docks. They wanted $14 a pound for chum roe. :o
I had a nice sleep under a shade tree at Garry Point until George woke me up as he was on the way to White Rock to get bugs and I had the 3 pumps. The kids, all of us had fun getting the bugs and I got some plucks.
Rodney calculated the tide perfectly as 7 pm had the tide just right.
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Thanks to all for a great event! My daughter had a terrific time. It was great to catch up with Rod, Chris, Dion and Carlo again. Special thanks to Aaron for helping my daughter out in tying her first fly. I think I might have learned a little bit myself ;) Hope to see you guys out on the water this year!
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We were definitely very lucky with the weather! I just took a peek outside and is it ever windy! Shower has never been a convern for my event, it has always been the wind. The pier is too open and any wind would make the event very unpleasant. Yesterday's condition was simply perfect, sun, not too warm, a light breeze from the Southwesterly, so nice that Chris even had a nap under the tent during the event. ;D
This event has always been a group effort, so we should credit all individuals. I like the fact that I can send out a notice to everyone who has been involved every year and expect them to show up to run this event smoothly.
Many thanks to Buckwife again for the sandwiches. This time we actually made an effort to hand them out to volunteers and the responses were very good.
Also have to thank her, Natalie and my neighbour Jen for writing up 124 fishing licences for the kids.
Thanks to the FlyBC gang (Skunkaroo, Floon, Mitchell, Wayne) for taking care of the flytying workshop. Skunkaroo had three or four kids tying at one time, it was like a factory. ;)
Thanks to RP3Flyfisher/Rick and Newsman for running the flycasting section. I'm sure some received some valuable tips. Even if little kids only got to swing the rod around a few times, at least now they had a chance to do it and perhaps will be inspired to do more later on.
Thanks to Rantalot and Murf70 for picking up and dropping off the tables and chairs, as well as doing probably the hardest job at the event with Druid, Alex, Buckeye and Dion - working on the floating dock. They had to endure the sun, dozens of kids who were asking for worms at one time, unhooking fish, bringing fish in buckets to the tanks, releasing fish for kids, untangling birdnests, the list goes on. Alex also did a good job on the creel survey.
Thanks to Daniel from DNE and Steven from Army and Navy for taking care of giving out the rods and reels.
Thanks to Chrome Mykiss for running the aquarium section smoothly. We only had a few floaters, his dad, an aquarium enthusiast, can be very proud. ;D
Thanks to Derek and Gen at DFO Steveston for taking the time to educate the public. The best way to reduce violations is prevention, which can be effectively done through public outreach.
Thanks to Tanya and Alana at the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC for coming all the way from Abbotsford to do learn to fish lessons, lending out rods and reels, and promoting freshwater fishing in BC.
Thanks to Matt and Brian from the Seymour Salmonid Society for doing a freshwater invertebrate section at the event, which demonstrated that biology can indeed be cool and fun.
Thanks to Chris for coming all the way from Chilliwack to represent the Chilliwack Vedder River Cleanup Coalition. To reduce the recreational garbage problem in the Chilliwack River watershed, we need to educate potential users who are coming from the Metro Vancouver area.
Thanks to Jean and Raizy from the TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, for bringing awareness of the growing garbage problems along our sea and lake shorelines. This year's TD Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is happening between September 19th and 27th.
Thanks to Sue and Thomas at OWL for bringing the feathery stars of the event. By having birds of prey at the event, it reminds anglers that we need to treat our waterways more carefully when fishing by not disgarding fishing lines in the water, which can often harm these majestic species of flight.
Some thoughts on what we can improve at next year's event:
I think that I will put together an information sheet that is handed out to every parent/kid who sign up for the licence. More generic background information should be given to them first, such as some safety rules. I'd also like to see fish not being carried from the pier to the fish tank on the fishing line. They should be unhooked and placed in the bucket with water to ensure that they would not die.
We also need to use slightly bigger hooks next year to prevent deep-hooking. Last year our hooks were too big, so this year we decided to downsize them. Next year we'll find something more suitable for all species.
Funding issues. This year we received $200 instead of $500 from the BC Family Fishing Weekend Society, which is funded by the Province. I can run the event quite cheaply, but that budget is getting pretty extreme. Because we are organizing this loosely instead of as a fishing club/association, we don't have the option of getting money from our own group. I guess we could solve this by starting a group, which would have a bank account, but that's getting a bit too much administrative work I think. ;)
Beside the $200, we've put in an additional $400 thanks to subscribers of my website ($5 of each subscription goes to the event). We also received 10 rods instead of 25 rods from the society, which cannot accommodate 100+ kids. Thankfully the last couple of years we have the help from the FFSBC for bringing loaner rods as well.
Our costs for this year's event included the following:
$89.97 on renting tables and chairs
$68.77 (US) on Facebook advertising
$220 + GST for one ad printing in Richmond Review
$56.37 on food and drinks for volunteers and exhibitors
Ideally I would have liked one more ad printing in Richmond News (there are two local newspapers in Richmond) but that was not possible this year. This may explain the slight drop of attendance. Our expenses were also cut down in the followings:
Tents are provided by the Pacific Streamkeepers Federation and DFO so we didn't have to rent them.
Special event fee was waived by the City of Richmond.
Berry's Bait and Tackle provided bait and all terminal tackle required.
Our posters and flyers were printed by Great Green Printing at Cambie and Marine, for free. Thanks Bwi Bwi!
Anyway, that's just a breakdown of the cost to run a grassroot event like this if anyone else is interested in doing one. :) Not looking for donations as some have offered right now, perhaps when the event gets closer next year and if I think more funding is needed, we will do something like that.
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It was good but like you said the dock was very hot have a nice sunburn on the noggin to prve it:)My only concern with the dock,with so many kids and of course the short attention span iam worried that some one may fall in.Maybe kids lifejackets would not be a bad idea?
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In the first year when we did it, we had around 20 life vests that canoe man provided for the day. I haven't been able to find other sources to get life vests since then and the funding limits my option. The City of Richmond actually doesn't require the event to have life jackets, otherwise they would have make it a mandatory rules on the floating dock at all time. I guess the 5 million dollar liability insurance is sufficient enough for them. :-\ To minimize any danger, I've always chosen the event day that has a low tide during the event so we are blocked by that rockwall just upstream from us, away from the swift current of the Fraser main channel. Good idea though, have to explore that again in the future. Perhaps we need to minimize the number of people on the floating dock at one time by only lending out 30 or less rods at one time.
This year we also decided to not issuing licences to kids under the age of five and letting them fish on the floating dock for safety reasons.
Having radios on the floating dock, rod lending station and the registration table might be a good idea too for better communication, so I don't have to run up and down the pier. Oh yeah, Dion phoned me halfway through the event from the floating dock and asked what he should do with his great find in the water... :-X
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yup that was sick >:(Some people eh!
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Here is a link to the Video I made up with all the pic's I took that day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8H8dEeEOFk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8H8dEeEOFk)
Rick
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Nice compilation of photos, I didn't make it to the event but looking at your video ill be there with the kids next year.
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nicely done
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Hey Rick you do have some talent after all.......