Fishin’ was the mission Saturday as the lower reservoir at Colliery Dam Park in Nanaimo was restocked with fish.
As part of a City of Nanaimo Family Fishing Day event, Freshwater Fisheries Society of B.C. was on hand, releasing 500 trout. The society also had experts on hand, teaching the basics of freshwater fishing.
Tristan Robbins, Vancouver Island Trout Hatchery manager, said the society and numerous groups teamed up to promote fishing in urban lakes and throughout the province.
“A lot of these lakes do have natural populations of trout, but the natural reproduction can’t support the amount of fishing pressure they get,” said Robbins. “Without a group like us stocking the lakes to keep trout numbers in there, there wouldn’t be very many fish to catch. It’s a great system. You buy a freshwater fishing licence and that money goes directly to us to grow more fish to stock the lakes.”
The event returned after a hiatus due to the pandemic, said Amanda Daly, recreation coordinator with the city.
“This is an annual event, we haven’t had it for a couple of years now,” said Daly. “Normally it’s on Father’s Day weekend, but this year we decided to do it on Mother’s Day weekend … it’s been an awesome turnout and it’s also a kick-off to Concerts in the Park (with Fiddelium performing).”
Daly estimated 200 people were in attendance.
For more information, go to www.gofishbc.com.
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