t turned out to be one of the coldest August 17th on record. Luckily the fishing during the Annual Fish Winnipeg Media/Corporate Challenge kept everyone warm. During the morning session with twelve Winnipeg media outlets, a total of one hundred and seventeen fish were caught and released. The CJOB boat, captained by Dan Thibeault, caught sixty two fish, using small jigs and light line. Barry Burns and the crew will have bragging rights for a whole year
.
In the afternoon, with a cold north wind blowing, the fishing slowed somewhat but the Manitoba Hydro boat captained by Steven Wintemute of Hooked Magazine still managed to catch both numbers of fish along with some trophies. Linda Morin landed a 104 centimetre monster to push her team into first place. Once again the beneficiaries were Winnipeg youth at risk. According to program manager Martin Miller, this year could be the busiest on record for the Fish Winnipeg program with close to 650 youth participating
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All these young people get a chance to fish the Red and Assiniboine Rivers from shore and at the end of the day go home with a rod and reel. According to Miller, more than twenty master angler channel catfish have been caught over the course of the program by the group. The City of Winnipeg is a major partner with the Fish Winnipeg program and have expanded not only their week long fishing camps but also their "Learn to Fish" programs. Major sponsors of the event include Steamatic, Manitoba Hydro and Kississing Lake Lodge along with Pure Fishing and Cabela's.
This year, four lucky young anglers from the Fish Winnipeg program will be heading up north to fish at Kississing Lake Lodge. Donated by lodge owner Curt Enns, these young people will board a Calm Air flight to Flin Flon and fly in by float plane to the lodge, which is situated north of Flin Flon.
A special thanks to all the guides who donated their time and equipment to make our 14th annual Fish Winnipeg the best ever. They included Pete Hiebert, Vince D'Anglio, Sid Blum, Phil Boiteau, Bob Kalid, John Brandon, Ed Friedrich, David Warrenchuk, Doug Beddall, Clancy Soloman, Donovan Pearse, Scott Knight, Jan Bass, Rick Thiessen, John Armitage, Steven Wintemute, Jeff Goethals, and Dean Gilbert.
