Each year, the BC Family Fishing Weekend is held on the third weekend of June. The Family Fishing Society of BC, which sponsors the event, says their goal is, first and foremost, to encourage British Columbians, especially young people, to go fishing and have fun with family and friends.
Incorporated as a non-profit society in 2002, the Family Fishing Society is mandated to encourage and develop new anglers, as well as promote and coordinate the BC Family Fishing Weekend.
The society’s primary objective is to encourage British Columbians to take up recreational angling as a pastime and, to enjoy B.C.’s many world-class sport fishing opportunities.
According to the society’s statistics, each year an estimated 25,000 people make use of the province’s three-day free freshwater fishing licence opportunity while trying their hand at angling.
Each year the society helps coordinate dozens of special community fishing events that attract more than 10,000 B.C. residents. The annual Salmon Arm Kids Fishing Derby, which will take place this year on Sunday, June 15 at the end of the Salmon Arm wharf, is one such event.
The Salmon Arm Kid’s Fishing Derby, which is open to all kids 12 years of age and under, has been going for 18 years and attracts some 800 people who come down to either participate or just watch the kids have fun. The event has become one of the most popular annual events in the Shuswap.
Following significant declines in both tidal and freshwater sport fishing licence sales, the Family Fishing Weekend program was devised to help rebuild angler demographics. Initiated by the BC Ministry of Fisheries, the Family Fishing Weekend was developed to promote the sport of fishing to B.C.’s residents in a fun family setting.
The provincial government approved an Order in Council to entrench the Family Fishing Weekend as an annual celebration of the sport of fishing.
Each third weekend of June, the provincial government waives the need for anglers to buy or carry freshwater fishing licence and any Canadian can try angling in B.C. within the rules without having to purchase a licence. Over the course of the weekend, the Family Fishing Society of BC and the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC work together to coordinate a number of special freshwater and saltwater community fishing events that annually attract an estimated 10,000 B.C. residents. It would seem perhaps, that the tide has turned– no pun intended.
Family Fishing Weekend events are all free to attend and open to the public.
Such events are an excellent way to learn the “how to’s” of fishing in a safe and fun environment. There is also a plethora of educational materials and displays featuring fishing techniques, skills, the ethics of angling, fish species and fish habitat and safety around water that can also be obtained through licence vendors, government agents, tackle outlets and tourism outlets, as well as on both the Family Fishing Society and Freshwater Fisheries Society’s websites.
The hope is that once families get hooked on fishing they will spend time together enjoying nature and all that the province has to offer.
Each year the Family Fishing Society of BC and the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, as well as representatives from the fishing tackle sector, sport fishing lodges and resorts, and both the federal and provincial governments, all work closely with community groups to make the third weekend in June a fun weekend.
I suppose the only way they could really improve on the idea of Family Fishing Weekend would be to make every weekend a Family Fishing Weekend.