Triumphant Return of the Alpine Juan de Fuca Fishing Tournament!
It was a fantastic weekend in early September for the return of the long celebrated, and clearly missed, 2024 Alpine Juan de Fuca Fishing Tournament. Anchored by our two Major sponsors – The Alpine Group and GFL Environmental, the event returned in a big way. With a $20,000 first place prize, and a total prize board featuring more than $45K for the top ten fish, there was a buzz in the fishing community and word spread quickly.
The Tournament organizing committee had envisioned a successful restart and planned the event for up to 300 participants. A fun Tournament Registration event, hosted at the Langford Legion #91, kicked off the fundraising Tournament. Dinner and beverage specials provided by the Legion were supplemented with lots of raffle prizes and a big 50/50 draw, Tournament T-shirts and friendly banter.
As the Tournament Registration event was the last opportunity to purchase Tournament tickets, the organizers were prepared to sell a few more tickets prior to the 9:00PM cutoff. By the end of the night, ticket sales had exceeded over 500, greatly exceeding the committee’s expectations.
As the sun came up on a beautiful fishing day, it didn’t take long for the action to start at the Tournament Weigh Station hosted at Pedder Bay Resort and Marina. Minutes after the Weighmaster opened the Station, the first Chinook of the day was hanging on the scale at 22.05 lb. Two more Chinook quickly followed, and while there were some lulls in the arrivals, by 11am there was a steady stream of fish being weighed in.
All day long, the Tournament’s volunteer weigh-in, cleaning, and recording team got into a groove and managed to process the 56 fish submitted in a timely fashion. Even when the final push came at the 3:00PM Tournament cutoff, the line was deep but the team processed them quickly. A crowd gathered around the Weigh Station and across the scenic outcrop overlooking Pedder Bay, with growing anticipation for the final outcome.
When all was said and done, a beautiful 22.25lb Chinook weighed in by Danny Wick narrowly took the first place prize of $20,000. Finishing in second place, by only 1 tenth of a pound, and winning $7000, was Mary Roschat. In 3rd place, at 22.05 lb was one of our Sponsors – Jeremy Petzing from The Local. In total, 56 fish were weighed in the Tournament (and lots more caught, but not necessarily weighed once their fishers saw the leaderboard!).
The Tournament organizers would like to sincerely thank all of the fishermen who donated their catch to the Sooke Food Bank. After fileting and bagging the fish, we were able to provide the Sooke community with over 70 large bags of fresh salmon filets. And with recent news that the Sooke Food Bank was closing due to lack of donations, SVIAC donated the proceeds of the Registration Night 50/50 draw to the Sooke Food Bank – $1575, to support their important work in the community.
The Tournament Organizing committee and sponsors overall were thrilled with the outcome of this year’s Tournament. While the Tournament was well received by the participants, there were certainly some takeaways for improvements in the future, with lots of good things learned from this experience. A huge THANKS to the volunteers for all their efforts, and we hope more members and friends will step forward to make next years’ event even better!
Most importantly, this Fishing Tournament is a major fundraiser event for the South Vancouver Island Anglers Coalition. Thanks to the Sponsors, Participants and Volunteers, over $50,000 was raised in this year’s Tournament.
The funds raised will go to support SVIAC’s Chinook Enhancement Initiative in the Sooke Basin, which has released almost 5 million Chinook smolts into the Salish Sea over the last 8 years. Specifically, the funds will be used towards replacing the aging net pens and structural repair work to the enclosures used to host the smolts. SVIAC has also started planning and engaging other communities to expand this initiative to other locations on Southern Vancouver Island.
Finally, in addition to our Major Sponsors – The Alpine Group and GFL Environmental – SVIAC would like to formally recognize and thank the many great local community businesses who supported and sponsored the 2024 Alpine Juan de Fuca Fishing Tournament!
| Action Car and Truck Accessories ATP Bait and Tackle Cap-It Victoria Chateau Victoria Hotel and Suites Finest At Sea Four Points Sheraton Victoria Gateway Island Outfitters Keycorp Maxxam Insurance Mill Bay Marine Group / AdventureCo Pedder Bay Resort and Marina Peetz Canada | Peninsula Co-op Pewarchuk CPA Scotty Fishing Shockwave SpringTide Whale Watching Temptech Mechanical Ltd. The Local Pub Trotac Marine Victoria Coal and Heating Victoria Tug and Barge Williams Scrap Metal Zapco Welding and Fabricating |
Save the Date: September 7, 2025 for next year’s Alpine Juan de Fuca Fishing Tournament