Welcome to the Consultants Invitational Fishing Derby - July 3, 2010

An invitational event hosted by the civil engineering community of Victoria to raise funds for the Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society.

UPDATE:  See below for great news for the Goldstream Fish Hatchery!

Proudly supported and sponsored by:                       Special thanks to our Feature Sponsor:  

 
 
Our 2010 Platinum Sponsors:
 
                      
 
Another year with more challenges than ever, yet we still find a way to pull it off in an effort to support our local hatchery.  From a
small social get-together with a modest annual donation, to a large 'regional' event that has now donated $33,500 in the last 3 years,
it's the end result that always helps us understand why we work so hard to make this event happen.
 

 

While this was the same event as always, you could certainly never tell.  We had a new venue - the beautiful Sooke Harbour Marina & Resort, we had a great pre-event party hosted by one of our platinum sponsors, Martech/Prime Resin, we had an incredible fully-catered meal thanks to Four Points by Sheraton Victoria Gateway, and a new band once again that even had connections in the civil engineering field - 3rd Rock.  We even ramped up the raffle this year and had 3 great prizes - an all inclusive 4 day, 3 night package for two to the incredible Sunds Lodge on Malcolm Island, this year's Feature Sponsor, a two day trip for 4 to Mills Landing in Bamfield c/w a full day charter, and a round trip flight for two to Vancouver with Westcoast Air.  The lucky winner of not just the top prize, but also the 2nd prize was Greg Hogge of Epcor - the stunned look on his face still remained some10 minutes later and we expect a full report upon his return from these great trips.  To break the sweep, the trip to Vancouver was won by Dennis Desjardins of 1st Team Consulting.
 
While the event is a great way for the engineering community to come together and socialize, it has also helped emphasize the fact that
the salmon fishing on the south coast has been struggling and the local volunteer hatcheries need the public's support.  What better proof
of that then the mere 13 salmon caught amongst about 175 fishers!  The hatchery component is ever so important if we want our future generations to be able to fish, and given the still strong returns we see in the local Sooke River, it is obvious what they are doing at the
Jack Brooks hatchery is working.  Even with difficult fishing (and of course the annual visit by the whales who likely stole the winning
fish from Team Golder), we were still able to bring in a few nice fish.  
 
The winner of the derby for a 2nd year in a row was Mike Homenuke of Team KWL with a 25.7lb spring and the largest bottom fish was
Sean Lefebvre of Team Corix with a 48.5lb halibut:
 
 

 
All in all, another great year in 2010, and although we couldn't beat our donation last year, we were still very proud to be able to
donate $11,000 to the Sooke Salmon Enhancement Society.    As another bonus for us and the Goldstream Fish Hatchery, we 
discovered through final cheque clearing in our account, that we had an additional $1000 available for donation.  As a committee,
we decided to provide support for this hatchery as they had a respectable 'wish' list they were hoping to fulfill.  With the $1000, 
they will be purchasing  3 ceramic air stones for their holding tanks aeration system.  One more thing to cross off the list.  
We hope more opportunities to support these smaller organizations will arise in the future.



A few historic facts:

  1. In the 1980's, the tradition began with UMA Engineering hosting a small local fishing derby.
  2. By 2005, their derby expanded to become a regional event hosted by nine consulting firms.
  3. In 2008, we took the next step with sponsorship, giving our industry suppliers and manufacturers a chance to sponsor and get
    together with many of their business contacts in a relaxed setting. included contractors, and members of the local government.
  4. For 2010, we once again looked to expansion, inviting other disciplines within the engineering community, and also getting
    involvement from CEBC, BC's association of engineering consulting firms with a membership of 86 firms.