Kate Lovsin,
Watershed Coordinator,
Big Lakes County ALUS Coordinator,
Lesser Slave Watershed Council.
This year marked the 8th Annual Kids Can Catch event in Joussard!
The Lesser Slave Watershed Council (LSWC) co-hosted the event with the Joussard Community Association Feb. 17 at the Joussard Community Hall. The day opened with a pancake brunch from the Big Lakes County FCSS team, which was followed by educational presentations on ice safety and fish handling with volunteer Tammy Kaleta.
During the day, there were activities inside the Joussard Community Hall, including a display with furs and other games from the Lesser Slave Forest Education Society.
The community rallied around the event, and the level of support received helps to make these events a success.
Thanks to the Joussard volunteer firefighters, Tammy Kaleta, Keith Denoncourt, Nicole St. Jean, Jeanette Willier, Ian Willier, the Joussard Community Association, and Tim Hortons High Prairie for helping to make the event a success!
We had prizes for the fishing portion of the event as well as door prizes for the kids. The first fish caught won $50 from deSIGNS by Tam and the largest walleye caught would have won a night stay in 2024-25 with a Pinto Ice Shack, courtesy of Pinto Ice Shack Rentals. Unfortunately, no walleyes were caught, so the prize was raffled off with the rest of the door prizes.
No fishing licenses were needed during the weekend, but as always, anglers had to follow the fishing regulations for Lesser Slave Lake.
The first participants arrived at the event just before 10:30 a.m. for brunch at 11 a.m. There were about 115 guests throughout the event for the daytime festivities, including brunch, activities in the hall, fish demonstration and fishing on the ice. Tammy Kaleta also did a fish gutting demonstration out on the ice.
Throughout the day, the LSWC had ice fishing rods to borrow, bait, snacks and hot beverages out on the ice, and volunteers to help first-time anglers. Special shout out to the Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers who joined us for the event and set up a mini fishing rod workshop to repair many broken and tangled rods. By the day’s end, we had approximately 135 participants, as some folks came for the chili supper only.
All in all, the day was a success! Participants had a good time learning about their lake and filling their stomachs with pancakes and sausage, doughnuts and cookies, hot chocolate and coffee, and chili and a bun.
And for those that stuck around after dinner, the Joussard Community Association sponsored an exciting fireworks show on the ice!
Be sure to save the date for next year’s 9th Annual Kids Can Catch on Family Day weekend in February 2025! Stay tuned for more information about the 2nd Annual Summer Kids Can Catch on July 6!
