A Father’s Day tradition for over three decades, the Walleye Classic returns for its 35th year this Saturday, June 14, for an event full of fishing, food, live entertainment, and more. It’s just a few short days away—and it isn’t too late to sign up.
“They can go to www.riverhurstwalleye.ca and register online. All the payment information and everything is right on the website, and it's $260 to enter for a team,” said Chairman of the Walleye Classic Committee, Cameron Durfey.
Once registered, up to 100 two-person teams will hit the lake, try their luck, and compete for prizes in a wide variety of categories including: largest fish, best adult/child team, best male/female team, best new team, best father/son and father/daughter teams, and more.
“There are also some hidden weight prizes as well that we will give out,” said Durfey.
“It’s a fairly lucrative event for those that do well or have a lucky draw.”
It isn’t just a great way to spend Father’s Day, explained Durfey; the Walleye Classic is also a major fundraiser for the village hall and arena.
“The Riverhurst Rec Board pays for all of the upkeep and maintenance costs for those two buildings,” said Durfey.
“(The Walleye Classic) allows us to keep it open. We're a very small village where, during the winter, we only have about 75 or 80 people that live here full-time. So, it's a pretty big undertaking for a village this size to keep our facilities open.”
While the fishing component takes centre stage at the Walleye Classic, there are some new additions to the event both on and off the water.
“We’ve got Dr. Chris Summers from the University of Regina that will be there with the crew. They do a lot of fish tagging to monitor the size and weights of the fish that are being released,” Durfey said, noting that it is quite interesting to see how often the same fish get caught year over year.
“It's a research project that's been done for over a number of years and at many of the tournaments across Saskatchewan... it’s a really good event for the community and it also helps the university keep track of the walleye population in these lakes.”
Along with Dr. Summers’ fish tagging project and the Walleye Classic itself, the Riverhurst Rec Board has plenty on the go for the duration of the event, explained Durfey.
“Our headquarters is the arena at the skating rink, and we have meals on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night that are available for purchase. We've got some raffles and some draws, and we have a fundraiser for the local library that also has a bucket raffle table.”
“We've got live entertainment that comes on Saturday night, where we've got The Turnpike Troubadours, which is a group of three local musicians that have come together in the last year, and they play some very good music; they're very talented.”
No registration is needed to enjoy the off-water activities in the village.
“We're hoping everybody has a safe and good time in the tournament, and I can be reached at 306-630-5240 if anybody has any questions about the tournament or about entries or anything like that.”
More information, including how to register for the Riverhurst Walleye Classic, updates on the event, and more can be found on the Walleye Classic website or on their Facebook page.
