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SALMON FEST 2018: Alberni Valley Tyee Club’s second ladder season’s in full swing

Junior anglers get in on the action too
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Paul Doré took over first place in the adult category of the Alberni Valley Tyee Club’s 2018 ladder with a 34.1-pound chinook caught Aug. 19 at Underwood Cove using a 02 Red hoochie. He was still leading as of Aug. 26. SUBMITTED PHOTO

The Alberni Valley Tyee Club’s second annual ladder season is heating up, with the end of the season coming shortly after the Port Alberni Salmon Festival wraps up.

This is the second year in a row that the club—whose history is intertwined with that of Salmon Fest—has adopted a ladder system for its top fish. As of this writing, Paul Doré was leading the adult board with a 34.1-pound chinook caught on Aug. 19. The junior side was trading leaders.

The ladder system records the top three fish for both adults and juniors as well as hidden weights throughout the season, explains club president Carolyn Jasken.

“Before we had weekly winners and a midway derby and a main derby. Now we just have a ladder season with the top three in each category. Anything 18 pounds and over are eligible for hidden draws.”

The change was made because volunteers were putting in a lot of time to organize the weekly events and derbies. It’s also easier for anglers to know who is in the lead and decide whether they think they have a potential winner in the boat before deciding to come in to the marina and have it officially weighed and recorded, she said.

“It works for people who are cabin owners in Barkley Sound and for everybody.”

The ladder offers prizes of $1,500 for first place in adults, $1,000 for second place and $500 for third place. On the junior side, first place wins $500, second place $300 and third place $100.

Fish only qualify for the ladder if you have a membership, which costs $20 for adults (16 years and older) and $5 for juniors (15 and under). Memberships are available at Gone Fishin’, on the corner of Johnston Road and Margaret Street, Port Alberni.

Proceeds go towards the Tyee Club and to Alberni Valley-based fish enhancement projects.

There are approximately 260 members of the Tyee Club, many of them from multiple generations. The age range in members is from five to 83 years. Jasken and Curtis Leyenaar, club vice-president, both have parents and children who are members of the club.

They have both passed on their love of fishing through their involvement in the Tyee Club.

“We’re just bringing (the club) into the future,” said Jasken. “Our motto is more tackleboxes, fewer Xboxes.” With that, they advocate fishing as a fun family outing.

Veteran club members also want to encourage their junior members to become stewards of the resource.

Follow the race to the top of the Alberni Valley Tyee Club’s ladder on their Facebook page. The season started on June 16 and ends Sept. 9 at 3 p.m.



susie.quinn@albernivalleynews.com

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Susie Quinn

About the Author: Susie Quinn

A journalist since 1987, I proudly serve as the Alberni Valley News editor.
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