The fish were not biting but that didn’t deter an enthusiastic group of casters from having a wonderful day fly fishing on May 29.
Two dozen volunteers from the Parksville/Qualicum Fish and Game Club hosted another successful Fishing Forever event at the Coombs Country Camp Ground.
A hundred people from various retirement homes including Trillium Lodge, Stanford Place, Eagle Park, The Gardens and Long Lake Chateau enjoyed a morning of fishing.
Other guests from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and M.S. Society were also invited. Brian Borrett with the club said although there were a lot of big fish in the lake and plenty of fat worms for bait there were few strikes.
“The University of Victoria put 100 fish in the lake for us and the Coombs Country Campground put in 150,” he said.
Qualicum Foods supplied 100 lunches for all of the anglers and 89-year-old Trillium resident Andy Ovington took a trophy for the biggest trout.
The program was started in 1988 by Walt Limteen, a journalist and TV announcer in Prince George.
He loved fishing but found he could not fish anymore on his own as he had a muscle wasting disease so he started Fishing Forever through the B.C. Wildlife Federation for old and disabled people. The program runs throughout B.C. at different times of the year.
