Three Whitehall alumni are putting on a fishing derby on Feb. 20 from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on South Bay, with 50% of the proceeds being donated to the Whitehall Backpack Program. The other 50% proceeds will go towards the prizes for the winners.
The brother-sister combo of Jake and Jess Moore, class of 2019, and Mike Rovelli, class of 1984, made the news public on Facebook when Jake shared the news on his page.
There will be four categories to participate in, and they will be pike, crappie, perch and heaviest other.
As of now they do not know how much money each winner in each category is going to receive.
“We don’t know exactly how we’re going to divide up that money yet depending on the outcome and how many tickets get bought,” Jess said.
Jess is going to be doing the admissions for the event. She will be selling tickets from 5 to 9 a.m. You must purchase a ticket prior to fishing at the event.
“We’re going to have a little table set up, and we are also going to have a raffle,” Jess said. “We are going to raffle off a fishing auger.” They did not have an exact price for the raffle tickets at press time.
A fishing auger is used to establish holes in the ice for ice fishing.
There is usually a fishing derby put on by Henry Neddo each year, but Jess said that he opted out of pursuing it this year because of COVID-19.
Jake and Jess would help put it on every year, and they didn’t want to go a year without it.
“We were like, ‘well we have to keep tradition going,’” Jess said. “So we’re still going to do a fishing derby, we’ll just make it a little different this year.”
There is not a limit on the number of people who can show up and participate in this fishing derby. Jess said that as far as COVID-19 is concerned, they will have it under control.
“We’ll be outside, spread out fishing,” she said. “I don’t think it should be a problem.”
While the trio doesn’t know how many people to expect at the derby, Jess said that people have expressed interest. She works at Stewart’s and people have asked her for more details while she has been working.
If you don’t plan on participating in the fishing derby you are still invited to stop by and check it out. The trio plans on having a “good and safe time” on South Bay for a good cause.
“Even if you don’t plan on fishing or you’re not a fisherman come down and hang out with your friends or donate or just check it out,” Jess said.
Tickets will be $25 for each participant in the derby. There will also be opportunities to donate to the Whitehall Backpack Program at the event.
For more information about the event you can call Jake at 518-222-3642 or Jess at 518-222-3549.
