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[Dave]

Dec 1st marks the first day of the 15th annual Wally Hall Jr. Memorial Steelhead Derby on the Chilliwack-Vedder River system.  Wally Hall Jr was an avid Vedder River steelheader and died far too young.  His father, Wallace Hall Sr, wanted to create a memorial for his son, something that involved the C-V system as that is what his son loved; hence this event.  Although I'm not generally a proponent of fishing derbies, I fully support this one as it has morphed into something that could be very beneficial to the future salmonid populations in the C-V .
 
Wally Hall Sr, Fred Helmer Jr and I are working together to make this 2014-2015 derby better and are committed to make this event a legacy to future salmonid enhancement on the C-V.   This year the entry fee is $20 which puts you in a derby that offers $1000.00 to the winner, a whole bunch of $100 hidden weight prizes, awesome other prizes (as previous attendees will attest to!!) and door prizes including a custom built Sage gear rod from yours truly, and much, much more.
 
Your $20 gets you a quality buffet lunch on Derby wrap up day but, best of all ….  at least $10, perhaps and hopefully more of that entry fee (depending on corporate sponsors who may get involved), will go to a dedicated fund to enhance salmonids on the C-V.

 The money from last year's derby dedicated to future enhancement work is app. 3k; along with that is a further 3k donated to this fund from the now defunct Chilliwack River Action Committee. In past years app 500 anglers have entered this derby so that means a minimum of 5 k will most likely be generated.  This money will be held and administered by the Fraser Valley Watersheds Coalition, http://fvwc.ca/ a group with strong ties to DFO’s Habitat Restoration program, and a group with a proven track record of successful grant applications and securing and leveraging relatively small amounts of money into meaningful projects.

So, if you fish the C-V, enter at Fred’s and put that $20 to a good cause 
 

[Rodney]

Looks good Dave! Fred and I had a chat about this a few weeks ago before he went on holiday, I'll be working hard with him to promote this.

[fishbuster]

Nice to see some of the money going back into the river.

[Dave]

Looks good Dave! Fred and I had a chat about this a few weeks ago before he went on holiday, I'll be working hard with him to promote this.

Excellent!  I believe this has great potential for much needed enhancement projects on our local river ... a few corporate sponsors could make this work, and that is where the FVWC really shines when it comes to grant applications.

[typhoon]

Any consideration of projects to stabilize the banks at the major slides? Seems like the number of fishable days has been shrinking every year. This also results in even more crowding in the (upper) upper river.

[Dave]

Any consideration of projects to stabilize the banks at the major slides? Seems like the number of fishable days has been shrinking every year. This also results in even more crowding in the (upper) upper river.

I doubt more money will be spent on trying to resolve these clay bank issues.  CRAC spent years and hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to repair these slides, with very limited results.  DFO engineers want nothing to do with this, and short of rip rapping the entire section of river that is comprised of clay, I don't think there is much that can be done, or will be attempted.
I expect the money generated from this derby will be put into much needed maintenance of the existing off channel spawning and rearing areas, along with strategic spawning gravel placements.

[Wiseguy]

I will be entering again this yr as I have for many yrs and hopefully many more yrs to come. It's a great cause! So pumped for a brand new steelhead season on a awesome river! Thank you to everyone involved. Tight lines

[bald_seagull]

sounds great always nice to help a good cause and get a days fishing in at the same time
my question is where/how do you weigh in?

if its based on weight i guess its not a c&r tourney?
is there a page with more info?

[Dave]

sounds great always nice to help a good cause and get a days fishing in at the same time
my question is where/how do you weigh in?

if its based on weight i guess its not a c&r tourney?
is there a page with more info?

try navigating around this site

http://www.fredscustomtackle.com/Fishing-Report_ep_77.html

[DRP79]

I will enter this year for the first time. Its good to know the $$$ will be well spent. Now I just gotta catch a hatch to enter. The first steel I caught was a hatch a couple years ago. The handful I have had since have all been wild.

[swimmingwiththefishes]

Good to see Chris. And yes good to know some of the money will be put back into the river.

[Archer]

I'm in. Heck I might even catch a steelie this winter...either way time on the CV is awesome fish or not!! 

[NexusGoo]

sounds great always nice to help a good cause and get a days fishing in at the same time
my question is where/how do you weigh in?

if its based on weight i guess its not a c&r tourney?
is there a page with more info?

You just head to freds and weigh your fish there. Wild fish don't count for the derby, but they do put new found energy to the icy hands so you can go out and catch a slab of a hatch

[Rodney]

Bump! Derby has started this morning!

Make sure you get your ticket at the store before you start fishing if you want to be in it.

[chris gadsden]

Bump! Derby has started this morning!

Make sure you get your ticket at the store before you start fishing if you want to be in it.

I think you have to have bought your ticket 24 hours before you can weigh a fish in, the reason is obvious.