Malta Walleyes Unlimited to host 27th Banquet on Saturday

The fish will be frying, the buckets will overflow with raffle tickets and good times will be had at the 27th Annual Malta Walleyes Unlimited Banquet this Saturday night, March 26, at Malta City Hall.

“As of (Monday afternoon) there are a little over 80 tickets left,” said Malta Walleyes President John Demarais. “Good food, with good people, you can’t go wrong. There are a limited amount of tickets available, so don’t wait until the last minute.”

The doors at Malta City Hall will open at 5 p.m. for the event and besides the food will feature the ever-popular bucket raffles, live and silent auctions, card-raffles (a rifle, a pistol and fishing poles among some of the items) as well as fish races and children’s games hosted by Walleye Shelby Brookie.

“We will also be giving out awards for Angler of the Year, giving away a scholarship award and the fishing hole over in the corner,” added Demarais. “Then we will have the usual as far as the menu goes.”

The “usual” will include, of course, pounds and pounds of fish, baked beans, buns, coleslaw, both red and tarter sauces, beverages galore and Cora’s World Famous Potatoes.

The money raised at the Malta Walleyes Unlimited Banquets over the years has gone to cover a slew of projects in Phillips County. In recent years, money raised at the banquet – along with the help of the Malta Kiwanis -- has gone to help pay for scholarships, young angler awards, the two 'take a kid' fishing events held (one winter and the other in the summer) as well as the footbridge near the park on South 12th Street East in Malta. Past monies raised have also purchased tables for Malta City Hall and the cook shelter behind the building. Malta Walleyes Unlimited already has an idea what they will do with some of the money raised at this weekend’s event.

“This year, since the lake is going to be down this year, we are going to extend the North Ramp,” Demarais said. “We are doing an in-depth, detailed study on exactly how low it will be with (Montana) FWP and Montana Bureau of Rec.”

To purchase tickets or ask questions about the night, people are encouraged to call Demarais at 301-1075 of Don Voegel at 654-1833 or 390-1708. Tickets can also be purchased at Westside Sports.

Malta Walleyes Unlimited was started by a group of anglers who hoped to improve the walleye fishing in the county.