Camp Walleye fun at Nelson Reservoir

Last weekend while many people attended the car show, races, motorcycle jumps, class reunions, concerts and annual feeds, a group of anglers – some novices, others season fishers – headed out to Nelson Reservoir for Camp Walleye.

Aside from the casting and reeling in, camp goers were treated to BBQ's, fried chicken, classes on how to construct spinners as well as boat safety and species identification. Camp Walleye attendee Eion Estill netted the largest walleye for the whole camp and his fish will be mounted by Logan Messerly (Logan donated the mounting to Camp Walleye...what a great prize!) Justine Lamb caught the largest walleye for the girls and she and Estill were awarded with new rods and reels for their winning efforts. The rods and reels were donated by the Malta Walleyes and the line for the poles was donated by Jim Mayer.

This was the Walleyes Unlimited Malta Chapter's Ninth Annual event and the event continues to gain popularity with local children and even with all the events going on in town, the fishing trip still drew over 20 young anglers and nearly twice as many volunteers to chaperone the trip ...many coming out with their boats. In order to be eligible for the fishing trip, each young angler first acquired a valid fishing and conservation license at the Walleye's Take A Kid Fishing Day in which several area schools brought their students to Nelson to ice fish.

Walleye's Malta Chapter President John Demarais thanked all the volunteers for their time and said everyone was pleased with how the outing went.

"We had a good time," he said. "We had 21 kids and about 40 adults. Everyone caught fish and had a fun time. The event gets better every year because kids are liking to fish and they hear it is a good time. Turnout would have been larger without all the other events, but it was a good turnout none the less."

Up next for the Walleyes Unlimited Malta Chapter will be the ramp extension at the north end of Nelson and they are already planning for the next banquet and planning for next year's Camp Walleye.