Area anglers are taking to local lakes this weekend for the 41st annual Orillia Perch Festival presented by Leadbetter Foods Inc.
The event — running from Saturday, April 29 to Saturday, May 6 — encourages participants to use the MyCatch app to send in a photo of their daily catches for a chance to win up to thousands of dollars in prizes.
“It doesn’t get much better than that,” says Doug Bunker, the Orillia District Chamber of Commerce events co-ordinator. “You catch a fish, you take a picture, and you put it back in the lake ... unless you are going to eat it."
Coming out of the pandemic, Bunker admits the chamber is still working on re-building the festival.
“This year we are only a week long because we don’t have three weeks of prizes like we used to," he said. “However, we’ve managed to get some good sponsors on board and have some really good prizes."
Bunker says there are lots of tagged perch in the water this year; some are worth $500 and $1,000.
“There are $16,000 in tagged perch,” he said. “There are some big ones out there.”
Registration for the festival is quickly accelerating as the May 6 deadline approaches.
“It’s one of those things where people decide to do it at the last minute,” Bunker explained. “People see that the ice is off the lake, people start hearing about others catching perch, and then it just goes crazy.”
There's something new brewing this year: Perch “Pail” Ale, a limited-time beer to celebrate the Orillia Perch Festival offered at Couchiching Craft Brewing Co. Bunker says the collaboration speaks to the festival’s legacy.
“Every year is a little bit different,” Bunker, who has been involved with the event since 1986, explained. “The festival has always drawn attention to the area and we are glad that we’ve been doing it for so long now that it’s become a multi-generation fishing event.”
Bunker says fishing is a sport that anyone can do at any age, which is why the festival has been so successful at bringing people closer together.
“It’s a good bonding experience for families who go out and participate together,” he said. “It's something special that can bring people together."
For more information or to get registered for the festival, click here.
