LAKE DELTON, Wis. –Lake Delton’s “2nd Annual Youth Fishing Jamboree” will take place June 4 2011 on Lake Delton to again highlight and celebrate the restoration of the Lake Delton, the Dells area and its now-restored fisheries’’, project founders Ben Hobbins and Dan Small announced today. “The annual youth fishing jamboree is an ongoing event designed to celebrate the Dell’s crown jewel -Lake Delton, its tourism base and successful teamwork in rebuilding, enhancing, restocking and restoring of the lost watershed after the June 9 2 008 natural disaster.’’
The unique youth fishing jamboree format was developed in 2010 by Hobbins, implementing a mentored ‘’learn-to-fish’’, “youth fisheries biologist -catch record and release’’, ‘’ conservation and fisheries education’’ format never before seen. The format includes direct and indirect interaction and support from major national and area sponsors and hands-on mentoring from professional and collegiate fishing circuit anglers, sportsmen clubs, boys and girls clubs organizations, parent and other volunteer-mentors. It is also designed for boy, girl, school and vocational clubs merit badge activities.
A history lesson as seen on 24/7 news networks, June 9 2008 marked the day Lake Delton’s banks breached and waters drained -taking homes, an entire fishery, a large part of the tourism industry and much of Wisconsin Dell’s spirit into adjacent Wisconsin River in mere hours. The Lake Delton Fisheries Restoration Project was founded days later, with Hobbins calling Dan Small and then meeting directly with local Wisconsin Dells officials. A LDFRP Task Force at the Village of Lake Delton was formed days later made up of WI DNR’s regional fisheries biologist Tim Larson, retired state DNR fisheries biologist Gordy Priegel, and founders Ben Hobbins and Dan Small. The LDFRP was launched weeks later at the Outdoor Writer’s Association of America’s national conference June 21 2008 in Bismarck, ND.
June 9, 2009 marked the 1st anniversary of the disaster, the lake and area’s restoration in a ‘’Welcome Back Lake Delton Celebration’’ complete with a boat parade, honors by state and local officials and release of the fisheries’ first gamefish by Hobbins, Small and the DNR, preceded only months earlier by the release of millions of forage fish into virgin waters. The successful June 5, 2010 1st Annual Lake Delton Youth Fisheries Jamboree was marked by fishing surveys taken by ‘’youth fishery biologists-anglers’’ that were presented to the WI DNR in December 2010 by founders Hobbins and Small and concluding the successful $350K LDFRP effort to restore Lake Delton. Since fish stocking began for Lake Delton in spring of 2009, 10’s of thousands of walleye, smallmouth and largemouth bass, channel catfish, crappies, bluegills and millions of forage minnows were successfully stocked. ‘’At the 1st Jamboree –only a year after first stocking began, kids and mentor teams were catching and documenting fish of all species in large numbers –caught nearly every cast!’’ states Small.
Gander Mountain stores, F3 -Future Fisherman Foundation, River’s Edge Bait & Tackle, Schleef’s Bait & Tackle, Outdoor Life 25/Popular Science Top 10 inventor Ben Hobbins, Preferred Distribution of Lake Delton, Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, Frito Lay, Dan Small Outdoors, Gary Engberg Outdoors, the Brunswick/Crestliner™ boat group, Clear Channel/WIBA and many more area and national sponsors will help provide material and manpower support for the event. More area and Lake Delton Fisheries Restoration Project sponsors are slated to come aboard this event as the project is developed. “Bringing our youth into fishing at an early age helps sustain fishing and conservation efforts while developing a love for fishing and the outdoors,’’ added Hobbins.
More information on the project will be forthcoming.
