The temperatures may have been frigid but that didn’t stop people from flocking to Lake Lenore on Jan. 13 for their annual fish smoker.
This year saw the smoker welcome approximately 400-500 people throughout the day to enjoy some of the 510 white fish filets that were available.
All of the fish was pulled out of Lenore Lake during a three-day fishing trip from Dec. 15-17, and was filleted and frozen.
Then a week prior the fish is pulled out of the freezers to thaw and is seasoned the day prior to the smoker.
The smoker is hosted by the Lake Lenore Hall Board and the Lake Lenore Wildlife Federation with both organizations using the smoker as a fundraiser for capital projects and basic operations.
In addition to the two organizations taking part, the Lake Lenore Lions Club and the Lake Lenore Knights of Columbus also helped out, with the Lions holding a $1,000 giveaway and the Knights holding a quad raffle.
Seeing both organizations help out as well, was great, says Schemenauer.
“It’s great for the community that all the different organizations can get together and work together to raise money for the community.”
Having the smoker is a great way to not only raise money, but it is also a great way to bring people into the community, says organizing committee member Alan Schemenauer.
This year marked the 30th consecutive year the lake has been commercial fished, says Schemenauer, who noted they have seen an upswing in the health of the lake and its fishers in recent years.
Schemenauer noted that in 1988 when they began fishing the lake commercially year-over-year production reached 4,400 kg of fish, with the average weight of the white fish coming in at 1.41 kg.
Today, the number of fishers have climbed from 46 licenses sold in 1988 to 74 licenses sold in 2018, with average weight of the fish reaching 2.13 kg, and the total amount of fish pulled out of the lake reaching approximately 58,500 kg.
Throughout the course of the three days, a number of game fish, including pike, perch, and walleye were caught, but the fishers were unable to keep them as they were required to be turned into the game wardens.
The wardens then use those game fish as a teaching opportunity in the schools, including teaching how to filet the fish, and the basic biology of a fish, before enjoying a fish fry.
“It exposes the kids to a natural resource that we have very close by here,” notes Schemenauer.
A number of volunteers stepped up to help out during the course of the day, or in the lead up, which is great to see, says Schemenauer, who notes without the help they would never be able to host the event.
Overall, Schemenauer was pleased with how the day went.
“I was there until 5, the hall was right full in the afternoon and I guess in the evening from what I was told it filled up again and the DJ played until 2:00 a.m. when the hall was shut down. It was a good fundraiser.”
In total, Schemenauer notes they were able to raise approximately $1,800 in fish donations, and approximately $15,000 once all of the money is tallied up.
