Locals know that some of the best fishing in the entire world is right here in Manitoba, and a great way to combine your love of fishing with supporting kids in our community is to sign up for the 2026 Kidfish Ice Fishing Derby.
“Kidfish itself is a group of volunteers that get together and put on well, we do a couple of different things to raise money for the Child Life Department at the Children’s Hospital Foundation in Manitoba and pediatric cancer research for Cancercare Manitoba Foundation. One of those things that we do is hold an annual ice fishing derby in the community of Selkirk,” said Brad Porath, Executive Chairperson of Kidfish Manitoba.
The Kidfish Ice Fishing Derby is going to take place on Feb. 15, which is the Sunday of the Louis Riel long weekend.
“It’s also designated as a free family fishing weekend, so no fishing license is required by anybody to fish that weekend,” said Porath.
Though Kidfish considers itself a family friendly derby, that doesn’t mean that their prizes are anything less than amazing.
“First prize of the largest walleye caught is worth $5,000, so it’s still substantial if you’re an avid angler. We’re also the cheapest ice fishing derby as far as entry is concerned. We charge $30 for kids, $40 for adults. We have a fenced-off derby site, so anybody that enters the derby needs to be in possession of a ticket. Along with the $5,000 first prize, we have a top 10 prizes that go to both youth and or adults. And then, we have a top five youth only fishing prizes. These prizes consist of such things as guided fishing trips, ice fishing tents, augers, and equipment that not everybody has their hands on,” said Porath.
In addition to the prizes, the first 600 kids through the gate get a rod and reel combo courtesy of some of their sponsors.
As for the location, it couldn’t be more ideal for Selkirk residents.
“Fishing goes from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and it’ll take place on the Red River right at Selkirk Park straight out from where the boat launch normally is in the summertime,” he said.
The group of volunteers that put on this event do so annually and have hit a huge milestone this year. The fishing derby is celebrating its tenth year running. They’ve done this for a decade because they are raising funds for a very worthy cause, and they are quite successful at it, nearing $500,000 raised.
“What we do is we provide equipment and stuff at the Children’s Hospital that the regular general funding from the provincial government or the Manitoba health authority does not provide,” explained Porath.
He said that they’ve helped by purchasing things like bladder scanners, or on a more individual level, they’ve helped families with things like parking while their child is in the hospital.
“Something that people don’t realize is your kid is in the children’s hospital for a month, and you’re going to visit them every day, you pay for parking in the parkade, just like anybody that’s going to visit their aunt or uncle for a couple of hours. So, we provided that for the kids. We also have recently paid to renovate the family visitation room, which was very outdated. We purchased new furniture and games for the kids to be able to play with while they’re visiting with family members in the family visitation room. We’ve provided things such as Gameboys or Xboxes, so that kids, while they’re going through care and treatments at the hospital, just have a better quality of life,” said Porath.
And, if this sounds like something you’d like to support, local organizations can still contribute through sponsorships.
“We’re always looking for sponsors, (they could) be local businesses that want to donate prizes because we give them away throughout the derby day. We give away a bunch of random draw prizes. So, if there are any businesses at all in Manitoba that would be interested in supporting our initiatives to support the Child Life Department at the Children’s Hospital, we’re wide open. They can send us an email at info@kidfish.ca, and one of the executives will get back to them if they need further information,” said Porath.
If you’re a resident that would like to take this opportunity to get out on the ice, this is an excellent opportunity to combine your hobby with contributing to something that really makes a difference for Manitoban kids.
“I always look at it as, I was fortunate to have three very healthy children and never had to use the facilities (of the) Children’s Hospital, but there are hundreds of families every year that (come) from all over the province that are less fortunate than myself and my family. These kids go through a great deal of pain and suffering, and our organization goes out of our way to make their life a little bit better, a little bit easier, while they’re going through health care issues at the Children’s Hospital in Manitoba,” said Porath.
He hopes to see a big turnout at the derby.
“There’s nothing more refreshing than getting out for a nice day out, relaxing with your family and friends for a good cause,” he said.
If you’d like to learn more, you can check out their website for details.
“You can go to kidfish.ca, and there’s a link there to buy tickets to the ice derby, or our volunteers around the community have paper tickets available,” said Porath.
