ValleyBiz Story |

What do you call 600 people, 475 pounds of walleye fillets, piles of hors d’oeuvres, raffles, games and a 290 pound pig?

The 26th Annual Swan Valley Sport Fishing Enhancement Banquet!

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Warning: This story may make you hungry.

The banquet took place on Saturday, May 5, 2012 at the Swan River Centennial Arena. As usual the 600 tickets, which went on sale a month in advance, were sold out days before the event.

Manitoba Conservation manages the processing and cooking of the 475 pounds of all-you-can eat walleye fillets. While the actual cooking takes only a couple of hours, preparations and equipment setup begins days in advance.

Even before the banquet began, crowds lined up outside the floor and out into the parking lot.






There was an endless variety of unique fish dishes to sample at the hors d’oeuvre tables.

For a little something different, Valley Meat Packers smoked up a whole pig.

While the food is outstanding, as with any good community event, it’s the people that made the banquet memorable.

The banquet and its associated draws and raffles is the organization’s only fundraiser with money raised going toward programs such as dock construction, fisheries research, and the kids fish camp. Funds are used in conjunction with funding from the Fisheries Enhancement Fund which provides funding for fisheries related programs.

For more information, or to get involved with Swan Valley Sport Fishing Enhancement activities, contact Jeff Connoly at 734-8448.