kickingfrog

Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ull+leslie+spit Globe and Mail article: WILDLIFE Bird cull not in the cards for Leslie Spit Conservation authority will encourage human activity in the area to keep shy cormorants at bay KATE HARRIES Special to The Globe and Mail May 24, 2008 It's Toronto the Good as far as double-crested cormorants are concerned. Instead of a lethal cull to control the spread across Tommy Thompson Park of the largest cormorant colony on the Great Lakes, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority will rely on passive methods, such as inviting people to practise tai chi or roller skate in the areas where the birds aren't wanted. "In no way would I support a cull as happened at Point Pelee on Middle Island," authority chairwoman Gerri Lynn O'Connor said. Parks Canada sharpshooters carried out a cull this month on Middle Island, part of Point Pelee National Park on Lake Erie, after fending off an attempt by Cormorant Defenders International to obtain a court order prohibiting the killing. Print Edition - Section Front Enlarge Image In contrast, the birds that occupy 7,200 nests on the Toronto park that juts five kilometres into Lake Ontario on the manmade Leslie Street spit, get to keep their space - about nine hectares of the 471-hectare total - where they have destroyed most of the tree cover. The authority wants to ensure that the birds don't expand any farther into the park. Regular human activity, such as hiking, cycling and skating on the trail that runs up the spine of the spit, should keep the shy birds within bounds, the authority was told yesterday. "Establishing a tai chi class there every morning will be most of the deterrent we need," said Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker (Ward 38, Scarborough Centre), an authority member. Yesterday, animal-rights activists paid tribute to the conservation authority for having one of the most progressive cormorant strategies on the continent, but expressed regret that it approved a research project that will involve oiling eggs in 30 nests and using a placebo in another 60. Ainslie Willock of Canadians for Snow Geese pointed out that the only reason for egg oiling is to reduce the population, and that's not an objective in the authority's cormorant management plan. Furthermore, the research could hinder other objectives, such as containing cormorants in their current location on the spit, and to encourage the birds to nest on the ground, instead of in trees, which are killed by their nutrient-rich droppings. "If you're oiling eggs on the ground, you're forcing birds up onto trees," Ms. Willock said. Others said egg oiling is inhumane, suffocating chicks in the shell. Authority staff told the meeting that guidelines prohibit oiling 18 days after the egg has been laid. Mr. De Baeremaeker argued that it would be better for the research to be done by another agency, such as the Ontario Natural Resources Ministry, which oils eggs routinely. But Ms. O'Connor disagreed. "I think we have to support our scientists," she said after all but two authority members voted in favour of the project by York University's Gail Fraser to study whether the disruption that technicians cause in approaching the nests is significantly reduced if done at night. The cormorant colonies are on three peninsulas on the west side of the spit. The largest colony of black-crowned night herons in Canada shares the space. The authority wants to preserve the tree cover on a fourth peninsula, which extends past a marina, and has remained free of cormorants. The cormorant, once bought close to extinction by DDT, is a federally protected bird.

Terry Fox runs in countries across the world every September. Millions of Dollars raised each year. All the other awareness/fund-raising treks inspired (Rick Hanson's Man in Motion) All before he was 23 years old. Legacy.

They kill more "good" insects than "bad".

Link: http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/ArticleDi...=By+Teviah+Moro Cut and pasted article: Lake shows signs of promise: experts Posted By By Teviah Moro Posted 2 hours ago Politics is what quite often floats to the surface in the debate of how best to heal an ailing Lake Simcoe, but behind the headlines, efforts to shore up scientific knowledge about the 725-square-kilometre lake are quietly shedding light on its fragile balance. That was evident during a meeting of experts at Trent University, yesterday, wrapping up a three-day conference exploring the Great Lakes. Simcoe, a sixth junior partner in the mighty quintet, was the focus of 19 presentations from different agencies, universities and government ministries on the last day of the three-day 51st annual Conference on Great Lakes Research. "We're all listening to each other. Everybody's pretty excited about this much interest," Stephanie Guildford, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota at Duluth, said. "I guess what's really exciting is that there's so many people working and getting really good data," added Guildford, who co-chaired the Lake Simcoe forum. Still fragile and ever-changing, the lake shows signs of promise, scientists suggested in their talks. Presentations covered a number of topics, some highly technical in nature, including trends in water chemistry, phosphorous, chlorophyll, groundwater seepage, thermal dynamics, coldwater fish and invasive species. The lake is home to a variety of fish including lake trout, lake herring, lake whitefish, burbot and sculpin. "By 1990, basically, this coldwater community was on full life support," David Evans, a researcher with Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources, said during his presentation. Because coldwater species stopped reproducing naturally, the ministry started stocking the lake with fish. Simcoe's water quality has suffered from reduced levels of dissolved oxygen and rampant algae and plant growth due mainly to the loading of phosphorous, a substance that makes its way into the lake via a number of sources, including fertilizers and detergents. In turn, algae decays and sucks oxygen from the water as it breaks down. Oddly enough, there's evidence that the notorious invasive zebra mussel has worked to improve the clarity of the water, Evans noted. Monitoring conducted by the Lake Simcoe Fisheries Assessment Unit show that certain species that didn't reproduce before, started to do so in 2003. "It's way better than it used to be," Guildford, a Canadian from Halifax, said about Lake Simcoe, which is home to more than 50 species of fish. The lake suffered a particularly dark period when area pioneers started clearing land and farming right down to the shoreline, causing erosion and dumping of run-off. "There weren't nearly as many people, but they were certainly farming intensively, and (there was) certainly no sewage treatment, for example," Guildford said. "And then industry built over time." Guildford said government policies and community action have encouraged better farming practices and set limits on phosphorous loading. The Ontario Liberals have backed introducing a bill that would create an act to protect Lake Simcoe. "We might see an act introduced in the legislature yet this spring," Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop said. Though hopeful for the future, Guildford said warming trends, invasive species and population growth all present threats to the lake. In the next 25 years, 250,000 more people are expected to move to Simcoe County alone, fuelling more development pressure around the lake. In the meantime, the brain trust will keep working. "I'm reckoning that in the future, we'll be reading a Lake Simcoe case study as an example of best practices being applied in trying to improve the lake," Guildford said.

Now we are going to need a thread on the proper method to hold these minny monsters. The tackle manufactures need to jump on this new niche market. I see miniature cradles and scales in grams. I've always tried to hide these fish from the camera, now I see I should be regaling in them. Great shots guys and gals.

Try Stubhub (spelling), for either the Wings or Pens.

A good compass doesn't cost that much, under $50. The key is learning how to use it and trusting what it tells you. http://www.silvacompass.com/

Not sure how much this helps but... When I fish top waters from my canoe, holding the rod tip down to walk the dog is not an option, so I hold the tip up. I realize topwater bassin' from a canoe is not the same as musky huntin' but what the heck it's easier then growing two feet or standing on a casting platform on stilts.

I was just checking the regs for Nipissing to make sure the tape measure that I had in my tackle box had the proper slot marked on it for the walleye. The new regs say the walleye slot for fish that had to be returned to the water in the new zone 11 (which Nipissing is in) is 43-60cm (16.9-23.6 in). It was 40-60cm last year was it not? No big legal deal for me and anybody using the old standard since they would be throwing back legal fish as opposed to keeping legal fish. Three cm is a big deal for some people.

Thanks Randy, I hope to be up on the south shore next weekend. Things might start warming up by then.

So it's been a night and two mornings. How's the catching been on Nipissing? Please tell, otherwise I'm going to have to call up and talk to a relative instead.

Sure did. A couple of hours in the sun in the backyard and all was good for the next trip.

Last Saturday Glen made a generous offer for me to go fishing with him. We tried an area that neither of us had fished before. A sunny day on some Georgian Bay inner bays meant lots of water covered but no fish. We had a few follows from some pike but no fish in the boat. Glen was determined to pull a fish out of this area so we went back this Saturday. Better fishing weather, cloudy and rainy, if we don't get a fish I may never get another offer to go fishing from Glen. We hit some promising looking bays casting for pike, nothing. We decide to troll a small area between an island and the mainland that had some current and some good looking bottom features. The run down current made for some tricky boat handling to keep the deep diving baits working at a fish enticing wobble. Finally, a hit and there is a fish on my line. It feels nice and solid, but I'm using a new rod so I'm not sure of the size of the fish. As it gets to the boat the fish reveals its self to be a 3lb smallmouth that is now foul hooked on my wally diver. A quick turn of the pliers by Glen and the fish is headed back to the depths. While disappointed in a fish not in season we at least felt some confidence again that we were fishing an area that held fish. We decided to take a pass back up current. Not long after getting the lines out and running Glen has a hit and the fight is on. After a few head shakes he thinks he has a nice walleye on and as the fish nears the boat we see that familiar golden hew. We land the fish and take a picture. Glen's 21 inch Walleye: Now we're ready to go. The lines are set again and we get ready to make some more passes through our new fishin' hole. We go a pass and a half before Glen has another fish on. There is a lot more bend in his rod and after a good battle we see that his chartreuse/firetiger deep tail dancer has fooled a nice pike in the 12-13 pound range. Since it was raining hard I didn't want to pull out the camera so no photo. The next pass I finally get a fish on again. A nice fight ensues but as the fish gets closer to the boat it starts heading for the surface and sure enough I've got another smallmouth on. This time I lip it, turn the hooks out and release it. After a number of passes with no hits we decide to move on. We explore a few new more spots and try one from the week before that had a big fish. Nothing. We cast one more spot on the way back the boat ramp and Glen has a hit from a smaller pike. It is no match for someone who has tamed bigger fish in the day. A short fight and the 4-5 pound fish is back in the water and we're on our way home. It feels good to go back and pull some fish out of an area that had skunked us the week before. Now if I could just get one that was in season...

Link: http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...portsOther/home World Fishing Network lands first big catch WILLIAM HOUSTON From Saturday's Globe and Mail E-mail William Houston | Read Bio | Latest Columns May 16, 2008 at 8:30 PM EDT When Brian Cooper told people he was planning to start a fishing channel on TV, they wondered if he had stayed out in the sun too long, dipping a line in the water, no doubt. “Everyone thought I was nuts,” Cooper said. Not any more. This week, the World Fishing Network, which launched in 2005, landed its first big catch when it received carriage on the DISH Network, a direct-to-home satellite system that will send the channel into 13 million potential households in the United States. WFN, which is owned by Toronto-based Insight Sports, a company Cooper founded, is not a money-making enterprise yet. It lost more than $3-million in 2007. Still, the DISH deal will triple the channel's availability to 20 million North American households, increasing viewership and, therefore, revenue. And, with the U.S. deal, WFN ranks as one of the few specialty channels produced in this country to find a market abroad. Fishing's popularity can be explained by the numbers. WFN president Mark Rubinstein calls it the 50-50 rule. Fifty million North Americans fish, a larger number than golfers and tennis players combined; and it's a $50-billion industry. Early in the development of WFN, Cooper targeted archived fishing programming. He bought old shows that had been produced in Canada and in regions south of the border. It was cheap content. “I paid literally about 5 cents on the dollar,” said Cooper, who is now president and chief executive officer of Toronto-based Sports and Entertainment LP. “It was new found money for them. They thought they had gotten every penny they could out of these things.” Today, WFN's programming is mostly contemporary and original. Insight produces two signature series, WFN News and Reel Road Trip, and contracts out additional programming consisting of professional tournament coverage, tips and instructions, as well as shows about travel and the environment. Most of us would be hard pressed to name more than a couple of high-profile fishing personalities, but Rubinstein notes that consumer products and the TV channel are marketed by star performers on the pro tour. “You have professionals earning prize money in seven figures not dissimilar to NASCAR or golf or tennis,” he said. WFN made a big step forward by getting distribution on the DISH Network. (The channel is also available to about 1.5 million U.S. households on Verizon FiOS TV.) But it's still very much a service trying to make a business out of marketing a niche sport. WFN was unable to produce audience figures, but they're small. And in terms of subscriptions in Canada, as opposed to availability, WFN is in no more than 500,000 households. Still, the world market is huge and, if the channel can continue to export its signal to new countries, it will succeed. Rubinstein says further distribution deals are being pursued in Britain, Australia, Europe and Latin America.

I think the general scientific opinion is that the blue pickerel that were caught out of Lake Erie many years ago are not genetically related to the blue tinged walleye that some people catch now.

I've caught blue coloured walleye on Nipissing. I know I just read something about some studies that were done about blue coloured walleye. I'll have to get back to you while I go into "the thinking room".

This is a free rag that you get on the Toronto subway right? Not that it makes it less wrong, but you are getting your monies worth, I suppose.

Article in the North Bay paper about this years fishing. Link: http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e...h=Brandi+Cramer Copy/Paste: 'Phenomenal' fishing; Anglers, bait dealers counting down to walleye season Posted By Brandi Cramer Posted 1 hour ago Tammie Pecore's shopping list Tuesday included worms. Pecore says she's "hardcore" when it comes to angling - her wedding ring has fish engraved on it - and was buying bait to entice splake. "Damn right I am looking forward to a weekend of fishing," she said. "It's relaxing, it's freedom and peace of mind and you get outdoors." The good news for Pecore is if the Ministry of Natural Resources is right, this fishing season could be one to remember. Walleye season is set to open Saturday at 12:01 a.m. and Mike Regis, district enforcement supervisor with the ministry, predicts it will be "phenomenal." "There were a lot of 12- to 15-inchers last year," he said. "They will have grown and will be great in the frying pan this year." Richard Rowe's analysis of data for the past two years shows the same thing. A biologist with Nipissing First Nation's natural resources department, Rowe said there will be a lot of "catchable fish." "Walleye fishing goes up and down based on strong year classes," he said. A strong year class occurs when conditions are perfect during the spawning season. "It takes three years to grow a perfect frying pan-size fish," Rowe said. In 2005, conditions were perfect with high water levels, a warm and stable spring, and a long growing season. Advertisement "We had a good summer that year. That means there is lots for walleye to eat and once they get by the first winter, survival rates are very high," Rowe said. Bob Esch, owner of Trout Lake Bait and Canoe, expects Lake Nipissing will be "super busy" this weekend judging by how much his phone has been ringing. "I am definitely not going fishing," he said, but he will ensure "hundreds if not thousands" have the right tools. His business is kept viable by catering to different species including splake and rainbow trout. But the start of walleye season Saturday will open the flood gates. "We will start getting extra busy Thursday morning," Esch said, adding his store hours are long - "sun up to sun down." He is ready with a healthy supply of shiners, chubs, dace, worms and leeches, as well as tackle. And for those uncertain of what to put on their lines, Esch is more than willing to offer guidance. "If it's a cold spring and the water stays cold, a minnow is the best way to go. If it warms up - worms and leeches," he said. Rowe also had tips for anglers planning to catch and release. "Play the fish quickly, handle it quickly and in the water," he said. Regis reminds eager anglers to measure catches carefully to avoid violating any regulations. And if you planned on having a few cold ones - do it on shore. "Booze and boating don't mix," Regis said. "If you have (alcohol) in the boat we have the authority to charge you. "The key message is be safe and have fun." [email protected] know the rules Things you should know: - Lake Nipissing slot size for walleye is 40 to 60 centimetres, while on Trout Lake the slot size is 43 to 60 centimetres. - Lake Nipissing does not have a sturgeon season. - Lake trout and salmon is open on Trout Lake June 21 to 27 - Muskie season on Lake Nipissing opens June 21 to Dec. 15 Bass species is open throughout Fishing Management Zone 11 June 28 to Dec. 31 - Walleye is open on the Ottawa River May 16 to Dec. 31 - a week later than usual. - On the Ottawa River and Lake Timiskaming from May 16 to June 15, all walleye must be less than 40 centimetres. After June 15 there is no size limit. - Anglers are advised to check the Fishing Regulations Summary. On the web: www.ontario.ca/fishing

Fortunately the Swiss are also looking at cruelty to plants as well (almost as ludicrous). I guess if you live in such a beautiful place you don't care how foolish you look to the rest of the world.

I believe vanish is a fluro "compromise" line that you spool up with, versus a 100% fluro line that is meant more for leaders/tippets.

The big thing with the super lines is that they are very thin for the pound test. They are not all that abrasion resistant however, in part do to there thin nature and much more visible than mono or fluro. The fluro lines are less visible (not invisible) then the same pound test of mono. So you can then use a higher pound test and still be fairly stealthy. Don't treat 10 pound fluro the same way as 10 pound mono however. The other thing to watch for is: using a super line that is rated much higher than the rod it is used on. You'll increase your chances of breaking the rod, or even better, the reel seat. My 2 cents.

I just noticed that while I was away in Greece that my 1 year anniversary on this site came up. (My wife thought I was nuts to take photos of fishermen while in Greece.) I had only lurked for a short period of time before deciding to register. Not one regret. Most of the people in my circle of friends don't fish. Not sure how that happened? So it's nice to have a place to go and interact with people who share my enjoyment of fishing and the outdoors. I've had a chance to fish with a few of the members, although now that I think about it, there has not been many fish caught on those outings. That can't be my fault... can it??? I love the reports, it makes me feel like I've been out myself without the guilt of skipping out on work or chores around the house. In short, I'd just like to say thanks. Thanks to the people who run the site, and all the work that it takes to keep things running smoothly. Thanks to the members who post and comment. You provide me with entertainment, enlightenment and in-sight. I hope I've been able to provide some of the same. Now enough of this mushy stuff, I've got to get my walleye gear ready. Anybody got an empty seat?

Link: http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e...;auth=Dave+Dale Or you can just read it here... North Bay Nugget Article: Lake levels ‘not at any critical stage’ Posted By Dave Dale Posted 11 hours ago Lake Nipissing is filling up with recent rainfall pushing the water level to the top of its operating range and the flow out of the French River is above the long-term average. But a Ministry of Natural Resources official said the heavy volumes feeding the lake are “trending down” and little precipitation is expected in the near future. “We’re not at any critical stage in any sense,” said Phil Hall, ministry lands and water specialist and chairman of a group of watershed representatives and dam operators. The Sturgeon-Nipissing-French-Wanapitei Water Management Group held its weekly telephone conference call Monday when Lake Nipissing was 14 centimetres above the long-term average. Public Works Canada, which operates the dams on the French River, reported it is 20 cm above the long-term average at Dry Pine Bay, which equates to 45 cubic metres per second more than the average. Hall said the 40 millimetres of rainfall on the weekend, followed by more Wednesday, is pushing the lake upward to the top of the range this morning. He said Lake Nipissing was at 195.92 metres above sea level Thursday morning and the top of the operating range (for watercraft navigation and shoreline properties) is 195.95 metres. It could still handle a bit more, Hall said, although strong easterly winds could cause wave action that might damage shoreline properties such as Jocko Point. He was told the walleye spawn hit its peak last week and the lake and French River levels have been good from the start. “The trick is you don’t want to spill all of the water at once . . . you need to support a decent flow to protect the eggs (in the French River),” he said, while keeping enough water in Lake Nipissing for navigation purposes in case June and July are dry.

Nice work. What was the weapon of choice?

Globe and Mail article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...y/National/home