Fenelon

The lake off Beardmore is a tough go if you get a week of wind. We've always gone to South Bay. Much more sheltered. You can always get out of the wind on most days. There is an excellent boat launch . Lots of people haul campers in and camp at the landing that is about 200yds from the ramp. Check Google Earth and you can see it. We'd always go 2nd week in June. Water temp is usually 10 degrees. Good brookie and excellent laker. Average laker is about 10lbs. Lots of fish into the low 20's. They're shallow. You flat line with mono, but we'd use 3 colours leadcore. We always used a Lund SSV 14 with a 20 Honda. It's safe if you don't do anything stupid. I've seen guys that run out to Shakespeare Island in boats this size, with no back-up motor or extra gas. I think Darwin had an award for this. It's an inland sea. Best to treat it with respect. Dress warm. We'd fish in snowmobile suits some years, and you could see your breath in the boat. If you get a stretch of bad wind, you can still trailer a 14 footer to many other lakes on the same road that have excellent pike and walleye fishing, or you fish the sheltered Nip River for big specs.

Hirk: My objective is precisely as you stated - get MNR to come to its senses and stop this annual event that occurs when lethal temperatures occur, and the resource gets badly wasted. I still haven't heard how many fish were caught over the two days (I wonder why the Chamber doesn't post this anymore) , but I'm thinking it must be at least between 250 and 400 fish. Given the conditions, anything that did not die pre-release is now dead on the bottom of the lake. I know of no other wasteful, completely avoidable annual mortality event that is damaging this fishery like this tournament, so what else is worth "lobbying" about? This is going to happen again, and again, and again, as long as MNR keeps signing off on it. ""Improvements for next year" aren't going to stop the mortality.The lake has no problem with early year class recruitment, so reproduction does not appear to be a problem, based on the extensive netting data. Getting rid of 4000 rod hours of angling pressure that is specifically targeting Walleye would be a good thing for the fishery as well. Ethics is a big part of this too. It wouldn't be as bad if the Chamber admitted that it was a mortality event, ran the tournament as a catch and keep, and at least did the respectful thing and retained the fish. This thing is starting to stink like a really bad sporting event........I wonder how many strikes MNR is going to allow before they call the ""you're out"! For next year, the Chamber should raise funds by holding an exciting pre-tournament lottery. Call it the "Guess the Can-Am Walleye Mort Count" lottery. Two bucks to enter and even kids can buy a ticket. Have ticket sales at the Home Hardware and Corky's. The winner gets a free Walleye dinner (from what washed up against the dam face) at the local fish and chip shop. Dave

Hirk: I just read through what I posted, and I'm not seeing any half-twisted truths or false claims. Can you please explain specifically what I've said that you feel I've embellished, or twisted, and I'll support what I've said. If you'd rather I pm you personally, then I can do that. Regarding anything that I've said that hasn't been proven by research, I openly BEG you to call the Kawartha Lakes FAU and request a digital copy of the 1998 - 2012 Sturgeon Lake NSCIN index data. Also ask for the three FWIN (Fall Walleye Index Netting) data files, as well as the 12 years of mark-recapture Walleye data that is used to calculate annual mortality and population size. It's all available to you under the PIA (Public Information Act). Run some simple queries on the digital files that they send you, then think about everything I've said or posted, and determine if what I'm saying is fact or fiction. The lake has the longest running NSCIN data set in the province, thanks to the Fish and Wildlife Program at Fleming College. There is no other inland Ontario lake that has been studied more. The data is pretty amazing. With a mere keystroke, you can run queries to track year class strength, year class progression through the established slot, progression to protected spawners, etc., etc. With it starting in 1998, it's really neat to track the impact of the new Black Crappie invasion. You'll see how it's affected fish condition factor, age and size at sexual maturity, etc. Anyone can become a pro, and analyze the lake's history and population status if you play around on the computer for some time. Regarding my work history, I devoted 13 years of my life to studying this lake , so yes, you are definitely correct - it's pretty tough to say there's not some personal "agenda" for having some concern about how its being managed. My agenda is to not to just sit there chewing on a dogshite sandwich, and saying that it tastes good, when I feel it's worth trying to conserve something that is openly being abused. I've been part of conducting 1324 trap net sets (26,480 "net soak hours"), processed, tagged, and mark-recap spine clipped more than 6300 walleye, and run 6100 meters of gill net over two FWIN surveys, all on this little Kawartha Lake. Anything I've said is based on this. Sorry about being a little zealous and fanatical about what's left of the fishery! Dave PS. No - I don't live on the lake. I can't afford waterfront.

Grimsby: I understand the Ontario fishing regs and regularly keep some of my catch for the table. Never had a problem with fishermen keeping their fish. You obviously are missing the multitude of issues here: Fully documented walleye population decline in a small, heavily fished lake, Special regulations enacted to hopefully halt further decline, lake under serious additional pressure from winter fishing, and now spill-over from closure of Lake Scugog, a Ministry who refuses to follow their own science and make decisions that are in favour with the conservation of the resource, a local Chamber Of Commerce who is willing to use what's left of the resource , and negatively impact it, for retail gain, the same Chamber that uses false propaganda to lable the event as a "live release"tournament, to obtain public acceptance, the addition of over 4000 species-targeted rod hours, on the very species that is the subject of the special regulations, and most importantly, the total, disrespectful waste of the resource. Ethical anglers who keep some fish for the table don't litter the bottom of the lake with dead fish on an annual basis. If there is an agenda, it is to get MNR Fisheries Policy Section to manage the resource competently, before we have no fishery left! Dave

"might be 20 years before it repeats"....??????? How about next year, when they plan on having a repeat performance in May, with lethal water temperatures? Anything above 12 degrees C and you're going to get mortality, regardless of all the other stressors that the fish are exposed to. Add to this the potential for 8 hours in a livewell that is anoxic and overcrowded (less than 13.5 liters per fish and you get substantial mortality), fish potentially getting bounced around if the surface conditions are rough, multiple thermal shocks throughout the entire day (anything more than a 2degreeC variance and you get substantial mortality), handling stress when being netted from live well, measured and handled by the judge (stressed again) , improperly held up to show the crowd, thermally shocked again, held in a crowded "release tank", then thermally shocked again when they are "released". All this equates to a repeat performance of the 2012 and 2015 disasters. The fishery deserves better than this ! Dave