I just read this from a local bait shop
"The OMNR is screwing with the bait supply once again. VHS disease has reportedly been found in Lake Simcoe, causing the OMNR to form a ring around Lake Simcoe, no bait in or out,Simcoe bait can only be used locally, not a problem, if you are living in and fishing Lake Simcoe,
What this means,, there is a small area, on South Central Ontario that is considered a Virus Free Zone,, of which Waterloo Region is apart of, this means that we will no longer be able to import Emerald Shiners ( Pinheads ) to our location,, that in itself is not so bad.
What is bad, is that the OMNR has given the bait harvesters a 2 week notice of this, now my supplier, has his ponds full of Emerald shiners that he can;t sell after Jan 1 2012 and of course it is not possible to fill his ponds with Local Creek bait, in that short notice."