Jon

I took this on the weekend. I wouldn't want to be one of the little guys! http://youtu.be/EeVCGa4QGbQ?list=UUBoJK86ZYhy2R4Xi04o60yQ Jon

Sounds like Longnose Dace to me. I have attached one of my photos and here is link to another http://gallery.nanfa.org/v/members/farmertodd/cyprinidae/rhinichthys/longnosedace.jpg.html Jon

I know it is generally more common to complain about bad customer service than it is to write about good customer service but I wanted to mention the great customer service I had at Bushnell in Vaughan yesterday. I bought a pair of Bushnell binoculars probably around 5 years ago, certainly well past the typical 1 year warranty.The connector where the strap connects to the binoculars had broken and I went to take them in for repair. The lady said that they no longer make the connector so she gave me a brand new pair of the current version of my binoculars. No questions asked and it took less than 10 minutes. Will I buy another Bushnell product in the future - absolutely!! Jon

Hi all: For those of you interested in seeing a bit of what MNRF (Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry) does, the public is invited to see the Ontario Explorer, the flagship of the MNRF's Lake Ontario Management Unit in Port Credit on Saturday July 19, 2014. The event is from 10 - 3pm at Port Credit Marina, next to the Snug Harbour Restaurant. Admission is free. Some stats: Ontario Explorer was commissioned in 2011 and is a 65 foot Great Lakes vessel. This will be the first visit of Ontario Explorer to the western end of Lake Ontario. Ontario Explorer is a state of the art research vessel, outfitted with cutting-edge navigation and science equipment. The vessel allows MNRF to work throughout Lake Ontario, monitoring the ecosystem and adding to our understanding of the lake. Ontario Explorer helps MNRF work effectively with a wide range of partners, both in Ontario and the U.S. Jon

Public notice from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). The revised treatment section will be from Norval to Port Credit. The river will be a yellowy-green during treatment. I hope the links work. 2011 Treatment Pictures https://www.flickr.com/photos/91080279@N05/sets/72157644829329299/ Lampricide Treatment on the Credit River Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is planning to treat approximately 61 km of the Credit River between Cheltenham and Lake Ontario with the lampricide TFM (3-Trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol) to reduce the resident larval Sea lamprey population. Lampricide will be applied for approximately 14 hours from a point on the river near the municipality of Cheltenham, but will take several days to reach Lake Ontario. Assessment studies will be conducted prior to the treatment to determine the upstream distribution of larvae, which may reduce the length of river treated. Timing of the treatment is dependent upon streamflow and weather conditions, and is tentatively scheduled for the period between June 19-23, 2014. Lampricide selectively kills Sea Lamprey larvae, but may also result in the death of other fish that are weakened by disease, spawning or other environmental factors. Although lampricide is not harmful to humans or other animals at the concentrations used during treatment, any use of stream water for irrigation and drinking should be suspended for a 24-hour period during the treatment. The Sea lamprey is an invasive species in the Great Lakes. Since the 1950’s, DFO’s Sea Lamprey Control Centre has worked under an international agreement with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission towards the delivery of effective Sea lamprey control in the Great Lakes. For more information contact: Sea Lamprey Control Centre Fisheries and Oceans Canada 1219 Queen St. East, Sault Ste. Marie, ON P6A 2E5 T. 800-553-9091 | Fax. 705-941-3025 Consult the Fisheries and Oceans Canada website at: http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/lamprey-lamproie-eng.htm Alternate Contact Theresa Nichols Communications Fisheries and Oceans Canada [email protected] Posted by Jon Clayton Aquatic Biologist Credit Valley Conservation (905) 670-1615 x502

Canadian rules for flying the flag: http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1359048153800/1359048247377 Not sure if this is the law or just a guideline. Jon

Took this video with a GoPro a few weeks ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4NmfTxSecI Jon

GPS City in Alberta. Jon

Tough to tell. Mooneye or Gizzard Shad. Jon

Different location but I saw two bows (or the same one twice) jumping at the Goodyear Dam in Bowmanville on March 15. Needless to say, I was very surprised since the river was still mostly ice covered. Jon

I got the Ibycus mapping 3 or 4 years ago when it was downloadable from the website. The install was pretty easy. I think you have to use Bit-torrent to get the free one now but I assume the install process is still pretty similar. I don't know if the guy regularly updates his mapping or not. I assume the others are more current? Jon

You can also try Ibycus maps (free) or Backroad Mapbooks (paid). Here is a screenshot from Garmin Basecamp of the Ibycus mapping http://www.flickr.com/photos/91080279@N05/12250454075/ Link to Ibycus mapping web-site http://www.ibycus.com/ibycustopo/ Jon

I agree with making it easier for people without an Ontario birth certificate but still find the wording could be better regarding the ages at which anglers need or don't need a licence. The MNR web-site is nice and clear - Most Ontario residents need an Ontario-issued Outdoors Card and fishing licence tag to fish in Ontario if they are at least 18 years old but have not reached their 65th birthday. The regs should say this as well! Jon

I was looking at the Ontario fishing regulations the other day and was reading the page about who needs a fishing licence. I am fully aware of the ages at which Ontario residents need or don't need a licence but found myself thinking the wording MNR is now using is very unclear about this topic. The 2008/09 regulations state that "anglers do not need a fishing licence if they are residents of Ontario and Canada under 18 or 65 years of age or older and in possession of their birth certificate". The only referece I could find in the 2014 regualtion's relating to this requirement is as follows: "A person is deemed to be the holder of a Recreational Fishing Licence if they are: 1. Residents of Ontario and Canada under 18 years old, or 65 years of age or older and in possession of any licence, permit, certificate or identification card issued by the Government of Canada or a provincial or territorial government of Canada that indicates their name and date of birth." I think I understand what this is saying but for someone new to angling or who doesn't speak English very well, I think this is not at all clear about at who age anglers need to buy a licence and will certainly not help with the regular issue of anglers not buying licences. If anyone is able to find better wording or if they are also confused by this, please let me know. 2014 Fishing Regulations - Licence Info. http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@letsfish/documents/document/198219.pdf Jon

For those of you who want to report invasive species and are looking to fill up some space on their phone (300mb download), there is a new invasive species reporting app for Ontario. It is called EDDMapS Ontario and can be found here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ontario/id727309669?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bugwood.eddmapsontario Within the app, you can submit reports and view real-time point distribution maps centered on your current location. The web version can be found here: http://www.eddmaps.org/ontario/index.cfm With the on-line version, you can also download map data to a variety of formats such as Google Earth. Cheers, Jon

As someone who deals with permitting fairly often, my guess is he went the beg for foregiveness route. In terms of DFO approval, the Operational Statement for Boathouses has a few size limits associated with it: it is a new, repair or rebuild of an open-faced crib dock or boathouse built entirely on natural bedrock or sand bottom with a total combined footprint (for both existing and proposed cribs) of 15 square metres (161 ft²) or less, the total surface area for the entire dock and boathouse, which occurs in a location below the ordinary high water mark (HWM) (see definition below), including both existing and proposed structures combined, does not exceed 50m² (538 ft² ), unless the structure is built entirely over natural bedrock or sand bottom (not supporting aquatic vegetation), the combined width for all existing and proposed shoreline improvements on land and in water (docks, boathouses and beaches) is less than 25% of the property’s riparian area width (shoreline frontage width). I don't think this one meets the Operational Statement and given that the municipality didn't permit it, it may not have gotten DFO approval (Letter of Advice or Authorization). Jon

Hummingbird moth - one of the neatest bugs ever! Here are some of my photos taken this year: http://www.flickr.com/photos/91080279@N05/sets/72157635081256141/ Jon

For those interested in changes at the MNR: http://www.opseu.org/ops/ministry/mnraug132013.htm Jon

Cool find? Where did you see it (approximately)? Rat snakes have a pretty limited distribution in Ontario and Milk Snakes are pretty widespread. http://www.ontarionature.org/protect/species/reptiles_and_amphibians/eastern_foxsnake.php http://www.ontarionature.org/protect/species/reptiles_and_amphibians/milksnake.php Pretty sure it is a Milk Snake. I will ask some people at the office tomorrow. Jon

Great looking spot and the fishing looks fantastic! The crayfish looks like a Rusty Crayfish to me. And given that you have never seen them before in this lake, further suggests they have invaded. I suggest letting the OFAH know. They can be reached at http://www.invadingspecies.com/report/ Jon

Here is a lake map showing estimated bathymetry and rock locations: http://www.kahshelake.ca/resources/Documents/map_18.pdf The US & Canada Navionics app also has Kahshe on it. Good luck fishing! Jon

Joey: Great artwork! My boss has recently been trying the same thing and so far has done a carp, herring, pumpkinseed, yellow perch and rock bass. He has only used white paper so far and was very impressed with the one you did with the black background. Was that black rice paper or was it dyed? Jon

Is the area under the jurisdiction of a Conservation Authority or is it MNR? If there is a CA present, start there. DFO has an Operational Statement about beach creation http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/regions/central/habitat/os-eo/provinces-territories-territoires/on/os-eo02-eng.htm but this doesn't look like it meets the criteria. If it was reviewed for impacts under the Fisheries Act, it likely came out as low risk and may have gone under a Letter of Advice. The sand may have also been placed on Crown Land, in which case the Public Lands Act applies. Figuring out which laws may have been broken can be complicated so as I said start with either the local Conservation Authority or MNR office. Jon

Craig: You don't know until you try. Jon

It will capture upstream migrating adults. Jon