Spiel

Crown seeks 8 to 10 years in 'nipper tipping' case February 05, 2010 Joe Fantauzzi / yorkregion.com The tears flowed unashamedly from Colin Berwick's face as he sat in a Newmarket court today. Mr. Berwick wept as his wife Terry delivered an emotionally-charged victim-impact statement in the so-called "nipper-tipping" case. "This incident has completely changed my life forever," Ms Berwick told the court. Her stepson Shayne was badly injured in a crash. Trevor Middleton, a 23-year-old Georgina man, was convicted in December on all six charges of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and aggravated assault, following a three-week trial. Crown prosecutor Amit Ghosh is calling for an eight to 10-year sentence for Mr. Middleton. Mr. Middleton's lawyer, Gerald Logan hasn't had the opportunity to present his sentencing submission in a hearing that began this morning. The court also heard from 24 year old Toronto resident Ruohang Liu. He was pushed into the water while fishing from a dock and was later injured in a collision. "I no longer feel safe in public," Mr. Liu said. "I have nightmares no one could possibly understand." Mr. Middleton and a group of his friends, riding in several pickup trucks, drove to a known fishing hole near the blue bridge at Mossington Park in Georgina on Sept. 16, 2007 at about 2 a.m. When the group was at the docks, Mr. Liu and his friend Charles Hogan were pushed into the water. A confrontation followed and Mr. Middleton then chased after a Honda Civic, the trial heard. Mr. Middleton repeatedly rammed the Civic until its driver lost control and slammed into a tree, ejecting Mr. Hogan and Mr. Berwick from the back seats. Mr. Hogan suffered whiplash and hypothermia, along with neck, spine and head injuries. Mr. Berwick crashed into a tree, suffered a fractured skull that caused him to lapse into a coma for three months, along with several other injuries. The sentencing hearing continues.

Lake trout population gaining ground February 02, 2010 michael hayakawa / yorkregion.com Angling for lake trout on Lake Simcoe can best be described as a put-and-take operation. In other words, it's been a case of the Ministry of Natural Resources rearing these fish in hatcheries and stocking 100,000 yearlings in the lake each spring. This year, however, the ministry will stock just 50,000 of those fish. It's part of a four-year plan to create a self-sustaining sport fishery for Simcoe. Recent research has provided some encouraging evidence of natural reproduction of the species in the past few years, said Jason Borwick, a biologist with the ministry's Lake Simcoe team. The Lake Simcoe fisheries assessment unit conducts a trawling program that samples fish living near the bottom of the lake and has documented the presence of wild, naturally reproduced lake trout every year since 2001. Wild lake trout caught in this program are smaller than stocked fish, but, prior to 2001, it has been more than 20 years since a population of naturally reproduced fish has been documented, he said. The ministry identified phosphorus loading as the primary culprit for this. Excess phosphorus, which stemmed largely from farm runoff, depleted oxygen levels in Lake Simcoe's deep water. But since 2001, the ministry has found a noticeable improvement in Simcoe's water quality and habitat conditions. Not only did this prove favourable for lake trout, other cold water species including whitefish, herring and sculpins, have also benefitted. The ministry will judge the success of its five-year plan on several factors, including: - the relative abundance of the lake trout population; -relative abundance of stocked and naturally reproduced lake trout in the population; -angler catch, harvest and effort; -lake trout age and growth and; -condition and relative abundance of the herring and whitefish populations. Combined with reduced stocking, the ministry remains cautiously optimistic these results will indicate increased natural reproduction and survival of wild lake trout, improved growth of lake trout given wild fish's more varied diets, unchanged angling success and a continued movement toward restoring a self-sustaining cold water fish community.

While I'm certain not all the facts are revealed in that article all I can say is.... Thanks for the smile Dave, I needed it today.

I did some hunting in my youth but today it's strictly fishing. I did however enjoy hunting immensely (strictly small game) and may take it up again in my retirement. I was fortunate enough at the time that I did hunt to supply myself with a lifetimes worth of fur and feathers for another hobby, fly tying. I also have numerous friends who hunt and they frequently gift me meals of wild game so I still get to enjoy plenty of good eats.

Remarkable. You're doing some spectacular work there Bernie.

No snow here in Hamilton, Hamilton Ontario that is. 18 to 24"s would be more than we've had all winter. Truth is I haven't had to get the shovel out yet this winter.

Climate change may spur northward advance of Great Lakes invaders Feb. 2, 2010 Josh Garvey / greatlakesecho.org LANSING – Amid concern and confusion over Asian carp possibly finding their way into the Great Lakes, many experts involved in the controversy agree that other invasive species are likely to show up too. Non-native wildlife are common in the Great Lakes, with more than 140 species living in them. Sea lampreys were first found in Lake Ontario in the 1830s. Other invaders followed, with construction of locks and canals easing their way. “I don’t think anyone could tell you which species are going to be in the Great Lakes next,” said Brian Roth, a fisheries and wildlife assistant professor at Michigan State University. “Asian carp may have already traversed the electric barriers connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River,” he said. Roth is referring to an electric barrier in the Chicago Canal designed to keep the carp out of Lake Michigan. The canal connects Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. “It’s possible that other species could do the same,” he said. “In addition, there are other connections in the eastern part of the country, through the St. Lawrence Seaway. We know that this is a potential place for species to get in because things like sea lamprey and alewife have already gotten in through that mechanism,” Roth said There’s also the risk that non-native species that are currently present could either grow in population or expand their territories . Roth says that a cousin to an already established non-native species could be the next to expand. “This is all just speculation, but there are a few invasive species that are in relatively low abundance. One is the tube-nosed goby. The round goby is fairly common throughout the Great Lakes. The tube -nosed goby is not real common throughout the Great Lakes. It’s in lakes Huron and Eerie right now, and that leaves three others.” Northern Michigan University biology Professor Jill Leonard says that the temperature needs of some aquatic life could cause them to move further north if the lakes get warmer. “A lot of what really determines how far a species can go is this temperature gradient that you find across the Great Lakes,” Leonard said. “Up here in Lake Superior, a lot of these species may or may not be present, but they really haven’t blossomed yet. “One of the predictions for climate change affecting the Great Lakes is that the lakes will warm. That has the potential to shift available habitat for some of these invasive species that we have that are being limited by temperature,” she said. Leonard says that zebra mussels, which are currently limited to water that has been somewhat warmed – such as around power plants and harbors – could see their habitat expand if lake temperatures rise. Non-native species are a concern because of the adverse impact they can have on the Great Lakes ecosystem. Roth says that in an undisturbed ecosystem, “energy flows in an expected manner. “Large fish prey on small fish. Small fish prey on small crustaceans called zooplankton. Those plankton feed on phytoplankton or algae,” Roth said. “Usually, without any other large disturbances, such as really intense fishing or lots of pollution, those fish communities will sustain themselves.” Because of the history of pollution and fishing, Roth says the Great Lakes are already a disturbed system. Zebra mussel infestation that began in the 1960s shows the damage a new animal can bring. “Zebra mussels are filter feeders and feed on the algae that are normally for the small crustaceans,” he said. “There’s enough algae in the Great Lakes generally to allow the fish food webs to be okay. We’re still trying to determine exactly how zebra mussels affect the lakes. But the role that any new species could have is disrupting the food web.” Those disruptions get harder to deal with as the number of invasive species increases, according to Robert McCann, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment press secretary. “The more of these invasive species that come into the Great Lakes system, the harder it is for us to deal with them,” McCann said. “Some of them just constitute more of a nuisance, while others cause actual damage to the lakes and the streams and the wildlife that live in them. “That has been ongoing, and it’s only going to get more difficult to deal with if we don’t take action to really close off the doorway that they use to get in here,’ he said. That increasing difficulty is why Joel Brammeier, the president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes based in Chicago, said that decisive action is necessary. “That’s exactly why the solutions we look for can’t be temporary,” he said. “If we spend too much time dithering about what to do in the short term, we’re risking our chance to implement a long – term solution that protects the Great Lakes.” An Asian carp summit is planned for Feb. 8 at the White House. Gov. Jennifer Granholm plans to attend.

Fish food: Hungry and abundant salmon could be too much for Lake Ontario alewives Feb. 5, 2010 Jeff Gillies / ://greatlakesecho.org Too many Lake Ontario Chinook salmon threaten the survival of the alewives they eat. Photo: GLERL A biological balancing act between the premier Great Lakes sportfish and its prey could be at a tipping point in Lake Ontario. Chinook salmon are the foundation of the Lake Ontario recreational fishery, which is worth $76 million to New York alone. But new research shows that the popular predators could be so abundant in the lake that there may not be enough alewives – the Chinook’s main prey fish – to go around. If there aren’t enough alewives to both reproduce and feed the salmon, each species will collapse. That’s what happened over the past five years in Lake Huron, where alewives and the Chinook salmon fishery have all but disappeared. “The alewife population could be at severe risk of collapse like what happened at Lake Huron,” said Brent Murry, a biology research assistant professor at Central Michigan University who did doctoral research on Lake Ontario. “We need to reevaluate the stocking plan.” Same story, different lake In 2006, Lake Michigan managers fearing the same fate as Lake Huron cut back Chinook salmon stocking by 25 percent, hoping to make life easier for alewives. So far, that strategy has worked, said Randy Claramunt, research biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. “Reducing stocking has contributed to a reduced number of Chinook salmon in Lake Michigan,” he said. “Likewise, we’ve seen a response in the increased survival of alewife.” And the salmon that remain are bigger and healthier than they were a few years ago, he said. A similar salmon stocking cut could ease the pressure on Lake Ontario alewives, Murray said. But such a move is unpopular with the lake’s recreational anglers. Charter boat captains on Lake Ontario have already seen salmon catch-rates decline after stocking cuts in the mid-90s, said George Watkins, secretary of the Ontario Sportfishing Guides’ Association. “Part of our livelihood is the number of fish that are available to us,” he said. “Are you going to do a charter if all you’re going to do is go around on a boat ride?” But there may be reason to believe that a stocking cut might not be so bad for anglers looking to hook a Chinook. Wild fish surprise The link between salmon stocking and catch rates is based on an old assumption that the only salmon in Lake Ontario are the fish that were planted in there, said Michael Connerton, a senior research biologist with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. A 2009 study shows that’s probably not the case. The study, co-authored by Connerton and Murray, found that the 2.3 million Chinook salmon planted by New York and Ontario annually produce less than half of the Chinook in Lake Ontario. Most have never seen a hatchery; they were born wild in tributary streams like the Salmon River in north central New York. “So the widely held belief that there was limited to no natural reproduction is just completely and absolutely wrong,” said Murray. Around half of the Chinook in Lake Michigan are born wild, Claramunt said. That makes a cut in salmon stocking for the sake of alewives easier to swallow for the lake’s anglers. In a new study, Connerton and Murry estimated Chinook salmon abundance in Lake Ontario in a way that accounted for natural production. By coupling that estimate with the rate at which the salmon eat alewives, they determined that “predation pressure on the Lake Ontario alewife population may be high enough to raise concerns about long-term stability of this predator–prey system,” according to an article in the January 2010 issue of Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. Managers hold stocking levels steady Lake Ontario managers still aren’t convinced that a new stocking plan is needed, Connerton said. The best indicator of the balance between Chinook and alewives is the average size of full-grown salmon, he said. That average was recently near an all-time low, but has since rebounded and stabilized. “I think what they’ve decided over the past ten years is there doesn’t seem to be enough to indicate a stocking change,” he said. But it’s something that biologists and managers alike will have to keep an eye on. “Could we push the alewife population to a point where there’s too few alewife to sustain the population and our Chinook size would drastically decline because there isn’t enough to eat? Yes, of course. I think it could happen,” he said. “Hopefully it won’t happen so quickly that we can’t make adjustments.”

What about the "I can cast and retrieve efficiently with either hand" option.

I'm with Bill on this one. To gawdy, to flashy, whatever, I prefer my fishing rods to be much more subtle.

Thanks Joey. I know of a few kiosks around here that sell calendars, I'll keep my eyes open.

Thanks again for all the kudos guys, much appreciated. That's not what Mom told me. I have just the rod Kevin and that might be a good option for getting my first walleye on a fly rod.

Well I know I won't be there but I hope you have a great day! And remember only 2 lines per angler, that's right only 2......

Well isn't that special. So where does one find these calendars Miss Joey?

Shaving is so over rated. I got it down to 3 times a month some 30 years ago and that's enough for me.

Here you go Art, I found some smaller (#28) hooks and made another bout half the size. Hard to get the finer detail in but I did manage to get the dark back over a white abdomen.

No advice Joe other than have fun.

Okay Fred.

Good for you Peter. I'm still trying to get the butts out of my life!

Glad you liked it Jacques. Now that you've got some paint on it I think it's safe to say "looking good".

Bit of both I'm sure Farmer. Thank you. That's what I thought when I strarted tying it. Still do! Thnks Tom. Good practice Dan for those bigger type flies/jigs.

Damn! You's younger than me. But not by much. Like you though my first job was a paper run.

My entire house is a "Man Cave" of sorts since I've been single. But I am currently renovating the basement and hope to end up have something as man cozy as that Randy.

I've been buying my luxuries since I was 12, paying rent at home since I was 15 (cause I quit school) and on my own since I was 17. First house purchased at 19. 31 years in the steel mill now, with numerous layoffs and and a few strikes inbetween. Never asked anyone for a dime! I've done pool instalations, snow remoaval, lawn cutting and leaf raking, interior painting and roofing to get me through the lean times. My daughters now at 15 and 17 have both been working for a over a year and my son who'll be 15 this year will be working soon. Far to many kids have a sense of entitlement to things not earned. I refuse to allow my kids that lazy pleasure! On top of this they have maintained scholarship grades.....thank the good Lord. Steer the course and teach him that the guilty pleasures are earned, not handed to him.