Spiel

I really wish you'd waited till after I've had an outing with Mike before you'd suggested this John.

Buggers! No worries Glen those Esox Angler mags will be at your door this week and you can bone up on how to do it right. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to let Wayne read them as well....

Congratulations son, well done and welcome to the world of hardcore steelheading.

When you own the boat you make the rules. I'd have my own side too. I was thinking what a great day it would be to have the boat out, despite the coolness there was little wind to speak of down here and it looks like you had fairly calm winds up there as well. Can't wait to see the MONSTER.

Protecting Lake Michigan Battle against Asian carp off to a promising start December 04. 2009 Jim Lynch / The Detroit News After introducing thousands of gallons of toxin into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and monitoring results for a day, biologists recovered one Asian carp Thursday in a canal leading to Lake Michigan, the nearest the destructive species has come to the Great Lakes, Illinois environmental officials said. Illinois and federal officials began pumping the toxin rotenone into a section of the canal Wednesday evening in an attempt to kill any of the carp that may have passed north of electrical barriers designed to stop them. The application was necessary for maintenance work on the barrier this week. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials found the 22-inch immature specimen among tens of thousands of dead fish, from gizzard shad to drum, identified in a fish kill operation in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, about 40 miles from Lake Michigan, said John Rogner, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "Asian carp are indeed knocking on the door of the Great Lakes," Rogner said. "This is the closest to Lake Michigan that an actual Asian carp body has been found." After being introduced to the United States in the 1970s, Asian carp have been making their way through the Mississippi River system. They can grow to 4 and 5 feet , weigh as much as 100 pounds and eat 40 percent of their body weight daily. Their voracious appetite could devastate a $7 billion-a-year fishing industry, officials fear. It likely will be days before officials have a clear idea of what they've learned from this week's project. Phil Moy, a researcher with the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute and co-chairman of the Dispersal Barrier Advisory Council, said Asian carp may not have risen to the surface yet. "Because of their size, we expect them to sink during the first 24 hours or so and then begin to rise as their bodies decompose," Moy said. It's unlikely the steps taken this week will quell the concerns. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm was among those calling for more action. That could include closing off all the waterways leading from where the Asian carp is established.

I don't have a problem with a $10.00 fee, it's more reasonable than the boat launching fee there. I suspect this will increase the revenue for the township from all the parking tickets issued to those trying to save $10.00....LOL I just hope they have someone on duty early enough to allow us to get in the park and on the ice before sunrise.

You may very well be the first to get up an icefishing report this season Simon and I'm looking forward to it. Good luck and be safe.

Yep, same deal with my baitcast setup, only I be using my thumb.

A beautiful post Ryan. Thank you.

Darn it, there's a hole in your woolies.

I'm sure that Mike is not making this a limited time offer John. Whether it be next spring or next fall, just take him up on the offer when you can. I guarantee you'll devirginize that float rod on your first outing with Mike.

Peter's Tackle & Live Bait - 22 Secord Drive, St. Catherine's ON (905) 934-2512 Day Hours Monday- Friday 9:00-6:00 Saturday 9:00-4:00 Sunday 10:00-3:00 http://www.peterstackle.com/

Well now I have something to think about today....

You would know....

I'm pleased to hear all went well Brian.

Too funny.... I'd jump all over this one John, can't go wrong!

Oh boy, it's been a while since I last splashed around in those waters but knowing when and where to be on that river can result in a spectacular number of hook ups. Of course I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. Congrats on another stellar day of chrome.

Well congratulations Rick, that's awesome. If I may make a suggestion, go for the Simcoe whities.....I guarantee you'll love it.

That's a whole lot good fish'n right there. Very nice.

Thanks again everyone. Each day a little better than the previous. I think it'll be the boredom that does me in though, not the pain. That sounds a like a good time Phil, we'll see how I'm doing late in the ice season.

You my young friend have been truly blessed this past year. I'm very happy for you Tony. I can hardly wait to see how you'll up it for next year.

Said my piece Brian. I'm sure all will be well.

Scientists: Mayflies may amplify oxygen and algae problems, but don’t blame the bugs Dec. 3, 2009 Jeff Gillies / greatlakesecho.org Before taking this winged form, mayflies live burrowed in lake sediment where they kick up phosphorus. Photo: Michael Swart, via flickr Lake Erie’s pollution in the ’60s and ’70s killed off its mayflies, insects that spend most of their lives underwater before flying off in huge hatches that carpet coastal towns. But the bugs have returned in a big way. “I’ve seen people out there with snow blowers, blowing them around,” said Justin Chaffin, a doctoral student in the University of Toledo’s biology department. “If you walk down the sidewalk or a parking lot it’s like you’re walking on bubble wrap.” Cleaner water is responsible for the resurgence. But in a weird twist, the thriving insects may be a new cause of old environmental problems. Before mayflies turn into flying bags of bug guts, they live a wingless life burrowed in lake sediment. Scientists now suspect those burrows might contribute to a resurgence of low oxygen in the water, a problem they once thought was gone for good, according to two new studies published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research. Here’s how: In the 1960s, phosphorus from farm fields, city streets and wastewater treatment plants fueled massive algae blooms in Lake Erie. Those blooms would die and the bacteria that ate them sucked oxygen out of the water. Without that oxygen, fish and other aquatic animals like mayflies died. Fish kills fouled beaches and mayflies all but disappeared. In the 1970s and 1980s, the U.S. and Canada spent $8 billion to control phosphorus, spurring Lake Erie into recovery. By 1997, as many mayflies were burrowed in the lake’s western basin as there were before the species collapsed. But now Lake Erie’s algae blooms and low oxygen are back, and scientists aren’t sure why. More phosphorus isn’t going into the lake, yet the concentration of phosphorus in the water has increased. “The lake that died was better, but now the harmful algae blooms are back to where they were before phosphorus control,” said William Edwards, an associate professor of biology at Niagara University in New York. Since more phosphorus doesn’t seem to be coming from outside, Edwards and his colleagues turned to the lake bottom, where as many as 1,500 mayflies can burrow in a square yard of sediment. Though fish and aquatic animals breathe some of the oxygen dissolved in water, most is sponged up by the mud at the bottom of the lake, Edwards said. “The use of oxygen in a lake is really determined by how much is going into the sediment,” he said “That’s really the main sink of oxygen.” Edwards’ team filled containers with Lake Erie mud and water, dropping mayfly nymphs into some of them. The sediment with mayfly burrows consistently sucked up more oxygen than sediment without them. It’s not that the insects use up a lot of oxygen, but that their burrows help more of it go into the sediment. If mayflies act the same way in Lake Erie that they do in the laboratory, their tube-shaped burrows likely turn the lake bottom into a porous oxygen sponge, Edwards said. Mayfly nymph's U-shaped burrows expose oxygen-sucking sediment. Photo: Calvin R. Fremling “If you put a tube through the sediment, you increase the amount of surface area that’s available for the sediment to use up oxygen,” he said. And that’s not all. In a similar experiment, Chaffin found that a burrowing mayfly can kick up buried phosphorus. Once that phosphorus is back in the water, it can fuel more algae blooms. “There is an effect,” Chaffin said “I don’t know if it’s just a drop in a bucket, or if it is a main reason why we’d be seeing these blooms come back since mayflies have come back.” Even if the return of the mayflies has contributed to the resurgence of algae blooms and low oxygen, it’s not a sign that Lake Erie managers need to kick the bugs back out. “It’s not necessarily the mayflies’ fault that there’s so much phosphorus in the sediment,” Chaffin said. “The mayflies are going to do their thing if there’s a lot of phosphorus or not.” But it is a sign of the complexity of environmental problems and solutions. As scientists struggle to find the causes of low oxygen and the sources of phosphorus, they’ll need to consider the effects of animals on the lake, not just the effect of the lake on animals, Edwards said. “What we’re arguing is that these things need to be considered when we’re planning for the health of the lake,” he said. “We can’t discount this and expect to get the results that we want in managing the lake.” Mayflies are sensitive to changes in water quality, so an abundance of mayflies is a symptom of a healthy lake, Edwards said. “I grew up on the shores of Lake Erie, so I remember there being no mayflies,” he said. “So every time I’m wiping mayfly guts off my feet, I don’t get too upset about it.”

Reef cleanup bogged down Local funding key reason for delay November 24th, 2009 Eric McGuinness / Hamilton Spectator Construction design changes and a lack of local funding are being blamed for a big delay in the $90-million cleanup of toxic tar on Randle Reef in Hamilton Harbour. A timetable presented at this time last year said the environmental assessment would be complete and tenders called by August, with construction starting in spring 2010. Now, however, Environment Canada says it won’t have the assessment and final design done until early spring. It’s a significant issue because the underwater reef holds Canada’s second-largest deposit of coal tar after the Sydney Tar Ponds in Nova Scotia. Scientists say it’s too polluted for any life to survive. Until the contaminated sediment is removed or contained, the harbour cannot be removed from the International Joint Commission’s list of Great Lakes areas of concern, a move York University researchers say would be worth $1 billion to the city. Delay jeopardizes the city’s goal of having the harbour delisted by 2015. Jim Hudson, executive director of the Bay Area Restoration Council (BARC), said: “I’ve asked both federal and provincial people what’s going on, but had no answer yet. I’ve asked if it isn’t time for citizens’ groups to start pushing and been told that’s premature.” East Hamilton Councillor Sam Merulla believes the lack of progress is due to “a power struggle between all stakeholders on who will be the lead agency.” He says the Hamilton Port Authority, which was to contribute $7 million and oversee construction, is concerned about the magnitude of the work and possible cost overruns. Marilyn Baxter, the port authority’s environmental manager, and John Hall, co-ordinator of the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan, both referred questions to Environment Canada project manager Roger Santiago. Tracy Lacroix-Wilson, an Environment Canada media relations adviser, said she could not arrange an interview with Santiago and instead sent an e-mail saying it’s taken longer than expected “to develop the necessary agreements among the federal, provincial and local governments and other stakeholders, secure local funding and complete the engineering design and environmental assessment.” Wally Rozenberg of the Ontario Environment Ministry echoed that statement, saying every effort is being made “to keep moving this thing forward,” but it’s a complex project involving many partners. Ottawa and Queen’s Park have each pledged $30 million. The port authority hired former federal Liberal cabinet minister Tony Valeri to raise money locally, but won’t comment on the results. U.S. Steel Canada has said in U.S. financial reports that it inherited a commitment to contribute an undisclosed amount when it bought Hamilton steelmaker Stelco. Mark Sproule-Jones, McMaster University professor emeritus in political science and former BARC chair, said he doubts the city can afford to put much money toward the project, but he’s less concerned about delay than some because he disagrees with the plan to wall off contaminated mud rather than removing and cleaning it. The plan outlined last year would create a steel-walled containment facility around the most polluted 7.5 hectares west of U.S. Steel’s Hamilton Works at the foot of Sherman Avenue. Less-contaminated sediment would be dredged up and put inside, then capped with clean fill to create a cargo pier with a landscaped area facing the water.

Close Encounters With Chrome November 20, 2009 Rob Kolakowski / www.startribune.com There’s a mixed bag of steelhead and rainbows in Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Have you ever wondered where they came from? Lake Superior steelhead populations are largely supported by natural reproduction. These fish were transported from the west coast in the late 1800’s and have since adapted to their new environment. Some stocking still takes place in rivers that don‘t have sufficient natural reproduction. These fish usually come from established wild populations. Also Minnesota has been stocking Kamloops rainbows on the North Shore. I’ll get into details of the various strains later. Lake Michigan is more fertile and supports higher fish populations. It has plenty of naturally reproducing steelhead, although these populations are supplemented by heavy stocking around the lake. The wild fish came from stocks in the late 1800’s. Recently stocked steelhead and rainbow trout are of several different strains. You’ll hear them called Skamania, Chambers Creek, Ganaraska, Manistee, Kamloops, and Arlee. You’re probably wondering why I differentiate between steelhead and rainbow trout. This gets argued a lot, but here’s how I see it. Steelhead originally came from saltwater and rainbow trout originally came from inland freshwater lakes. In reality the difference doesn’t mean anything when your out fishing and having a good time. Here’s some details on the different strains I mentioned. The Skamania strain has it’s origins in the saltwater of Washington. They will typically run the rivers from June to September. Often called summer run steelhead. The Chambers Creek strain also has it’s origins in the saltwater of Washington. They will typically run the rivers from September to January. Often called fall or winter run steelhead. The Ganaraska strain comes from the Ganaraska River in Ontario which flows into Lake Ontario. These fish typically run the rivers from January to May. Often called spring run steelhead. The Manistee strain comes from the Little Manistee River in Michigan. They typically run the rivers from October to March. Also called Michigan strain steelhead. The Kamloops strain comes from Kamloops Lake in British Columbia. Steelhead often roam the open waters during their time in the big lake and are not available to shore fishermen for a good part of the year, so these rainbows were stocked to produce a near shore fishery. Often called Kamloops rainbows. The Arlee strain comes from Montana. These serve the same purpose as the Kamloops, to provide an near shore fishery. Often called Arlee rainbows. None of these fish are native to the Great Lakes and certainly the strains have crossed over the years so there are no clear blood lines. Wild populations have established where there is sufficient habit. Stocking is done when people ask for it. All these fish will be in the rivers to spawn come spring. For those that can’t get enough of these fish all you need to do is take a tour around the Great Lakes. You’ll find them offshore, near shore and in the tributaries during all months of the year. Part of the game is figuring out where to look.