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Four

As a 30 year veteran of float fishing (center pin) I don't disagree with Roy's opinion.

A great trilogy of posts Wayne, I thoroughly enjoyed reading them. Moments of hardship and sorrow interlaced with hours of cottage life, family and friends. Thanks for taking the time to recap your summer.

Can't be a Ford, you'd still be chained to the tree.

Congratulations Brian, I'm happy for you.

No doubt I'd have been as delighted as your buddy. I'm glad to hear that the damage was minimal, live and learn.

I don't think I'd want to be borrowing that one and I could likely replace it for less than most.

I love seeing posts of old photos. Thanks for taking the time to put them up Rob.

That's an interesting assortment of fish Cliff, perhaps the next time you'll get those Kingfish, they do fight hard! I'm certain that you not ever going to see a report from me on the fishing in Beirut.

Jigging for walleye, is there any other way?

PEARLS UNSTRUNG For a while, the Great Lakes weren’t connected by rivers and Niagara Falls was just a trickle August 29th, 2009 Sid Perkins / Science News The thundering roar at the base of Niagara Falls is awesome indeed. On an average summer day, about 40 million gallons of water spill over the half-mile–wide Canadian portion of the cataract each minute. After falling over a cliff taller than a 16-story building, water pummels the rocks below, incessantly eroding the base of the cliff and triggering rockfalls. Before the 20th century, when engineers weakened the Niagara River by diverting some of its flow to produce hydroelectric power, the falls marched upstream an average of more than a meter per year. Niagara Falls is one of the last links in an impressive chain: Water flows from Lake Superior and Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, onward to Lake Erie, then down the Niagara River and over the falls to Lake Ontario and thence to the sea. Today the falls seem unstoppable, but scientists have learned that there was a time after the most recent ice age when Niagara Falls was a mere trickle and the Great Lakes were a little less great. During the ice age, which began about 100,000 years ago, a kilometers-thick ice sheet smothered the region. And Niagara Falls — or the ice-covered cliff that would become the falls —was located several kilometers downstream of its current site. Sometime around 13,000 years ago, the ice retreated northward, leaving meltwater to accumulate in gouges that were left behind. With the first flush of meltwater, lake levels rose and the falls raged. Studies show that as ice retreated and climate dried, however, the falls slowed to a trickle for several millennia, starting about 10,000 years ago. Scientists once thought that the falls slowed because the overflow from Lake Erie was rerouted to a different spillway when the landscape tilted and shifted as it was relieved of its icy burden. But now they are learning that some of the rivers connecting one lake to another simply disappeared during a long dry spell that started about 12,500 years ago. In the last decade or so, scientists have uncovered clues that the water level in Lake Erie — and indeed, the levels in at least some of the other Great Lakes — fell well below all natural outlets, rendering those lakes isolated bodies of water. New studies, including archaeological surveys and genetic analyses of fish, bolster the notion that today’s submarine ridges and nearshore shallows were once land bridges and lakeside beaches. Ups and downs Today, even small fluctuations in lake levels can have a big effect on the region. In a good year, vessels from the United States, Canada and other nations transport more than 200 million tons of iron ore, coal and other cargo on the lakes, says Glen Nekvasil, vice president of the Lake Carriers’ Association, based in Rocky River, Ohio. For every inch (2.5 centimeters) that lake levels drop, he says, the 65 vessels represented by the trade group must forgo carrying about 8,200 tons of cargo. Instruments have tracked Lake Erie’s water level only since the mid-1800s, but in that time the level has, according to modern standards, fluctuated substantially. From 1900 to today, the lake’s surface altitude has varied by about 1.5 meters, says Gregory C. Wiles, a paleoclimatologist at the College of Wooster in Ohio. Although many people have suspected that human activity —dredging, engineering projects and the like — caused those variations, a study reported by Wiles and his colleagues in the March 6 Geophysical Research Letters hints that natural climate cycles are largely to blame. Today, average precipitation over Lake Erie is about 99 centimeters per year, the researchers note. But evaporation steals about 90 centimeters of that water annually; the surplus water joins the incoming flow from the upper Great Lakes and exits Lake Erie via the Niagara River, says Wiles. Water level in the lake depends on the balance between income and outgo: In spring, when snowmelt is prodigious and temperatures — and therefore evaporation — are relatively low, the lake’s level is typically at its high point for the year. In late summer and autumn, when air temperatures and evaporation are relatively high, the level sinks. Similarly, extended dry spells across the Upper Midwest cause lake levels to fall, says Wiles. The lowest recorded water level in Lake Erie came during the mid-1930s, near the end of the driest stretch of the Dust Bowl years. High lake levels from the 1970s through the 1990s may have resulted from weather patterns that brought higher-than-normal amounts of moisture north from the Gulf of Mexico. Data locked in tree rings offer a way to extend the precipitation record of the Midwest back in time. For example, tree ring data from forests along the Gulf of Alaska indicate that when winter sea-surface temperatures in the North Pacific were warmer than normal, the Upper Midwest received less precipitation. That, in turn, caused water levels in the Great Lakes to drop. This link alone can explain half the modern variations in Lake Erie’s level, Wiles and his colleagues report. Other climate cycles — including El Niño, the warming of sea-surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific —influence rainfall in the Great Lakes basin as well, the researchers’ analyses concluded. “The Great Lakes are a great dipstick of the region’s climate,” says Wiles. And climate will help determine the lakes’ future as well. A recent report from the U.S. Global Change Research Program states that, under a business-as-usual scenario for carbon dioxide emissions, Great Lakes levels will drop substantially toward the end of this century. Between 2020 and 2100, the water level in Lake Superior will decline about 15 centimeters, the researchers estimate. Over the same time period, water levels in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan will decline almost 50 centimeters, a change that could render parts of some harbors largely inaccessible. Wide swings Compared with today, water levels in the Great Lakes seesawed wildly after the last ice age, including occasional big rises. And evidence also suggests that some lakes were overflowing while others were evaporating away. In 2008, scientists reported that small spruce saplings buried high in an embankment along the northwestern shore of Lake Superior indicate that the lake’s surface rose at least several meters — drowning the region for several centuries beginning about 8,900 years ago — before levels sank again (SN Online: 10/9/08). But most known excursions in Great Lakes water levels, including those in the eastern lakes at the same time, have taken lake surfaces lower than modern averages, says Mike Lewis, a marine geologist emeritus with the Geological Survey of Canada in Dartmouth. Sonar scans of Lake Superior’s floor show kilometers-long troughs that were scoured by icebergs at the end of the last ice age (SN: 1/6/07, p. 14). Those features, as well as long-submerged beaches revealed by other sonar studies, reveal that water levels in the lake fell at least 70 meters below the modern-day average some time in the past 10,000 years or so, Lewis notes. What are now nearshore shallows would have been exposed during that era and could have been home to villages and broad hunting grounds for Native Americans. Sonar scans taken off the northeastern shore of Lake Erie also show relict, now-flooded beaches. And analyses of sediments extracted from one of those ancient shorelines, as well as cores drilled elsewhere in the lake, reveal new details of the lakes’ configuration after the last ice age, Lewis and his colleagues reported in Toronto in May at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union. Not only were the Great Lakes’ levels at the end of the last ice age lower than they are today, the researchers note, but also the lakes covered much less area. The relatively shallow western regions of Lake Erie, for example, were covered by marsh plants between 14,600 and 12,900 years ago — a sure sign that this area was mostly exposed as the last ice age drew to a close and that lake levels during this interval were far lower than they are today. Sediment cores drilled from the center of the lake reveal that the accumulation of mud there decreased substantially between 12,500 and 8,300 years ago. Finally, Lewis notes, a sediment core drilled from a now-flooded beach about 30 meters below the lake’s surface indicates that mud began to pile up on that wave-eroded surface only after 8,400 years ago. Specifically, water levels in Lake Erie were falling at the same time that overflow from Lake Huron, the nearest neighbor upstream, flowed to the sea via other routes. Today, between 85 and 90 percent of the water that flows out of Lake Erie has flowed in from the Great Lakes upstream. Dry up that source of water, Lewis says, and evaporation quickly begins to outpace the lake’s accumulation of precipitation. About 7,600 years ago, lake sediments also began to include hemlock pollen — a sign, says Lewis, that climate became wetter and stayed that way. Accordingly, lake levels gradually rose about seven meters in the centuries that followed. Finally, about 6,300 years ago, the overflow from Lake Huron again switched southward and spilled into Lake Erie, filling it to the brim and once again cranking up the faucets at Niagara Falls. Life in the old Great Lakes Not all the evidence regarding water levels in the Great Lakes has come from rocks and sediments. Archaeological and genetic evidence left behind in and around the lakes supports the idea that their surfaces were once dramatically lower than they are today. This landscape would have been vastly different for animals and early people of the Great Lakes. Earlier this summer, researchers reported that sonar and video surveys of a submarine ridge in Lake Huron revealed structures similar to those used to guide caribou by modern-day hunters in the high Arctic (SN: 7/4/09, p. 14). Between 8,300 and 11,300 years ago, the now-flooded ridge would have been a 16-kilometer–wide land bridge connecting the state of Michigan and Ontario, Canada. The find hints that other structures, possibly even the remnants of small villages, may be preserved on what was once prime lakeside real estate. The legacy of the disconnected lakes is seen in today’s fish populations as well. Despite an apparent lack of geographical barriers between those five lakes today, fish that inhabit Lake Erie have minor mutations in their genetic code that make them genetically distinct from their kin in the other lakes. Take, for instance, the smallmouth bass, Micropterus dolomieu. After the ice sheet covering the Great Lakes retreated, bass that lived in unfrozen rivers and other refuges — including the Mississippi, St. Lawrence, Ohio and Hudson rivers — recolonized the lakes, says Carol A. Stepien, a fish geneticist at the University of Toledo in Ohio. Those diverse origins are preserved in today’s bass, she and her colleagues reported in Molecular Ecology in 2007. The fish in western Lake Erie are most genetically similar to those in Lake St. Clair, a small lake just upstream from there, the researchers discovered. And the fish in eastern Lake Erie are most genetically similar to those in Lake Ontario, which lies just downstream. In the eastern part of Lake Erie, smallmouth bass are also more genetically diverse than their western companions, and fish from areas in between have intermediate levels of diversity. These trends suggest that eastern and central subpopulations of bass were geographically isolated from one another at some time in the past — a scenario also supported by sonar surveys. The data suggest that when Lake Erie was at its lowest level, around 8,800 years ago, what is today a large body of water would have been divided into two largely separate basins connected by a small waterway. Smallmouth bass living in close proximity to each other might be expected to be genetically similar, says Stepien, because they typically don’t migrate and often spawn in the same nesting sites each year. But more surprisingly, genetic analyses of walleye —a fish that remains generally faithful to its nesting sites yet spends much of its life in open waters, mixing with walleye from elsewhere in the lake — show similar trends in diversity. So now findings from the disparate fields of genetics and geology, with a little archaeology thrown in for good measure, seem to be telling the same story: Once upon a time the Great Lakes, today one huge system linked by rivers and straits, were disconnected pools. “I’ve been studying the Great Lakes for a long time, and there have been many puzzles,” says Lewis, “but only now are things coming together and starting to make sense.”

Fish diversion net installed outside Pickering nuke plant September 16th, 2009 / Newsdurhamregion.com Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is installing a fish diversion net in Lake Ontario just outside the Pickering power plant. The goal is to reduce the number of fish dying after swimming into the plant’s water intake pipe. It will be a 610-metre long mesh net with half-inch openings. Residents may have seen divers working on the project outside the plant in recent weeks. “Work began on that in mid-July and it’s almost completed now,” said Pickering A senior vice-president Mark Elliott. The netting itself will be added in October once the other parts are in place. Boaters will be warned by 19 lighted buoys about the netting, which is located 77 metres out from the intake. “They’re asked to say stay well clear of that,” said Mr. Elliott. OPG plans to issue reminders about the net each spring when boating season kicks off.

Good stuff Doug. I'm glad this trip worked out for you and your dad, a memory you'll always cherish. It must have been pretty exciting for you watching your dad land all of those PB's day after day.

New Quantum Fishing Website Goes Live Sept. 14, 2009 / www.great-lakes.org TULSA, Oklahoma - The totally redesigned Quantum web site - www.QuantumFishing.com - went live last week with a new look and many expanded features and functions for the ultimate interactive experience relating to Quantum products, customer service, technical support and a wide range of fishing topics and know-how. The new site incorporates the latest in new media technology advances and puts them in an easy-to-navigate-and-search format that makes QuantumFishing.com extremely user-friendly, regardless of a visitor's level of Internet experience. In addition to general information such as FAQs, dealer locator, trophy board and media room, the site also contains a greatly expanded library of product schematics covering a wide range of years, as well as the most intricate details about PT products, including gear ratios, inches per turn, weight, drag strength, etc. Visitors can also get a behind-the-scenes look at engineering and quality testing that goes into every Quantum rod and reel by choosing one of the many video options. There are also numerous fishing tips videos by Quantum's elite pro staffers, including Kevin VanDam, Shaw Grigsby, Dean Rojas, Greg Hackney and several others, covering fresh and saltwater. The "On Tour" department follows the pros through their respective tournament participations. For customers wanting to communicate directly with the company's engineers and product managers, there's the Quantum Blog. The monitored blog will provide useful communication on most any fishing topic, and expect to find frequent postings by Quantum's pro staffers adding to the exchanges. Certain items, such as Quantum Signature Series PT rods and a variety of promotional clothing, can be purchased through the site's "buy online" areas. The Custom Shop houses all of the information about the rods.

Some beauties there Dan. I hope you'll be guiding me again next year when all is right again! Maybe I'll bring Fish Farmer if'n the ole boy can stay above the sod for another year....

LMAO....I forgot about the skunk trying to get in your boat, too funny. Obviously you were able to keep the skunk at bay (literally).

Yep, that's exactly what I mean. There will be others and I intend to make it one day.

Amazing, incredible, and yet so difficult to read. Great job guys, truly amazing fishing and beautifully reported Mike. Thanks.

Sunday afternoon I took a drive down to the Skyway Salmon Challenge to watch the weigh-ins. I knew there would be a few OFC'ers there so I figured what better way to spend a few hours. Right away I stumble upon Fish Farmer and fishfarmer2 coming in empty handed. Shortly afterwards I see Sonny who also came in empty handed! He did however win the Fishmaster Walleye derby the day before, congrats Sonny. Now this is where it gets interesting. Out of a field of nearly 100 anglers only three fish are brought to the scales and they're all under 11lbs. The previous days of east wind really seemed to have scattered the fish. Anyhow the third place winner who had been out fishing all by himself was also the recent week 7 Salmon Derby winner, that's right......Tonyb. Congratulations Tony, was a pleasure meeting you. Oh and I hope your wife left you a little change for yourself.

I think you mean manely....

What, you couldn't come up with an example yourself? (Flame.... )

Manitoulin lake positive for toxins Sept. 11, 2009 STAR STAFF / www.thesudburystar.com Ice Lake on Manitoulin Island has tested positive for blue-green algae, the Sudbury and District Health Unit announced Thursday. Samples taken by the Ministry of the Environment from the north end of Ice Lake contained a number of species of cyanobacteria -- blue-green algae -- which can produce toxins. Further testing is underway. Ice Lake has had blue-green algae blooms in the past, the most recent being 2007, the health unit said in a release. "Visible algal blooms may produce toxins; therefore, using or drinking the water should be avoided," said Dan Burns, a public health inspector with the health unit. The highest concentrations of toxins are usually found in blooms and scum on the shoreline. These dense accumulations pose the greatest potential risks to people and pets. "People do not usually drink water contaminated with bluegreen algal blooms because of its unsightly pea soup appearance and foul smell," said Burns. Toxins can irritate the skin and, if ingested, can cause diarrhea and vomiting. At high enough levels, toxins may cause liver and nervous system damage. The health unit advises people using lakes and rivers to be on the lookout for algal blooms. If blooms are visible: * Avoid using the water for drinking, bathing, or showering and do not allow children, pets, or livestock to drink or swim in the water. * Lakeshore residents with shallow drinking water intake pipes that might pump in bluegreen algae should be cautious. * Residents should not boil the water because boiling the water may release more toxins into the water. * Residents should avoid cooking with the water because food may absorb toxins from the water during cooking. * Residents should exercise caution with respect to eating fish caught in water where blue-green algal blooms occur. Residents should not eat the liver, kidneys and other organs of fish caught in the water. * Do not treat the water with a disinfectant like bleach. This may break open algae cells and release toxins into the water. * Residents should not rely on water jug filtration systems as they do not protect against the toxins.

Algae bloom brings on feeding binges for local walleye and bass Sept. 11, 2009 TERRY CURTIS / www.northumberlandtoday.com It's that time of year. It happens every fall and, while I can't say I honestly like the start of it, I sure do like the results it produces. I mentioned last week the fact I love this time of year because as the lake gets greener and greener (due to the annual autumn turnover where all the oxygen on top of the water sinks to the bottom and causes the algae to rise to the top) I have Rice Lake pretty much to myself most days. A lot of people look at the green slime on the lake and, wondering what is taking place, shake their heads and drive away. If only they knew what they are missing! All bodies of water go through this annual event, but it's more evident on southern Kawartha lakes because we get the low temperatures at night, then nice warm days and the change in water colour is more pronounced than it is in bigger lakes like Ontario, Simcoe and even the Bay of Quinte. The beginning week or two of the turnover really slows the fishing down. It takes a while for the fish to adapt to the changing temperatures and water clarity, but then they get the natural urge to start feeding heavily to store up energy for the winter ahead. And do they eat! Smart fishers will be out on the lakes now, searching out bright green coontail beds and marking them on maps or global positioning units, then rechecking them every few days to see which remain into the final few days of the fishing season. They die off quickly at this time of year but those that stay will hold the fish as that's where the oxygen is. Walleye and bass especially relate to this fall turnover and almost lose their brains at times as they concentrate on short feeding binges. With that heavy blanket of green over their heads, expect even walleye to move into very shallow water where you would never find them in the spring or summer seasons. They, like the minnows, crayfish and frogs they feed on at this time of year, feel perfectly safe cruising right up on shore -- and I mean right on shore, even in two or less feet of water especially in the evening or on windy days. A couple of things to keep in mind here for whacking lots of walleye and bass while the algae bloom is on. First: for walleye and largemouth bass, finding these weedbeds is crucial. That's where they will live, although they will definitely hit the shallow water I mentioned for evening and windy conditions. For smallies, hit rocky points, sandy beaches and especially pea gravel bars or humps in shallow water. Mostly though, concentrate on colour for all three species once you find these remaining weedbeds, clumps and shoreline feeding areas. The majority of the fish in the Kawarthas feed on perch or bluegill. That's a given. So think lures and baits in the colours those panfish have on their bodies: black or dark green backs; yellow, or even better, orange bellies and sides mixed in with chartreuse sides and cheeks. Think that's why my number one go-to bait is a Rapala Hot Steel X-SHAD crankbait for buckets and walleye at this time of year? Or a black/chartreuse bucktail jig for the smallies?

Big fish, big fun with McKellar tournament Sept. 9, 2009 Al and Lesley Last / www.parrysound.com Big Fish Classic 2009 Attention anglers, once again put September 25 to 27 aside to participate in the McKellar Conservation Association’s (MCA) Lake Manitouwabing Big Fish Classic tournament. This is the MCA’s greatest annual money-raising event, with the profits funding many MCA conservation efforts in and around McKellar Township. The Big Fish Classic (BFC) includes several events which are included in the registration fees. The fee for adults is $60; the fee for children under 16 is $50. Note that these fees apply for entries up to September 11. Fees after this date are $70 for adults and $60 for children under 16. These entry fees include a roast beef dinner (Saturday, Sept.26, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) at the McKellar Community Centre prior to the prize ceremony and the Sunday Big Fish Shootout for an additional prize. The main prizes consist of $1,000 for each of the heaviest bass, pike or walleye. In addition to this there will be prizes awarded for your heaviest catch registered at either of the MCA’s two weigh-in stations. To enrol in this increasingly popular event, go to www.bigfishclassic.com and click on “information” which is in red on the second paragraph of the home page and follow instructions, or send a cheque payable to ‘McKellar Conservation Association’ to Judy Savage, 11 Lizzie’s Lane, RR#1, Site 12, Comp.15, Parry Sound, ON., P2A 2W7. Please include the name, address and e-mail address of each person registering, the total number of anglers in the party and number of boats in the party. To register in person, see Steve Bradley at Manitouwabing Taxidermy, 6 Catherine St. in McKellar, 705-389-2666.