Spiel

Uh, NO

Be well Shane, we've still got a date for whities to fulfill.

Congratulations Ryan on a succesful event for a great cause. You done good. Kudos to all who sponsored and or participated.

The closest shop to me is also Fishing World, I've been a regular in there since the day they opened. Mike has always treated me fairly and when asked to help out with OFC derbies, he's been very generous.

Goldfish genocide OK’d by conservation authority August 11th, 2009 Richard Leitner / The Hamilton Mountain News Tadpoles potential ‘collateral damage’ in bid to preserve salamanders’ habitat Despite some concerns about the “unfavourable optics,” the Hamilton Conservation Authority will use a natural pesticide to kill goldfish in two Dundas Valley ponds that are home to nationally and provincially threatened Jefferson salamanders. Directors unanimously approved the use of rotenone, derived from the roots of tropical plants in the bean family, after hearing the ravenous fishes’ exploding population is putting the salamanders’ breeding habitat at risk. The fish were apparently dumped in the ponds by people who wanted to breed them for use in backyard ponds and, in the case of the McCormack Pond in the Governor’s Road Conservation Area, now number an estimated 30,000 — up from about 40 when first noticed in 2005. A similar problem looms at the pond by the former Merrick Field Centre in Ancaster – described as the salamanders’ hottest breeding area in the valley – where fish were introduced last year and a new stock was discovered in July. Authority ecologist Shari Faulkenham said the goldfish devour anything they can fit in their mouths, including the eggs of the salamanders, which are in the ponds from late March until maturity in late August. Other efforts to remove the fish, including using a large seine net and electrical charges, have failed, she said. “I’m afraid we’ll reach a breaking point where we’ll no longer have Jefferson salamanders returning to the pond” because of unsuccessful breeding, she said. “Basically, we have an area where they lay their eggs, these eggs hatch and they live in that pond for a number of months, and then we have probably 20 or 30 thousand goldfish that are gobbling them up.” Ms. Faulkenham said rotenone is relatively harmless to other species but effective on fish because it is absorbed into the bloodstream through their gills and initiates a cellular process that makes oxygen toxic. While the plan is to apply it in late summer or early fall, when the salamanders are out of the ponds, she said rotenone may also kill some tadpoles of green frogs, which take two years to mature and will be the lone other gilled species present at that time. “That’s the only potential downfall,” she said, noting the Ministry of Natural Resources, Hamilton Naturalists Club and Jefferson Salamander Recovery Team support using rotenone in this case. “Even though tadpoles aren’t as susceptible to rotenone as fish, there may be some collateral damage as a result. Luckily, green frogs aren’t a rare species. They can quickly repopulate.” Although supporting the plan, Councillor Tom Jackson said he is concerned about how the public will react. “Just on the surface, the optics of pesticide use on a pond isn’t the most favourable, in my humble opinion,” he said. “Just as a layman, I’m struggling with this.” But chair Chris Firth-Eagland said he’s seen the carp-like fishes’ impact on the McCormack pond first hand as a neighbour on an adjacent farm and action is necessary. Once pristine, dark and mysterious, with duckweed in the summer, the spring-fed pond is now “a mud puddle,” he said. “It’s absolutely destroyed. There’s no duckweed. There’s no vegetation. There’s nothing but dark, coffee-coloured, muddy water. We may be too late,” he said. “The entire ecosystem has been completely flipped around.” Mr. Firth-Eagland said he believes he stumbled upon the people who stocked the pond during a midnight stroll this spring, when he encountered three men with powerful head-mounted flashlights, large fishing nets and bags of fish. He said he was carrying a talking stick and “waltzed the men down to their car,” but failed to get their licence plate number so they could be charged. “These fish were put purposely there to create an illegal commercial opportunity,” he said. “They weren’t dumped out of some kid’s fish tank at home because they felt sorry for the fish.” Ms. Faulkenham said if breeding the fish for sale were indeed the intent, doing so is “absolutely impossible” in a natural setting because of the genetic manipulation needed to maintain the ornamental fishes’ colour. “Within one generation, they’re all brown,” she said. “What they did was absolutely pointless.” Before proceeding with the eradication plan, Ms. Faulkenham said the authority must obtain approval from a provincial pesticide advisory committee. Sandbagging to prevent outflow from the ponds may preclude the need for additional permits, she said. Once dead, the goldfish will be removed and either buried or sent to a dump, she added.

My apologies, obviously I missed something?

A carp to the jaw hurts It's all fun till someone gets hurt August 13, 2009 Jeff Lampe / prairiestateoutdoors.com Bumps, bruises, cuts and slime are all part of boating trips on the Illinois River these days. Spend enough time on the Illinois and you’re bound to have at least one close encounter at least one flying Asian carp. But your odds of a collision go way up when you are actively trying to make the fish jump so you can shoot them with a bow and arrow. Few people know that better than Jodi Barnes of Bartonville, fiancee of carp-slayer Chris Brackett. During a carp-shooting outing earlier this summer, Barnes had her jaw broken when a large silver carp slammed into the side of her face. The collision occurred within view of Johnny’s Hideaway along the Peoria riverfront with Driven TV hosts Pat Reeve and Nicole Jones in the boat. “We were going really slow because that seems to get them to jump really high,” Brackett said. “Jodi had shot at one and was leaning forward to reel in her arrow when another fish came out of nowhere to her right and then hit her in the jaw.” Photographer Bill Konway actually photographed the moment of impact. Click here to see the rest of Konway’s pictures and to check out some of his other cool outdoors-related photographs. Hours after she was hit Barnes had her jaw wired shut. She still has four more weeks of eating instant potatoes and smoothies until the broken jawbone heals. The experience left Barnes with a vendetta against flying carp. Moments after her collision, she sent a text message with three simple words: “Kill ‘em all!” Incidentally, film crews will be on the water with Brackett Aug. 22-23 to shoot footage for an upcoming episode of Hooked, which airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on the National Geographic channel.

Becket almost has record-setting day Aug. 15, 2009 Will Elliott / buffalonews.com Anthony Becket shows his hefty lunker he caught in Lake Erie, west of Dunkirk Harbor. Records are made to be almost broken. Anthony "Tony" Becket lives in Portland, Ore., but spends his summers at Chautauqua Institute, enjoying the various activities provided there. One day each season he books a fishing charter. This year, the walleye run on Lake Erie had been slow, but charter captain Paul Dreher (cq) of Small Fortune Charters headed for deeper waters Aug. 6 with hopes of hooking into trout as well as walleye some 12 miles northwest of Dunkirk Harbor. Dreher's plans worked very well. Becket fished with his father-in-law, Norman Pedersen of Florida, his son Pete Pedersen of Wellesley, Mass, and his son Bill Pedersen, 18. The foursome got just one walleye, but the outing resulted in a total of 10 lunker lake trout, one that nearly broke the New York State record for that species. Dreher set lines close to bottom at depths to 130 feet. "The Dream Weaver [spoon] with a "gator' [black, green, and green glow] got the big one," he said of the biggest trout. Becket noted all four anglers enjoyed catching and releasing big lakers. "Most of them were around 20 pounds, except for my big one," he boasted of his fish that looked as though it would weigh in the high 40-pound range. Bill Culligan, DEC Great Lakes Supervisor from the Lake Erie Unit at Dunkirk met Becket and Dreher at Bart's Cove in Dunkirk Harbor; Culligan confirmed the fish as a true lake trout species. "Our next problem was to find a certified scale," Dreher said since most store scales stop at 30 pounds. "By the time we had it officially weighed at a store in Sherman, it came to 40.25 pounds," Becket said of the weigh-in posted at 1:30 p.m. The weight total missed the state record laker that Jesse Wykstra caught out of Dunkirk Harbor on Aug. 9, 2003. That fish weighed 41.5 pounds. "Before today, the biggest trout I'd ever caught was 15 inches long," Becket said as his large laker was being authenticated and measured. Nonetheless, Becket's fish, measuring 42 inches with a girth of 29.5 inches, topped the current 39-pound second-place record lake trout, a fish caught in Lake Ontario. Eastern Lake Erie waters have become a lake trout factory in recent years. Senior aquatic biologist and Lake Erie Unit head Don Einhouse noted that July assessments show an exceptional number of rainbow smelt this year — prime forage for heavy-feeding lake trout. With the poor showing of walleye this summer season, many boaters have dropped deeper, targeting not only lakers but also abundant schools of brown and rainbow trout. The Lake Erie limit for lake trout is set at one fish per angler and fishermen should carefully handle and quickly release lake trout not intended for the creel. For Becket, this one was creel-worthy.

Trolling on a fishing (mostly fishing) forum, hmmmmm, go figure.

Nice bass. Takes me back to my youth when I spent a considerable amount of time chasing Bronte Creek smallies. Thanks.

Can't say I've ever used one but a friend purchased one to try. He used it on smallies and clobbered them. Unfortunately after a half dozen fish most of the paint was gone and the lure was full of water, he's a little dissapointed.

I agree with Ryan, good fishing can be had out there till it's too cold to venture out. Lot's of bows and next years kings to be had for those willing to move beyond the staging fish and they continue to feed aggressively.

I've used 6lb and 8lb Trilene XT for pier fishing for years, plenty adequate, just make sure you have plenty of yardage. In fact the breaking strength for Trilene XT is under rated.

Sheeeeesh I don't know what to say. I do appreciate the kind words and I'm pleased to know that you all like the rods. I suppose I'm the fortunate one though as I have owned dozens of Spiel custom rods.

Damn, I need to get me arse out there!

"Do you always throw back the big fish?" Well I could reply with an indepth answer and relate all the varibles that may arise when deciding whether to keep or release but the short answer is, NO!

You've been a busy boy. I give it two thumbs up!

Never admit to being "owned" Cliff, someone has to be the guide.

Thanks Albert. Yes it's definitely doable. If you really feel it's necessary you can PM me.

My boat has two livewells and I can isolate them by turning the inflow outlet clockwise to close and counterclock wise to open. Perhaps yours is similar?

You're kidding right? Personally I enjoy reading about members fishing trips. As for the where they fished, it never needs to be mentioned. It's the report that the posters have taken the time to put together, for our enjoyment, complete with photos that matters to me. Thanks Mike, again great report!

I can't honestly say (never having met the "outfitter") whether the the "outfitters" purpose is one of genuine concern for the fish or his ability to exploit the fishery (no debate on this is needed!). He obviously has a vested interest in it and if he's asking Mike not to mention the lake by name then so be it. What I do gain from this is that Mike is a guy who can be trusted. Knowing this would certainly allow me to freely share info with Mike (not that I could offer much....LOL). If I was interested in going on such a trip I'd simply ask Mike if he'd share the name of the "outfitter" with me, nothing more.

Here's a link to some recent discussion on this. http://www.ofncommunity.com/forums/index.p...mp;hl=bow+mount

Chemical levels down but still high SCOTT DUNN, TOM VILLEMAIRE / www.midlandfreepress.com Slowly but surely things are getting better on Georgian Bay, but they are far from perfect says a report from an evironmental watchdog group. Fish in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay contain fewer chemical contaminants than they did four years ago, according to a new report. But overall levels of chemicals in Great Lakes fish are still alarmingly high, says Environmental Defence, an advocacy group for health and the environment. The report --Up to the Gills: 2009 Update on Pollution in Great Lakes Fish --uses data published in the provincial government's Guide to Eating Ontario Sports Fish and compares fish advisories from 2005 to 2009. In 36 categories of fish advisories for Lake Huron from Point Edward to the Bruce Peninsula and in Georgian Bay, 11 became less severe over the four-year period. I was surprised to hear they are so bad. But I tend to throw the big guys back anyway. I like to keep the smaller fish for eating. They're delicious and I don't think they have as much of the bad stuff in them" Sean Black -angler Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, had the greatest improvement of any of the Great Lakes, said Mike Layton, author of the Environmental Defence report. Nine categories were listed as the least restrictive and 24 of the 36 categories saw no change. Generally the larger and older the fish, the more likely it is to have accumulated contaminants such as PCBs and dioxins, Ministry of the Environment spokeswoman Kate Jordan said. The trend seen by the MOE, which produces the consumption guide, is for "slightly lower" or "stable" concentrations of contaminants in fish, which Jordan said is generally reflected in the Environmental Defence report too. Georgian Bay's most improved fish for eating is the rainbow trout this year over the previous provincial recommendation in 2007 --four monthly meals of large rainbow (75 cm/30 inch) --up from one. Four meals of medium-sized rainbow (55 cm/22 inch) may be eaten per month instead of two. Large chinook salmon (75 cm/30 inch) from the bay can also be eaten once a month, as was advised in the 2007 eating guide. More meals of medium and small fish are considered OK. Eating large lake trout remain a problem this year, with none recommended for consumption, though smaller lakers can be eaten. "I was surprised to hear they are so bad. But I tend to throw the big guys back anyway. I like to keep the smaller fish for eating. They're delicious and I don't think they have as much of the bad stuff in them," said Sean Black, a Tay Township resident and local angler. In Lake Huron, guidelines for rainbow trout allow four meals of medium and large (75 cm/30 inch) rainbow, up from two in 2007. But no meals of large chinook salmon from Huron are recommended, whereas in 2007 two meals per month were considered acceptable. No meals of big lake trout from Huron are recommended either. One meal of medium-sized lake trout from Huron per month is edible now, where none were in 2007, according to the study. Eating restrictions for bigger fish have generally been the case for years, said Ray Walser, president of the Lake Huron Fishing Club, whose Chantry Chinook Classic fishing derby runs from July 25 to Aug. 8. "You can't catch them that big" now anyway, Walser said. A 30-inch chinook or lake trout would represent a 20- pounder and the derby winners for the past four years were all smaller than that. Last year's fish fry used just 50 pounds of locally caught fish; the rest was purchased from a Lake Erie supplier. For Lake Ontario, 40% of the advisories examined for the report stated it was unsafe to eat the affected fish in any quantity. Black's belief that smaller fish are better is borne out in the science, says Layton. Larger fish typically receive more severe advisories because they are older and have accumulated more contaminants in their tissues. But in Lake Ontario even some small sizes of fish are under the most severe advisories, Layton said. Gerry Hurley, a retired fishing guide who worked just outside of Toronto off the Credit River, says big fish are fun to catch, however a bad idea for eating. But catch and release of large fish is also good for the species. "In a way, letting the big guys go, is good for you and the fish population. If you don't keep them and eat them, you're avoiding that accumulation of crud the scientists are talking about. Those big guys are survivors for a bunch of reasons and it's good to keep them out there in the water and the gene pool," laughed Hurley. Hurley retired to Midland three years ago, where he enjoys fishing as a pastime, not a business. "The fishing is great up here and I would say catch and eat fish that fit in a frying pan and you probably can't go wrong." It's recommended that women of child-bearing age and children under 15 eat half of what the advisories indicate. The consumption guide helps determine how much and what kinds of fish can be consumed without risk. "Fish are still a great choice for our diets but we need to make sure we are not exposing ourselves to high levels of harmful chemicals," Layton said. "The problem will not just go away." Heavy accumulations of chemical contaminants can lead to cancer and damage to the nervous, respiratory and immune systems. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, signed in 1972 by the American and Canadian governments, badly needs updating, Layton said. "We need a new document that has some teeth. Both governments indicated recently that they are going to do something to protect the Great Lakes and we need them to follow through. "Mercury levels are still a huge problem," he said. "On the Canadian side, only one of 17 (polluted) areas of concern has been delisted. That one area is near Collingwood. "We've got to stop polluting; we need to reduce industrial pollution, improve infrastructure so less raw sewage goes into our lakes, and stop agriculture and urban runoff," Layton said. To read the entire Environment Defence report, visit www.environmentaldefence.ca./reports/up to the gills --- Consumption assumptions: Consumption recommendations of the Ontario government, from the 2009 biannual Guide to Eating Ontario Sport Fish, reported in a new Environmental Defence report on contamination in Great Lakes fish. Georgian Bay * Chinook salmon -One meal (75 cm or 30 inches long) of large, like in 2007 guide. Two meals of medium (55 cm or 22 inches long) or eight meals of small (35 cm or 14 inches long) chinook per month, both the same as 2007. * Rainbow trout -Large, four meals per month, instead of one advised in 2007. Medium, four per month, double the last guide's total. Small, eight small, unchanged from the previous guide. * Lake trout -No large lake trout, just as last year. One meal from medium or four from small fish, both as recommended in 2007. *Walleye consumption limits remain unchanged. Recommended limits are four meals for large and eight for medium or small walleye per month.

$4,500 In Fines For Illegal Lake Simcoe Herring And Perch July 23, 2009 / www.ocoa.ca A woman and two men from York Region were fined a total of $4,500 after pleading guilty to taking herring and an over-limit of perch from Lake Simcoe in addition to making false statements to a conservation officer. Nicola Pertosa and Saverio Zupo, both of Stouffville, and Angela Zupo, of Goodwood, were each fined $750 for taking herring during a closed season and $250 for having too many perch. They were also fined $500 for making a false statement to a conservation officer. On January 25, 2009, during a patrol of ice fishing activities on Lake Simcoe, Aurora District conservation officers checked the group who were fishing with conservation licences. The group claimed to have their legal limit of 75 perch, plus a lake trout. The officers discovered a total of 100 perch, as well as nine herring – a species that is closed to fishing on Lake Simcoe. Justice of the Peace Ronald Prestage heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, Newmarket, on July 10, 2009. For further information on fishing regulations, please consult the 2008-2009 Recreational Fishing Regulations Summary, which is available from licence issuers or at ontario.ca/fishing. To report a natural resources violation, call 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free any time or contact your local ministry office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). More Simcoe violations: $2,100 In Fines and Licence Suspension for 104 Illegal Lake Simcoe Sunfish $2,000 Fine and Licence Suspension For Too Many Lake Simcoe Perch