Spiel

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

Ice Boom gives Barrett a cold feeling August 09, 2009 Will Elliott / www.buffalonews.com During these warm summer days, Western New Yorkers rarely contemplate the presence and affects of the Ice Boom. For North Tonawanda resident Joseph Barrett, that connected arch of metal “logs” anchored in place when water temperatures drop to somewhere near 38 degrees each fall-winter season is not a boom to ice movement, formation, and the waterway’s ecology in general. “I’ve been a science nut since age 3,” the 48-year-old Barrett said as we inspected the Grand Island shoreline and access site at Fix Road. Coincidentally, the New York Power Authority and Ontario Power jointly began the Ice Boom installations in 1964 when Barrett celebrated his third birthday. Since then, the Boom has often received kudos and condemnation. On the plus side, NYPA officials worked extensively with agencies to find out what effect the Ice Boom and other NYPA structures and designs had on the environment prior to a mandated Federal Regulatory Commission relicensing in 2007. A 2005 study, according to NYPA sources, showed the Boom had no effect on the environment. The collective study, which incorporated more than 40 separate studies, set out to “determine if the Ice Boom [had any] climactic, aquatic, land management, or aesthetic effects.” NYPA designed the Boom to “maintain a stable ice arch or cover that helps restrain ice that would flow down river. In minimizing the flow of ice, the boom also reduces risk of shoreline flooding and erosion.” It also has a positive impact on property such as docks and other structures along the shore. The key benefit of the Boom is to maintain a water flow for New York and Ontario Province power companies and avoid loss of power production from the plant facilities in the lower Niagara River. NYPA met the satisfaction of the Federal Regulatory Commission and in 2007 was relicensed to operate the Ice Boom and other facility functions for 50 years. Since then, NYPA obtained additional properties on which Ice Boom gear can be stored for use at the head of the river. The International Joint Commission can, at its discretion, reexamine the Ice Boom and make changes when needed. At this point, NYPA officials point to the 2005 studies and the relicensing granted in 2007 as proof of the Ice Boom’s functions and effects which Barrett questions. NYPA spokesman said of Barrett’s objections to the Ice Boom, “His issues now are left to the IJC International Niagara Board of Control. That’s all that we would say on his points.” Barrett continues to question both the Ice Boom and erosion studies. The Niagara Power Project’s “Shoreline Erosion and Sedimentation Assessment Study” concludes “Only 3 percent of the upper river shoreline has been identified as actively eroding. Approximately 63 percent is protected by some form of structure.” Barrett replies, “One hundred percent of the shoreline is eroding,” he notes of the 119 miles of shoreline along the river corridor between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. “The 63 percent with protective barriers was most likely the areas that were hit worst and needed protection the fastest,” he added. In general, Barrett sees more changes in the upper Niagara River waterway in the past 50 years than occurred in the past 12,000 years. While most area residents show some concern about Ice Boom presence during colder-than-average spring seasons, Barrett passes on the weather and asks that we look at ecological changes that have negatively affected the river. “As a fisherman, I see so many things the Ice Boom has damaged or impaired,” he said. The Boom could have been a final straw influence on the disappearance of blue pike in Lake Erie, but he’s more focused on the lack of river bottom scouring and silt banking in places such as the flats between Strawberry Island and Grand Island where spawning beds for muskellunge, northern pike, and other fish species have been damaged. “I’m looking for people with photos of the shoreline before the Ice Boom went in to show just how much shoreline has been removed in the past 45 years,” he said. He pointed to the extensive spreads of tree’s root systems as we were wading the shoreline next to the Fix Road Canoe and Kayak Access. Note to those unsure about border security along Western New York waters:We were not in the water more than five minutes when a guy with a navy blue/black shirt with CBP on its back came over to see what we were observing along the shoreline. For Barrett, the steady flow of silting, not just wakes from passing boats, and the signs of earth, not just sand, erosion were signs of insecurity for Barrett. The moss, which had subsided somewhat before we got there, was still heavy on rocks, outnumbering the presence of aquatic weeds. Basically, Barrett contends that the loss of good aquatic weeds, increased shoreline erosion, plus the possibility of botulism outbreaks can be attributed directly to the loss of natural river-bottom scouring and shoreline ice buildup caused by the placement of the Ice Boom each winter. “When ice naturally piles on the riverbanks, it contains sediment that settles on shore when the ice melts,” he contends. “Most people believe the Boom is saving Strawberry Island. In fact, the open current water all winter helps to further erode Strawberry,” he asserts. “The island was once more than 200 acres. They [town and city municipalities] stopped dredging gravel from the island when it was at about 100 acres. But now it’s only about three acres above water,” he said. Barrett maintains a David-and- Goliath status with NYPA and is currently amassing data for a presentation to the IJC. He represents no funding agency, has yet to establish a Web site, works without a committee or staff. He encourages public input, pro or con, Ice Boom functions and acceptance. He wants to connect with people who support or question his theories. To offer input, call him at 866-2930 or write to him at P. O. Box 14120, North Tonawanda 14120.

Times are changing at Gogama Lodge August 02, 2009, Will Elliott / www.buffalonews.com John Wahl and Peter Cook with a full stringer of Gogama walleye, bass and pike. No matter how many fly-in or outback fishing trips one takes in north country, every one presents new ventures and adventures. Our annual run to Gogama offered changes even before we got there. John Wahl of Pendleton, Peter Cook of Cheektowaga, regulars on this northern Ontario run, and I knew that Gogama Lodge had been sold. “The lodge was officially sold as of June 30, after 45 years,” Dick Harlock said when we returned from our ventures and adventures on two separate lakes last week. For more than four decades, Harlock and his late wife, Joan “Midge” Harlock catered to anglers, hunters, and all manner of vacationers seeking outdoors enjoyment and exercised relaxation throughout the spring, summer and fall seasons. During spring and fall bear seasons, Harlock logged more than 500 bear kills out of his lodge through those years. A decade after spring bear seasons were canceled in Ontario Province, he still sees the virtue in an early bear season. “There are more bears around here than ever,” he said after we inspected the framed and caged garbage cans damaged during the bruins’ nightly visits to the village. Harlock had gotten great reports of walleye catches on a small lake east of Gogama, so we booked a short week for that lake with a nice six-person cabin at its northeast corner. I’d fished the lake before—during bear seasons and one summer week— but, as always, every trip is different. Harlock recommended minnows, based on earlier anglers’ successes. They worked. But even the best of minnows can’t draw tons of attention when the wind dies and the sun rises through a cloudless sky. We cooked a few fish for fries, but our faces looked more cooked than walleye fillets after just two days on the water. No complaints. While it’s sad to catch only 20-30 fish per day from a lake that produced 40-50 fish per angler day three to four years back, the pike and walleye we caught on light and ultra-light tackle-plus moose sightings, made the first four days fun. Fly-in trips call for extensive pre-planning. Selections include everything from sites, to lures, to fishing approaches. All take time and consideration. After all, perhaps the most valuable planning aspect of these trips has to be flexibility. Wahl and Cook strongly possess this attribute. When the fish weren’t hitting on the honey holes—two major sunken islands I’d scoped out years earlier— they moved to hard drop-off edges and poked ’eyes all around the lake. Since my last visit to this lake, smaller northern pike—in the 2-to 4- pound range—had gained sway in a lake that clearly showed good forage (bait) schools presence on the sonar. A scheduling wrinkle brought Harlock to our lake on Friday afternoon with a request to leave a day early and fish another popular walleye lake so that a couple could take that cabin and lake on Saturday. Flexibility here prevailed. We packed and readied for a last-day run to another lake. The lack of gear and a steady rain all that Saturday couldn’t dim or dampen our day. John Wahl fishes a good number of popular Western New York and southern Ontario lakes and bays throughout the summer and winter. Peter Cook enjoys analyzing every fishing site—going in and throughout the stint on that section of water. For four days we had poked and prodded for good places to pull fish. At the second lake, Wahl and Cook found a massive school of walleye on their first drift north of a mid-lake island in a steady, 5-10 mph southeast wind that brought overcast and rainy skies all day. Plus, it brought walleye, bass, and northern pike up the sides of reefs and sunken islands throughout the day. Wahl and Cook kept their limit of walleye—four each—and also took a few bass and a couple northern pike. “We got them there all day,” Wahl said of their drift that kept them over fish near the south-central part of the lake. A father-and-son team worked around a rock pile at the north end of the lake. Like Wahl and Cook, they never moved. Later, during dinner, they said they caught all the fish they wanted. The Saturday night dinner at Gogama Lodge was the first time I had to chat with the new owners, Mark and Tracy Smith, formerly from Guelph, Ont. “We sold out there [in Guelph] and plan to keep open here year round,” Mark Smith said of the lodge and its facilities. Smith has been taking bookings for the promising bear season, which opens Aug. 15. “We’re also going to set up for snowmobilers,” he said of the hundreds of miles of north country snow trails that connect with Gogama. To check on the new Gogama Lodge offerings, go to gogama.com. To arrange for fly-in and fish-camp outings, call Harlock at (705) 894-2150.

I had a 5 horse Ted Williams (Sears) that would have served me better as an anchor!

Insane! I guess dropping in on you last week would have been pointless.

I've been trying to avoid this thread on account of I couldn't go. But admittedly I was curious, wish I'd been there. Thanks for the expected state of depression Joey.

Exactly right Mr. Mike and the job of replacing a few guides on the tip end is no biggy, Bill, even on your Loomis'.

Exactly! Glad you're both Ok.

Nice tank!

True enough. But without knowing the details I can only go by what I know as a joint custody father of three. I wouldn't trade any paridise in the world for being an involved father.

Sounds like a great day Brian. There's definitely a lot more to the big lake than just droppping a ball down and driving aimlessly in circles.

Flippin awesome report Kevin. Interested in adopting an ole man.

Amen Steve.

It sure seems to be if your name is Simon. You've got every right to be proud, handsome little boy you have there!

I think we've just about exhausted this one (the post). Nice fish, kudos for releasing it.

That's a solid looking Coho Dave. When will it be coming out of the smoker.

I gave you all the votes I could Brian, most everyday. While the numbers don't look good at this time Lord knows you're more than deserving of winning. Best o-luck my friend.