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Warning markers to be placed at eight GRCA dams May 05, 2008 / GRCA The Grand River Conservation Authority is installing warning markers upstream of eight of its dams on the Grand, Nith and Speed rivers to provide additional notice to canoeists and kayakers to stay away from the dams. The eight GRCA dams are all “run of the river” or “low head” dams. The water upstream of the dams can be still and placid, but the area downstream can be dangerous. Strong currents at the base of the dam can capsize a canoe or kayak and trap the occupant underwater. Installation is planned for these dates, although the scheduled is subject to change due to weather conditions: Thursday, May 8 – Wellington Street Dam, Guelph – two buoys Monday, May 12 – Dunnville Dam, including Weirs 1, 2 and 3 – four buoys Tuesday, May 13 – Caledonia Dam – four buoys Tuesday, May 13 – Wilkes Dam, Brantford – three buoys Wednesday, May 14 – Parkhill Dam, Cambridge – four buoys Wednesday, May 14 – New Hamburg Dam – three buoys Thursday, May 15 – Bissell Dam, Elora – one buoy Thursday, May 15 – Drimmie Dam, Elora – boom The buoys are marked with a bright red diamond, which is an international warning symbol for boaters. They are in addition to existing warning and portage signs. The number of buoys at each dam depends on the width of the river. The boom at Drimmie Dam spans the river and consists of floats linked together with a chain. In addition, the County of Brant has already installed buoys at the Penman’s Dam in Paris. The dam is owned by the county. For more information on river flows, see the River Data of the GRCA web site.

Finding perch requires persistence Updated: 05/04/08 6:46 AM Will Elliott / buffalonews.com A couple dozen plump perch make a Lake Erie outing most rewarding. Lake Erie remains a fish factory for gigantic jumbo perch, but finding and catching these remarkable ringbacks is no longer your father’s, or grandpa’s, ringback roundup. Through the 1950s and well into the ’60s finding schools of yellow perch was a snap, especially at this time of year. In April and early May, perch would move into the shallows all along Erie’s New York State shoreline. Anglers need not travel far for both bait and for brimming bucket catches of theses tasty fish. Most outings took more time for scaling and filleting fish than finding, catching and bringing them home. As a kid I spent much of my youth chasing these perch schools after school many an afternoon and evening. We could seine net a bucket of bait from the shallows protected by Point Breeze and be on the water and over fish less than an hour after classes at Lake Shore Central. Getting to these fish was simple. On calm days, boaters could row out to depths of five to 10 feet, anchor and expect to hit into pre-spawning perch as they cruised into shoreline shallows. Perch, basically daylight feeders, would turn off their feed sometime just before sunset. One reliable indicator of the shutdown most evenings was the start of the bullhead and small catfish bite. Into summer and even after school started in September, boaters would chase those schools of post-spawn perch to depths anywhere from 25 feet out to the “shipping lanes” along the International Line. They would head out of popular access sites at Hamburg, Sturgeon Point, Point Breeze, Cattaraugus Creek and Dunkirk Harbor. Boaters usually fished in 12-to 16- foot hulls with outboard motors rarely driven by 25 horses. Without sonar — the Lowrance “green boxes” began showing everywhere in the late ’60s — the use of underwater contour maps and GPS, anglers would simply look for a flotilla of fishermen, anchor just out of casting range, drop a line to the bottom and start reeling in the ringbacks. Today, all those launch sites can be hot perch spots and perch schools are still in session at sites from Buffalo to Barcelona, but so much has changed in modern, perch-fishing times. Filtration from exotic mussels that began in the ’90s resulted in greater water clarity, which puts schools of perch on spawning beds in deeper waters well off shore. Fishing pressures — and a host of other factors — have reduced overall numbers of fish, but, when they can be found, perch provide a respectable fight on lighter tackle. And, of course, they render what most fishers would consider the finest of panfish fillets that can be caught. That’s what longtime fishing partner Ken “Mach” Maciejewski and I attempted to do on April 25. While calling to find where the fish are biting for the Fishing Line update on Wednesday, I was told by Ricky Miller at Miller’s Bait & Tackle in Irving: “The perch are hitting off Evangola in about 51 feet.” We decided to give it a try on Friday afternoon. After a morning of house chores, during which the wind started kicking up, I met Mach and we headed for the Catt. Ricky supplied us with a bucket of live fatheads and a bag of salted emerald shiners, saying, “The guys tell me that [perch] sometimes hit better on emeralds.” He was right. But it took some reconnaissance running and repeated depth and structure checking for more than two hours before we felt the first perch bite. As we headed out of the creek mouth, expecting to buck waves and drop heavy anchors, we were met with an unusual event for afternoon fishing on Lake Erie. The winds died and the lake was almost pond calm with just slight swells from those morning gusts. A couple of bass boaters worked Eagle Bay rock piles at 25-foot depths west of the creek. A couple more boats appeared over deeper waters and barely visible eastward toward Evangola State Park and Point Breeze. None of the reliable humps and drop-offs on either side of Foxes Point had an anchored boater on site. A check with sonar and four or five nearly stationary drifts resulted in neither fish on the screen nor biting on our baits. Finally, one boater just east of Evangola remained in place over a nice school of perch. We anchored near him and the hits started immediately. In minutes, boats appeared from the east and west and six boats had anchors set within 100 yards of each other. How these boaters arrived, how perch began hitting and how they ended up as filleting fare will be the subject of next Sunday’s column.

Kayak fishing catching on in Great Lakes 05/04/08 Eric Sharp - DETROIT FREE PRESS DETROIT — Four years ago I bought my first fishing kayak, a sit-inside model. I start kayak fishing early in spring and keep it up until late October, so I figured a sit-inside would be drier and warmer than a sit-on-top. However, the closed boat proved difficult to get in and out of for wading when the water was more than a couple of feet deep. If you dump one it requires a major effort to empty it and climb back inside. So last fall I bought a Hurricane Phoenix 16 sit-on-top, and fishing from it in Michigan and Florida has been a big improvement. It was a close choice between the Phoenix and the Wilderness Systems Tarpon 16 because both have good hull shapes and paddle as well as some touring kayaks. I picked the Phoenix because it seemed a little faster and, at 52 pounds, was a dozen pounds lighter than the Tarpon, making it easier to load onto the top of a full-sized pickup. The Phoenix and Tarpon are a little tippier than most SOTs, but a half-hour’s practice should make anyone comfortable with the boats, and to me the superior speed was well worth trading a little stability. I went with a 16-footer because I often paddle offshore in big lakes or salt water, and a big boat handles big waves better. Most Michigan anglers would be fine with a 14-footer or even a 12 if they fish smaller lakes and smooth rivers. An essential purchase for an SOT is a seat, because unlike sit-insides, many SOTs don’t come with one. The first one I bought was a low-back recreational model because $80 seemed better than $120 for a high-backed seat designed for anglers. It proved penny wise and pound foolish, and after a few days of backaches I returned to the kayak shop and bought a high-backed seat. I’d also recommend that anglers who fish from an SOT in spring and fall buy a wet suit. I usually wear a Farmer John style, which has separate bibs and jacket. I wear the full suit when the water is under 60 degrees, but most of the time it’s just the bibs. The SOT is a great fishing platform. In deeper water I can sit with my legs dangling over the sides, and getting in and out in shallow water to wade for bass, carp or redfish is simple. Most SOTs have a well behind the paddler that will hold a milk crate of gear or a scuba tank and a smaller well at the bow. I usually bungee a tackle bag onto the front deck with the gear needed for the day. My next step is to figure out the type of rod holders I want to mount on the Phoenix and design a small platform for a GPS, radio and electronic fishfinder. (I have better electronic navigation and communications on my kayaks today than they had on aircraft carriers 20 years ago.) I suspect that in a few years the popularity of kayak fishing in the Great Lakes will rival southern and West Coast states. If you’d like to learn more about it, do a computer search for “kayak fishing,” and you’ll get advice on everything from rigging a kayak to fighting a 300-pound marlin from one.

Profiling a lake's 'nasty' invaders Algae, phosphorus, mercury, zebra mussels are among the threats to Lake Erie Tuesday, April 29, 2008 Sonja Puzic / Windsor Star PUT-IN-BAY, OHIO - The Franz Theodore Stone Laboratory on the tiny historic Gibraltar Island in western Lake Erie has hosted generations of students, young biologists and leading researchers for more than 100 years. Nestled among a cluster of other smaller islands near Put-in-Bay, the lab is the United States' oldest freshwater biological field station and the island campus of the Ohio State University. It is also the site of important research that collects sobering evidence of the changes in Lake Erie's ecosystem which could have dramatic effects on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border if governments and environmental agencies do not commit to more long-term restoration and water management initiatives in the Great Lakes. When Stone lab researchers and staff are not showing school-aged children on field trips how to collect plankton samples from Lake Erie, they are carefully studying the lake's temperature patterns, water levels, sources of pollution and its effects on the numerous species that inhabit the shallowest and warmest of the five Great Lakes. When a Stone lab vessel trawled for fish on a sample collection expedition Monday morning, the net also collected handfuls of zebra mussels or round gobies, just two of the invasive species that have entered the Great Lakes through ballast water from international ships. According to biologists, there are more than 180 invasive species in the Great Lakes. Holding up one of the tiny round gobies, John Hageman, co-manager of the Stone lab, said the fish species have been observed across Lake Erie by the billions. And that's just one of the problems creating "huge changes" in Lake Erie over the last several years, Stone lab director Jeff Reutter told a group of journalists this week as part of a Montana-based Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources program aimed at educating media about environmental issues. Pollutants that cling to lake sediment, the flow of contaminants such as phosphorus and the persistence of aquatic invasive species have wreaked havoc on some parts of Lake Erie, said Reutter, who often works and consults with University of Windsor's Great Lakes Institute. There are also plumes of harmful algal blooms spreading across the southern shore of Lake Erie in Ohio during the warm summer months -- caused by phosphorus dumped into the lake by industries, municipalities, tributaries and agricultural runoff. Although that plume, coming from the largest source of polluted run-off flowing into Lake Erie -- the Maumee River -- tends to concentrate in northwest Ohio, it does not stay there. In fact, recent satellite images show the algae mass moving slowly toward Pelee Island. Ultimately, it could end up in Lake Erie's central basin, sinking to the bottom as the algae die off, Reutter said. The Maumee River is not the only culprit, however. "A lot of nasty things are coming (into the lake) from the Detroit River," Reutter said, pointing to the lake's elevated mercury levels. Reutter said scientists are also still struggling to figure out how to control Lake Erie's dead zone, an oxygen-deprived area devoid of life in the deepest parts of the lake's central basin, created when the oxygen supply is cut off by warmer layers of water near the surface. While some scientists have theorized that the dead zone is a naturally occurring phenomenon, others say that climate change and phosphorus are to blame. As the water level in Lake Erie decreases, the lake becomes warmer, causing concerns about the dead zone's expansion. Although Lake Erie's water levels are not of primary concern right now, Reutter said, that could change as water levels in the upper Great Lakes continue to decrease. Concerns that a hole in the St. Clair River bed and erosion, caused by dredging, is lowering Lake Superior's water levels has prompted a study by the International Joint Commission, part of a larger study on the upper Great Lakes. Preliminary results are expected in July 2009. LAKE ERIE FORUM The fifth biennial Lake Erie Millennium Network Conference at the University of Windsor begins today and runs through Thursday. Numerous scientists, researchers and students will discuss the latest status reports on Lake Erie, including climate change, the lake's dead zone, its fish communities and the increases in phosphorous loading in the lake. The conference is open to the public, but you must register by contacting Natalie Carreau at 519-253-3000, ext. 4758. Visit www.LEMN.org for more information.

New reefs will help an ancient fish thrive again in river April 28, 2008 BARBARA ARRIGO / Detroit Free press The guest of honor was 5-foot-6, weighed 72 pounds and was at least 35 years old. Gender could not be determined. The sturgeon arrived late but absolutely stole the show at an April 19 fete for a new chapter of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge. For the first time, money has come together from both sides of the river -- loonies and bucks in the same pot! -- for a project, a sturgeon spawning reef to be laid in the river this fall. The reception, speeches and champagne toast took place on Fighting Island, on the Canadian side of the river and owned by BASF Corp. U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Dearborn, and his Canadian counterpart, Jeff Watson, a member of Parliament for much of Essex County, had the spotlight as the political parents of the wildlife refuge. So much for the formalities. Politicians and press, funders and biologists all rushed out of the BASF lodge to see the sturgeon, brought dockside by two biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. You don't get to see sturgeon very often. They lie deep in the water and, given their size, aren't easy to haul up. But they are increasingly active beneath the surface of a river many of us see every day. As a sign that the Detroit River has beaten back its worst pollution, their viability amounts to a big fish story in more ways than one. Sturgeon hark back to the time of the dinosaurs. Their recorded history suggests the Lake Huron-to-Lake Erie channel hosted the biggest numbers in the Great Lakes, and maybe in all of North America. They especially liked to loll in the Detroit River, which had nine known spawning sites. Then our early Detroit predecessors nearly wiped them out, especially after discovering how well the oily fish burned in ship boilers. But sturgeon can live a century or more, and at least a few of them never gave up completely on the Detroit River. Biologists started spotting them just off Zug Island during spawning season, and in 2001 finally collected eggs that proved sturgeon were once again reproducing. Sturgeon romance has precise equivalents to wine and candles. The ambience has to start with clean flowing water, which Detroit River restoration work has delivered. Next: not a moon in the sky above but chunks of rock in the riverbed below. Bottom material must have deep enough crevices to keep sturgeon eggs safe from predators and to protect hatchlings until they float downstream to wetlands and other shoreline hiding places. Excitement about the Fighting Island spawning reef has spread like a contagion among the fishery crowd. Bruce Manny, a fishery biologist and sturgeon expert for the U.S. Geological Survey, brimmed with enthusiasm about what the next few years will reveal about sturgeon and the river. The Fighting Island channel reef has special potential, he said, because it lies upstream from some of the river's last open spots of shoreline on the Canadian side -- perfect nurseries for baby sturgeon. Jim McFee, one of the biologists who brought the sturgeon in for inspection, is working the river intensively these days for the baseline study before the reef goes in. He caught and tagged an even bigger sturgeon April 22. Length: about 7 feet; weight: beyond his scale's 132-pound capacity. Anticipation of sturgeon lovefests is spreading well beyond the biologists, too. The $178,000 in reef funding comes from foundations as well as government sources, with additional in-kind donations by BASF and DTE. The teamwork, essential to the refuge, shows how many borders can be crossed when people find a common motive. And few motives may be as satisfying as boosting new generations of sturgeon, a fish that endured whatever wiped out the dinosaurs only to barely survive its encounter with people plopping industrial operations up and down the river's banks. John Dingell, in particular, was beaming as he watched another piece fall into place for his beloved refuge. "This is the most selfish damn thing I do," he said. "It is one of my great pleasures."

Lamprey numbers increasing LAMPREY: Local creeks part of program Monday April 28, 2008 Jeff Helsdon / Tillsonburg News The Ministry of Natural Resources is ramping up its fight against the sea lamprey in Lake Erie. Population estimates for the invasive species in Lake Erie now sit at 16,000. Lampreys attach themselves to fish and feed on the host’s bodily fluids, often resulting in wounding or death. It’s believed lamprey made their way into Lake Erie in 1921 when the Welland Canal was deepened. Chemical controls, called lampreyicides, have kept numbers in check, but treatment to Lake Erie streams is done on a three to four-year cycle. In addition, other measures are in place such as an inflatable lamprey barrier on Big Creek. Researchers aren’t sure why lamprey numbers in Lake Erie are so high. The target is to keep the breeding population to between 2,000 and 6,000. Lampreys are present in the other Great Lakes, but similar spikes in the population didn’t occur elsewhere. Fraser Neave, a larval assessment biologist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said researchers aren’t sure why the numbers are up. "If we focus our efforts over the next couple of years we should get the numbers under control," he said. Plans to ramp up lamprey treatment include treating all lamprey-producing streams on both sides of Lake Erie in both 2008 and 2009. Locally, Big Creek and the Big Otter Creek are part of the list. In addition, trapping will take place on Big Creek to evaluate lamprey spawning success. Lamprey abundance is a roadblock to the present lake trout recovery efforts. Although Lake Erie has a decent population of rainbow trout and other salmonoids, lake trout are the preferred host for lamprey. Lake trout are favoured hosts for two reasons - because the fish reach the large size lamprey like and because of their behaviour. "Where they are in the water column (depth they live at) makes them particularly vulnerable to lamprey," Neave said. Erie’s lake trout populations have been based on fish stocked on the U.S. side. Ontario’s goal in its lake trout stocking efforts is to put 50,000 fish per year in the lake for three years to establish a genetically diverse self-sustaining population. "We’re facing a situation where we don’t have any native lake trout in Lake Erie," said John Copper, Ministry of Natural Resources information officer with the Lake Erie unit. "We’re trying different varieties (of lake trout) to see which is best." Previous Ontario lake trout stocking efforts were unsuccessful, but it was felt the fish were released too close to shore. The plan this time is emulate the American practice of releasing the fish over deep-water shoals. Preliminary work assessing the shoals on the Canadian side of Lake Erie will take place later this year prior to the stocking. Some of the shoals being considered include the Nanticoke Shoal, Tecumseh Reef at the mouth of the Grand River and a shoal off Peacock Point. MNR researchers are also evaluating various lake trout species. One of the characteristics being sought is to find a variety that will spawn once before the fish reach the size targeted by lamprey.

It's time for bass catch, release April 27, 2008 ERIC SHARP / Detroit Free press This is what bass anglers in other parts of the country dream about: a 21-inch smallmouth that weights five to six pounds and is just one of dozens that Detroit area anglers routinely catch on a good afternoon during the catch-and-release bass season. "They (smallmouths) are just crushing Rat-L-Traps and crank baits," said fishing guide Gerry Gostenik, who fished for bass where the Detroit River dumps into Lake Erie. "You can catch them all day long." This is the second season for the experimental catch-and-release season, which is designed to measure over a decade if and how such fishing affects populations and sizes. In Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair and Detroit rivers, the catch-and-release season runs through June 20. In all other Lower Peninsula waters, including the Great Lakes, it runs through May 23. In the Upper Peninsula, the catch-and-release season runs May 15-23, including the Great Lakes waters of the UP. "The South used to be where people went to catch bass, but the truth is that in the Great Lakes, and especially the Detroit area, we average a lot more fish a day now, and they're bigger on average, too," Gostenik said. The Lake St. Clair waterway and western Lake Erie traditionally had good numbers of smallmouth bass and some largemouths. But the arrival of zebra mussels 25 years ago has made a startling difference in water clarity, and sight feeders such as muskellunge and smallmouth bass have been able to make vast increases in their numbers and sizes. Tim Lehman of Dayton is a bass fanatic who said he has been coming to Michigan to fish for bass during the walleye season for six, seven years. "Everybody was doing catch-and-release, because even though the season wasn't open, it was almost impossible for a conservation officer to prove you weren't trying to catch walleyes," he said. "And all during that time, the bass fishing just kept getting better and better. It was overdue when the Department of Natural Resources finally recognized that we (bass anglers) weren't hurting the resource, and all their closed season did was hurt your tourism business."

LSRCA issues watershed report card April 25, 2008 - The Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority (LSRCA) has just completed a report card on the health of Lake Simcoe and its watershed. It describes the findings that have resulted from ongoing scientific monitoring and will be distributed to 170,000 homes throughout the watershed over the next two weeks. Scientists at the conservation authority, in cooperation with the provincial environment and natural resources ministries, monitor a variety of watershed features, some with particular attention. These special features are known as ‘indicators’ because they are like an early warning, signaling changes in the ecosystem. They help scientists understand how the health of the environment is changing and point to possible causes such as human activity, weather and pollution. The report grades the watershed on the basis of these indicators. “Each indicator provides meaningful information about one aspect of the health of the watershed, but results for one indicator alone can’t always be explained by the reasons we first suspect,” said LSRCA board chair and East Gwillimbury councillor Virginia Hackson. “It’s the combination of indicators that helps us understand the total picture of how our environment is changing.” Six indicators were used for the lake, and eight for each tributary (or subwatershed). Lake indicators include phosphorus and oxygen concentrations, water clarity, and various forms of aquatic wildlife. Tributary indicators include phosphorus, stormwater runoff, and vegetation. The report was completed by the LSRCA in accordance with standards endorsed by Environment Canada, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, and Conservation Ontario. “This report card presents a great deal of information, and it’s written in common language that everyone can understand,” Hackson said. “We think it’s important that all residents share these results so we can all work together to achieve the balance that is needed in the watershed.” View Report Card (PDF) All media inquiries, contact: D. Gayle Wood Chief Administrative Officer, LSRCA 905.895.1281 Ken Neale Manager, Corporate Communications 905.895.1281

For many anglers the season begins May 1, 2008 Fishing Line by Will Elliott / buffalonews.com For many anglers the season begins with the statewide opening of walleye, northern pike and tiger musky seasons and the start of a Lake Erie trophy bass season Saturday. If this is an initial outing this weekend, be sure to renew that New York State fishing license before heading out. Ontario Province and Seneca Nation of Indians angling licenses are issued annually starting Jan. 1; New York State licenses are valid yearly starting Oct. 1. Lake Erie Lake Erie anglers have been tagging perch and an unusually large number of smallmouth bass in deeper waters off Sturgeon Point and Cattaraugus Creek. Boaters have to get over 50-foot depths or greater and often have to move around to find feeding fish. The bite is tight to the bottom and salted emerald shiners often work as well as live fatheads and other certified minnows. A Lake Erie perch fishing report will appear on Sunday’s Outdoors Page. The special Lake Erie bass season will begin Saturday. Catch-and-release casters have been working the Dunkirk to Sturgeon Point shoreline at depths of 25 feet, but a good stain and continued warming waters could move the smallies into shallower rocky structures for the opener. One note: when bass fishing on Lake Erie before the Saturday opener and on inland waters before the June opener, catch-and-release anglers can only use artificial lures; live bait can be used only during open bass seasons. Walleye activity moved up the calendar with the recent summer-like spell of high temperatures. Don Einhouse, DEC Unit Leader at the Lake Erie Unit in Dunkirk, noted spawning walleye began moving into Van Buren Point shallows about two weeks ahead of time. With waters much warmer than usual — open-water surface temperatures were at 51-52 degrees some afternoons — the normally sluggish start to night trolling for walleye out of Buffalo Harbor may be more bonanza-like at the statewide start at midnight Friday. Despite the recent heat and an abundance of suckers and bass, feeder streams still hold a few decent rainbow steelies. Cattaraugus and Clear creeks have gotten much mention recently. Niagara River Smelt schools move close to shore just after dark at Lewiston Landing and the Artpark access. Both sites should be busy Friday and Saturday evening during the Annual Smelt Dip and Fry. Drifters still hit into steelies in Devil’s Hole and sites down current. Lake Ontario Lake trout hit minnows on drifting rigs bumped along the Niagara Bar. Open-water trollers out of Oak Orchard, Olcott and Wilson have seen more brown trout than Chinook (king) salmon. Biggest numbers and sizes for kings still come from west of the Niagara River mouth. Wilson Harbor has seen a good run on perch.

FEDERAL COURT BACKS CORMORANT CULL O.F.A.H. Applauds dismissal of injunction application to prevent Middle Island cull For Immediate Release OFAH FILE: 842 /April 30, 2008 A federal court decision denying a request for an injunction to halt the proposed cull of cormorants on Middle Island in Lake Erie south of Pelee Island will allow Parks Canada to proceed with controls to reduce the negative impact of cormorants on the local ecosystem. The cull, which had been challenged by some animal rights activists, is part of a carefully developed and scientifically sound management plan by Parks Canada to address the overpopulation of cormorants on Middle Island. "The ecosystems of the Great Lakes and inland lakes cannot continue to sustain the damage that has been created by a decade of cormorant population growth that has been allowed to go unchecked," said Dr. Terry Quinney, O.F.A.H. Provincial Manager of Fish & Wildlife. "Parks Canada, both through evidence presented in court and through an environmental assessment, has clearly demonstrated that unless there is both a short and longer term decrease in the cormorant population on Middle Island, the ecological integrity of the Carolinian ecosystem is threatened and may be lost completely over the next decade." Cormorant populations have exploded in many areas of Ontario, including the Great Lakes, and inland lakes like Simcoe, Couchiching, Rice and Opeongo Lake in Algonquin Park. Concerns around the cormorant overpopulation are based on both their habits and consumption of fish species. Cormorants consume vast quantities of smaller bait fish and immature fish species and their guano (droppings) are highly toxic, resulting in the destruction of nearby vegetation and nesting areas for other birds. "Despite what some animal rights organizations suggest, this has nothing to do with the eradication of a species, and everything to do with the careful and scientific control of one species whose population is out of sync with the surrounding area and negatively impacting upon other species. There is compelling science to support the use of a managed cull as part of a management strategy," said Dr. Quinney. In ruling against the application for an injunction, the court found that Parks Canada had presented strong evidence to suggest that real harm to ecosystem of Middle Island would occur if the cull did not proceed by the end of April. Parks Canada argued that if immediate action is not taken to reduce the number of cormorants, the island's unique ecosystem could be damaged beyond the point of recovery. Parks officials also noted that if they allowed this to happen, the service would be guilty of not living up to its mandate to maintain ecological integrity under the Canada National Parks Act. While the move to control the cormorant population on Middle Island is seen as a positive step, the O.F.A.H. is concerned over the lack of action in other areas of the province under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources (M.N.R.). The province's decision to halt the cull of cormorants at Presqu'ile Provincial Park because of pressure from animal rights groups, and the lack of a coherent cormorant management strategy flies in the face of the M.N.R.'s responsibility and stated commitment to the conservation of biodiversity. The province has also recently come under fire from bordering U.S. states who have introduced cormorant controls that are threatened by Ontario's inaction. With over 83,000 members and 655 member clubs, the O.F.A.H. is the largest non-profit conservation organization in Ontario and the voice of anglers and hunters. For further information, visit www.ofah.org. Contact Greg Farrant Manager of Government Relations & Communications (705) 748-6324 ext. 236 (705) 875-0274 (cell) Dr. Terry Quinney Provincial Manager, Fish & Wildlife (705) 748-6324 ext. 242 Lezlie Goodwin Communications Coordinator 705 748-6324 ext 270

....Well I do have plans for Owen Sound in a few weeks. Then Lakair GTG in June. Probably get to Dalrymple a few times then off to Nipigon in August.

....Yep, Parkdale and Main. Used to get there occasionally as a youngster, loved that store. Oddly enough I now live within walking distance of where it used to be.

Trout season opener means spring to anglers Doug Edgar / owensoundsuntimes.com Forget robins and the equinox. We all know spring really starts when the trout season opens, which just happens to be today. While the significance of the opener isn’t what it once was due to year-round and late-fall fishing opportunities at many river mouths and extended closed seasons in many tributaries to protect spawning rainbows, it is still something I look forward to, even though seasonal duties usually keep me off the river for the first few days. For flyrodders, this could end up being a good start to the season, with recent warm temperatures likely giving stream life a bit of a boost and encouraging the early season mayflies — mostly Hendricksons (Ephemerella subvaria and others, for those of you who seek fish that speak Latin) and early small olive (Baetis) mayflies — to make a break for the surface. But still, the key to early season fly fishing success is being prepared for change. As I write this, the sun is shining — as it has pretty well non-stop for almost two weeks — but there’s always a chance for cooler temperatures and rain, which can make a big difference fast. So while it appears to me this should be a good year for local early season fly fishing, it’s important to remember the cards are stacked against it and everything can change due to as little as a cold, overcast day. So what should work? If you’re a dry-fly purist, Hendrickson imitations on #14 hooks are likely a good bet for the next few weeks. The classic light and dark Hendrickson dries, tied with dark grey or tan bodies, grey hackle and barred duck flank feather wings, do a good job, but I generally prefer comparadun flies, which have a fan of deer hair on the top half of the hook that acts as both wing and hackle. If tied properly they do a pretty good job of staying afloat on boisterous spring rivers. I like little deer hair caddis dry flies tied dark early in the year too. Again, they are good floaters that you can see on the water. I think they work because they remind the trout of the little dark stoneflies that have been hatching for months now — they’re the little, black, winged cockroachy things you can often see clambering around on the snow near rivers in March. The early blue-winged olive, on #16 or #18 hooks, is another dry-fly possibility, but they can be a challenge to fish if there’s much water in the river. I also believe you’ve pretty well got to repeatedly bonk a trout on the head with such a small fly this time of year to get a reaction. These are best saved for calmer stretches and pools. In any case, most early season hatches seem to happen later in the day, perhaps early afternoon, after the sun has had a chance to warm things up. Again, that’s if they happen at all. Most of the action is likely going to be below the surface for the next while and that means nymphs — the young aquatic stage of many river and lake insects — and streamer flies, which mostly resemble small fish. As far as mayfly nymphs go, a gold-ribbed hare’s ear (#12 to #18) is a good choice for a lighter-coloured selection, while a pheasant tail nymph in the same size range is a good all-around dark pick. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of nymph patterns and fishing them is a science unto itself — far too much so to do justice here. A few large stonefly nymphs have to be in the early season arsenal. Golden and dark stonefly nymphs from last year will be getting big (#8 hooks and larger) and make a good meal for trout. Fish them deep in pools and deeper rocky areas. Don’t be afraid to use weights. Muddler minnows, say on #10 down to #16 hooks, seem to catch trout pretty well all the time and are probably my favourite all-around flies. Zonker strip streamers, tied with a strip of rabbit fur along the back, are also popular. I like woolly buggers in black, brown and olive as well, and usually have a few bucktail streamers such as the black nose dace and Mickey Finn along too. Try retrieving streamers through pools at different speeds, occasionally letting them stop or even drift back, and keep an eye out for the flash of a trout taking a run at them without striking. Then there are the glo-bug eggs and such, which can often salvage an otherwise fishless spring day. There’s still a lot of water in the rivers and trout could be spread out to places they won’t be later in the year when they start seeking protection from the heat. In fact, you can sometimes see them lounging in the sun to warm up this time of year. Don’t forget many local streams are still closed because of rainbow spawning runs. While I don’t think there are changes on that front locally, it would be wise to check the new fishing regs to make sure your intended stream is in fact open and there are no new limits. Also, it seems there are more “no trespassing” signs around every year. While some people just don’t want anyone on their land, it’s been my experience many landowners will give you permission to fish, signs or not, if you are courteous and respect their wishes. Trout derby underway By now the Georgian Triangle Anglers Association’s 28th annual Spring Trout Derby should be well underway. The derby, which started Friday and is to run until May 4, is a big fundraiser for the Collingwood-area-based GTAA’s fish enhancement programs, said derby chairman Gary Lawrence. Money raised helps pay for the club’s stocking and stream rehabilitation efforts. The club stocks about 250,000 small rainbow in the Georgian Triangle area, about 100,000 brown trout in the lake and about 100,000 speckled trout in streams, Lawrence said. The club sold about 400 tickets for last year’s derby, with has weigh stations stretching from Wasaga Beach to Wiarton. Tickets, which are $20 are available at the weigh stations — Something Fishy in Owen Sound, Outback Tackle in Wiarton, Garnet’s Esso in Meaford, Gyles Sails and Service in Thornbury, the Sobey’s store in Collingwood and Wasaga Marine in Wasaga Beach — among other places. There’s a list of ticket sellers at www.meaford.com/fishbyte/gtaa.htm The top rainbow fetches $1,000, second is $500 and third is $250. The top brown trout and salmon prizes are $100. Hunting regs out The 2008-2009 hunting regulations have been released. If you can’t find a printed copy, information is available on the MNR website at www.mnr.gov. on.ca/en and follow the links. The summary provides information on upcoming changes, including a new non-resident outdoors card to be introduced in 2009, and information on the review of Ontario’s moose program, as well as information about a pending fall turkey hunt. There are also changes in the works about returning some hunter questionnaires and antlerless deer tag deadlines. I hope to to review changes in an upcoming column. Gleason brook work postponed The Bruce Peninsula Sportsmen’s Association got all the necessary humans on side to add gravel to improve spawning areas in Gleason Brook, but the trout jumped the gun. Club member Al Hunter said he received landowner permission for the project, but when he and another club member went to inspect the stream one last time before ordering in the equipment to spread the gravel, they were more than a little surprised to see a fair number of rainbow trout already well up the stream. “The run is obviously early this year and we could not add the river stone without the possibility of harming the trout and eggs already in the creek. We will have to defer the project until late in the summer when we can hand-bomb the stone back with the assistance of the Stewardship Rangers (MNR) or try for the slinger again next spring,” he wrote in an e-mail. Club members have also been speaking with rainbow anglers at Colpoy’s Creek and Gleason Brook about respecting the sanctuary areas. They have also been asking anglers to release spawning females caught outside the sanctuary ensure a sustainable rainbow fishery. Additional sanctuary signs and club posters requesting fishermen live release spawning female have been posted at both areas. Response from the fishermen has been positive, he said. The improvements the club made to stream habitat last summer and fall are providing better spawning and holding areas for the trout, he added. The BPSA has also put out a call for prizes to support its 2008 conservation and outdoors recreational projects. The club is looking for prizes such as gift certificates or anything related to outdoors recreation that it can use to support its projects, including fishing derbies, fish stocking, stream rehabilitation and deer feeding during extreme winter conditions. Contact Ted Wilford 519-534-5168, 519-534-2803, or at [email protected], or Stu Paterson, 519-534-5194 or at [email protected] May cleanup The annual community cleanup in Owen Sound will be held May 3, starting with a gathering at the Owen Sound Marine & Rail Museum on the west side of the harbour at 9 a.m., the Sydenham Sportsmen’s Association heard at its April meeting. The club helps out with the annual roundup of trash, tires and runaway shopping carts primarily along the harbour and riverbanks, but volunteers spread out around the city for the annual spring cleaning bee.

....Ah very nice. Always good to see friends enjoying their holidays then making it home safely.

Sea lamprey chemical treatment on South Sandy Creek will go on THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2008 NANCY MADSEN, watertowndailytimes.com Although about 1,500 walleye pike were found dead in Little Sandy Creek last week because of a chemical treatment for sea lampreys, plans for treatment of South Sandy Creek today will proceed. Paul Sullivan, the section head for control at the Sea Lamprey Control Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, said that the kill was "definitely very unusual." The nuisance species control program sees some fish kill in one out of every 200 to 300 treatments. But, he said, this one was unusual because it was only male walleyes as opposed to several species. And in other cases, higher temperatures or lower pH levels have increased the toxicity of the treatment. But those factors were not present in Little Sandy Creek. Treatment using the pesticide TFM has been done on Little Sandy Creek 14 times, frequently at the same time of the year as the fish kill. "We were scratching our heads over that one," Mr. Sullivan said. Because other walleye survived, Mr. Sullivan said, there may be other factors, such as disease, that made those fish more vulnerable. Daniel L. Bishop, Region 7 fisheries manager for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said the department has sent fish to be tested at Cornell University, Ithaca. He expects results in a few days. Treatment with the pesticide TFM has been done in New York by Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans, which runs the center, since 1972. Teams treat about 16 streams on the eastern side of Lake Ontario on a three-year cycle to control the nuisance lamprey. "Most of the streams with lamprey on the U.S. side are on the Tug Hill," Mr. Bishop said. The lampricide was applied during the day Thursday and dead fish were found that evening. Using pesticides to kill sea lamprey is a vital program, Mr. Bishop said. "There would be no trout and salmon in Lake Ontario without sea lamprey control," he said. Sea lampreys attach themselves to the bodies of fish and feed on the fish's body fluids, which often leads to death for the fish. But as larvae, the lampreys are vulnerable to TFM for three years before they become adults. Mr. Sullivan said the lamprey primarily target trout and salmon species, but will "almost feed on anything." The TFM treatments have been effective in bringing the sea lamprey numbers down, from an estimated 1.5 million in 1971 to a current target of 30,000. "We've had great success in Lake Ontario," Mr. Sullivan said. "Due to the treatments, we have a vibrant salmon fishery."

Builders urged to give Great Lakes some space Environmentalists cheer Ontario's support for varying water levels Apr 24, 2008 Peter Gorrie, Environment Reporter / thestar.com People are building homes and cottages too close to Lake Ontario and the other Great Lakes, environmentalists say. The comments came yesterday after the province endorsed a control plan for Lake Ontario that would let water levels fluctuate more than they do now, in a way that mimics nature. In doing so, Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield said she disagreed with a plan recommended last month by the International Joint Commission that would keep lake levels more stable than their natural state. For the past half-century, dams have controlled the flow of water out of Lake Ontario into the St. Lawrence River and have been used to reduce fluctuations in water levels. Environmentalists say that destroys wetlands and other shoreline habitats for fish and birds, which require varying water levels. The commission – created by the Canadian and U.S. federal governments to deal with transborder water issues – said it was trying to balance environmental concerns with the need to protect shoreline property owners from being flooded out by high levels or left high and dry when the water goes down. But that plan "won't do enough to sustain the health of the lake and the river in the long term," Cansfield told a Toronto conference on energy and the Great Lakes. The province prefers an option that "takes steps toward emulating the natural pattern of water flow and level variability," she said. "We believe our choice would be better for the environment ... offering greater protection for wetland habitats that support many species, including some that are at risk." New York state already opposes the commission's plan and prefers the "greener" alternative that Cansfield endorsed. It would let levels vary about 200 centimetres more than the commission plan. Environmentalists welcomed Ontario's decision, and suggested it's time to stop, and possibly reverse, shoreline development. "We shouldn't be building that close to the water," said John Jackson, of Great Lakes United. "You respect the lake, so you stand back from it a little." "We need to move back from the edge," said Tony Maas, of World Wildlife Federation. Such a policy would be "challenging," Maas said. Some shoreline owners have called for water levels even more stable than they are now. But other means of shoreline protection, including breakwalls and boulder piles, are as bad for the environment as keeping the lake levels too stable, he said. Cansfield acknowledged that "there may be a need to consider mitigation measures to ensure effective shoreline management." But it's "premature to look at what mitigation would be" until the commission makes a final decision on the control plan later this year, she said in an interview.

MNR tuning in trout; Wildlife officials using radio transmitters to track spawning fish DOUG EDGAR / owensoundsuntimes.com About 30 rainbow trout are now swimming up the Saugeen River with tiny radios in their bellies. Local Ministry of Natural Resources officials will soon be tracking them from a helicopter to see where they end up spawning. "These fish will steer us to where we have to go and focus our efforts," said Jody Scheifley, with the Owen Sound MNR office. He, fellow fish and wildlife technician Luke Weber and MNR biologist Andy McKee were busy Thursday implanting the radios - about the size of the first two sections of a man's pinky finger - in the body cavities of rainbow that Ontario Steelheaders and Kitchener-Waterloo-based Golden Triangle Salmon and Steelheaders club members intercepted at Denny's Dam fish ladder. The project is intended to give fisheries managers a better idea where rainbow trout, or steelhead, from Lake Huron spawn in the Saugeen River and tributaries. It will also tell MNR officials how well fishways upstream at dams at Walkerton and Maple Hill work. "Most of the good water is above those two dams," Scheifley said. Perhaps more importantly, he said, the project will indicate which areas should be protected and rehabilitated. Denny's Dam, at Southampton, is intended to stop the invasive and parasitic sea lamprey from migrating up the Saugeen River to spawn. There is a fish ladder at the south end of the dam, where the steelheaders intercepted 92 rainbow that were candidates for the research project Thursday. They use the same facility to collect eggs for hatcheries and to catch fish that are transported upstream and released. The three MNR staffers had a small fish field hospital set up in a shelter at the dam. The fish, which had to be at least five pounds to take the transmitter, were put in a tub with anesthetic in the water, then measured. McKee then made a small incision in the fish's belly, stuffed the 30-day transmitter in and sewed the fish up with two quick stitches. The fish were held in another tub for awhile to make sure they would recover before they were released in a quiet area a little upstream of the dam. Each fish also received a yellow marker tag near its dorsal fin, which Scheifley said should be a backup to track the fish. He asked that anyone who catches one of the marked fish call the MNR with the tag information and the date and time the fish was caught. McKee, who implanted the same type of transmitters in some muskellunge in the Saugeen a few years ago, said the fish should be able to spawn normally and recover from their surgery. The next step in the project, which is funded with help from the MNR, the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Bruce Resource Stewardship Network and the Sydenham Conservation Foundation, is to use an MNR helicopter to track the fish, each of which will transmit its own code. "Hopefully next Friday we'll start," said Scheifley. "We'll do several flights over a two-week period."

April 11, 2008 POSSESSING AND TRANSPORTING AN OVER-LIMIT OF WALLEYE A Minnesota man has been fined $1,250 after pleading guilty to possessing and transporting an over-limit of walleye. Dean L. Torgersen, 49, of Duluth, has been fined $1,000 for the walleye over-limit and $250 for transporting fish unlawfully taken. The fish have been forfeited to the Crown. Torgersen's fishing rods, depth sounder and other fishing gear will be returned when he has paid the fine. On February 19, 2008, a Ministry of Natural Resources Thunder Bay District Conservation Officer stopped two men on snowmobiles on the Sag Road near Saganagons Lake just outside of Quetico Provincial Park. When the men told the officer that they had been fishing, he asked to check their fish and discovered Torgersen had four walleye over 46 centimetres (cm) in length. Under the regulations in the area where he was fishing, Torgersen was allowed a daily catch limit of two walleye of which one could be greater than 46 cm. Justice of the Peace John Guthrie heard the case in the Ontario Court of Justice, Thunder Bay on April 2, 2008. To report a natural resource violation, call 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) toll-free any time or contact your ministry office during regular business hours. You can also call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). More O.C.O.A. Convictions

Zebra mussels put snag in walleye fishing April 24, 2008 / intelligencer.ca Where have all the walleye gone? Ron Skevington has some theories. As a lifelong angler, he believes populations are still abundant in the Bay of Quinte, even 15 years after habitat-killing zebra mussels were first spotted in the area. They're now just harder to find. "When I first moved here, everybody was saying there were no walleye," said Skevington, a Lake Erie-bred angler who moved to Belleville seven years ago to open Skevy's Outdoor Specialties, a fishing supply store. "But I took the methods I was taught and applied them on the Bay of Quinte and I had no problem catching walleye. Guys who were fishing their old ways weren't catching walleye and said there was no fish here." Anglers and researchers agree that zebra mussels, an invasive species that first came to North America 20 years ago, have altered fish populations across the continent, including in the Bay of Quinte. Most fish populations have shrunk due to the mussels consuming plankton - tiny organisms living in the water that fish need to eat. But when plankton levels are reduced, water becomes more clear, allowing more light to penetrate to a lake's floor. That leads to more plant growth in water. Skevington advises anglers to look for weed beds and that's where you'll find walleye. It's a lesson he learned on Lake Erie, one of the first Great Lakes to be infested with zebra mussels. "When we got more weed beds, walleye and bass populations started to come back and we found we had to fish for walleye in a different method," he said. "Walleye are predator fish, so they were tucking themselves in weed beds and chasing minnows where they were going to hide." Although Skevington believes walleye are making a comeback, Ministry of Natural Resources researchers aren't so sure. Beth Brownson, an MNR invasive species biologist based in Peterborough, said the overall environmental harm zebra mussels cause overrides any temporary rise in population for a particular species. The most troubling thing about them, she said, is they cause already-contaminated environments to get worse. "They concentrate (contaminates) in their bodies," she said. "If I'm a fish or a bird and I eat a zebra mussel I'll get way more contamination in my system than from eating other food sources." This is the 20th anniversary of zebra mussels' arrival to North America, but Brownson said it's nothing to celebrate. Since first appearing in Lake St. Clair in 1988, apparently from ocean-going commercial vessels, they have spread across the Great Lakes, complicating environmental clean up efforts. It didn't take long for zebra mussels, known to multiply quickly, to find their way to the Bay of Quinte where shallow conditions are ideal for their growth. A Department of Fisheries and Oceans report said they were first spotted in the bay in 1993. Jeff Borisko, implementation manager for the Bay of Quinte Remedial Action Plan, an organization in charge of cleaning up the bay, said a Department of Fisheries and Oceans program to monitor zebra mussel growth seems to indicate it's stable. But he also said it's important not to jump to conclusions. Researchers have made the conclusion by counting zebra mussels at four different checkpoints year after year. But the number of zebra mussels in other parts of the bay could be quite different, he said. "The bottom line is the ecosystem has changed and it has to be managed differently," he said. "They're here to stay." And now that scientists have pinpointed the problems of zebra mussels, the more challenging task of curtailing them has begun. "Unfortunately we don't have a silver bullet to eradicate them and we probably never will," Brownson said. "But we hope to come up with some management solutions." She said the ministry is studying programs that helped reduce other invasive species such as sea lamprey, an eel-like fish. In this case, barriers were put in streams to prevent the species from travelling in order to spawn. Other invasive species have been reduced through biological control agents - in other words, chemicals that kill a particular species but cause no other ill effects on the ecosystem. But such things are tough to invent. "A biological control agent may be found for zebra mussels," Brownson said. "But at this point, we don't have it." In the meantime, the ministry hopes the public will do its part. Brownson said education programs to teach people to wash their boats after coming out of the water are on the go. Zebra mussels get around by attaching to the bottom of boats and can even grow on seaweed. She also advises anglers to not dump bait buckets in water. Though few people realize it, zebra mussels can reproduce in small pools. By dumping your bait bucket back in the water, you may be releasing zebra mussel eggs that you can't even see. If more people follow these instructions, zebra mussel growth will level off, she said. Skevington believes that levelling off is already happening on the bay. He said a boat at a local dock used to have a problem with zebra mussels. A rope attached to the vessel would always be covered with them. "Last year we noticed that rope had none on it," he said. "And the docks that normally have zebra mussels all over the legs had none on it," he said. "The comments from a lot of fishers was, 'zebra mussels seem to be decreasing.'"

IGFA International Fishing Hall of Fame announces 10th induction class International event honors contributions of five to the sport of fishing Pete Johnson / fishingworld.com (Apr. 24, 2008 - Dania Beach, FL)... Four men and a lady, all who have made significant contributions to the sport of recreational fishing, will be inducted as the 10th class into the International Game Fish Association International Fishing Hall of Fame this fall. The announcement of the class of 2008 includes Henry Chee, Dr. Roy Dean, Jimmy Houston, Kay Rybovich and Karl Wickstrom. The 10th annual star-studded enshrinement ceremony and dinner will be held Saturday, October 25, 2008 at 6 p.m. at the IGFA International Fishing Hall of Fame in Dania Beach, Fla. The public is invited. Each year the honorees are selected for the significant contributions through angling achievements, literature, the arts, science, education, invention, communication or administration of fishery resources. The five inductees and their contributions are: - Henry Chee was one of the original two charter skippers in Kona, Hawaii. In the 1940s he was responsible for the advent of trolling lures, making his first "tube" lure out of fiberglass resin, using a drinking glass as a mold, and went on to perfect the use of brass for leader tubes and strips of pearl shell for inserts. Chee died in 1965. - Dr. Roy Dean dedicated his life to light-tackle fishing. Recognized for his extensive exploration of the coastlines of Mexico and Costa Rica, research on billfish migration, and promotion of catch-and-release, he is best known as the founder of the International Light Tackle Tournament Association (ILTTA) more than 60 years ago. Dean died in 1990. - Jimmy Houston won his first professional bass tournament in 1966, his first B.A.S.S. "Angler of the Year" title in 1976, and has produced and hosted the popular TV show Jimmy Houston Outdoors for more than 30 years. He was inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame in 2002. Houston lives in Cookson, Okla. - One of three founders of the International Women’s Fishing Association (IWFA) in 1955, Kay Rybovich remains one of the grand ladies of sport fishing. An early proponent of catch-and-release fishing, she is a long-time supporter of fisheries research programs and numerous conservation organizations. Kay was married to the late John Rybovich Jr. who was inducted into the IGFA International Fishing Hall of Fame’s first class in 1998. - Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Florida Sportsman magazine, Karl Wickstrom initiated and chaired the Save Our Sealife constitutional amendment campaign that banned gill nets in 1994 and revitalized Florida’s inshore waters. He was also instrumental in the founding of the state’s Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) chapter more than 20 years ago. Wickstrom lives in Stuart, Fla. There are currently 70 Hall of Fame members enshrined including Zane Grey, Ernest Hemingway, Curt Gowdy, Ted Williams, Lee Wulff, Michael and Helen Lerner, Philip Wylie, Bill Dance, Roland Martin, Johnny Morris, Don Tyson and Stu Apte.

Fishing Update; Lake Erie & Lake Ontario 04/24/08 Will Elliott / buffalonews.com Lake Erie Boaters out of Cattaraugus Creek have been heading east toward 52-foot depths off Evangola State Park for a perch run that had begun late last week. Some anglers have had days with a 50- fish limit and a few reaching the 15-inch mark, according to Rick Miller at Miller’s Bait & Tackle in Irving. Both live fathead minnows and salted emerald shiners have done well on the ringback run. Peak catching periods vary depending on the time of day and wind directions, but the bite is on in deeper waters, and area experts expect to see similar results soon at Sturgeon Point, Cattaraugus Creek and Dunkirk Harbor hot spots. Catfish numbers slowly rise at Cattaraugus Creek. Better bullhead batches come from shoreline shallows at the east end of Dunkirk Harbor. Lake Erie feeders lost water levels and gained unusual numbers of early-arriving smallmouth bass this past week. Steelies still hold in deeper waters of larger feeders, but warming, clearing waters have made trout fishing more like hunting. Lake Ontario Some salmon have moved east of Port Dalhousie, but the bigger draw has been lake trout and some browns, with a few coho shooting through at the Niagara Bar. Feeder streams have seen a few big steelies, but warming waters have sent bass, perch and other warm-water species up into creeks and Oak Orchard River this past week. Niagara River Smelt schooling has been heavy, but boaters still can head up to Devils’ Hole for steelhead, which hit either egg sacks, minnows or Kwikfish, says Capt. Frank Campbell. Smelt dippers have done well this past week, but the action often starts well into the evening before anyone hits the eight-quart limit of rainbow runners. Both the Lewiston Landing and the Artpark stair-walk site get dippers close enough for dip-net work.

Isle Royale National Park bans bait in Lake Superior Wednesday, April 23, 2008 John Myers / Duluth News Tribune Isle Royale National Park announced an immediate ban Tuesday on all organic bait in the waters of Lake Superior near the big island. The ban includes all live and dead minnows, fish parts, worms or other organic bait unless they were taken from the same water. The ban makes it illegal to possess any fish or fish parts for bait that don’t come from the park waters of the lake. Organic bait already had been banned in waters on the island. The park’s jurisdiction on Lake Superior reaches 4.5 miles out from the outermost land in the 30-mile-long Isle Royale archipelago — home to some of the best lake trout fishing on the Great Lakes. While most anglers troll with spoons and other artificial lures, surveys show about 25 percent to 30 percent of anglers use organic bait, said Phyllis Green, Isle Royale superintendent. But the bait most commonly used is a chunk of belly meat from a recently caught lake trout. That still would be allowed if the trout came from the same area, Green said. The move is another in a growing number of restrictions on anglers and boaters in an effort to thwart the expansion of exotic species such as the fish-killing VHS virus. “Our fishermen are some of the best stewards of the park and they want to protect the fishery,’’ Green said. “It might be an inconvenience, but VHS could wipe out the trout, and nobody wants that.’’ It’s believed bait, bait buckets, live wells and bilges on recreational boats are a likely pathway for some exotic species such as VHS to reach park waters — moved unknowingly by anglers and boaters from other parts of the Great Lakes or infected inland lakes. Isle Royale is about 15 miles off Minnesota’s North Shore but is part of Michigan. Park Service officials said Michigan regulations so far are not restrictive enough to prevent exotic species from moving into park waters. VHS already has killed about 32 species of fish in the eastern Great Lakes but has not been found in Lake Superior. In addition to the bait ban, Isle Royale is requiring any watercraft transported to the island for recreational use, such as kayaks or fishing boats that move to the island on the ferry Ranger III, to be washed or disinfected. Boats that travel to the island on their own power are not covered by the disinfection rule but are asked to voluntarily make sure they are not moving any water or organisms from other lakes. In September, Isle Royale banned ships from releasing any ballast water in park waters, and the Park Service’s Ranger III became the first vessel in the Great Lakes to regularly treat its ballast water to kill any living organisms inside. Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario, next to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, recently implemented a similar ban on all organic bait. And Apostle Islands National Lakeshore has banned organic bait for fishing on waters on the islands, but not Lake Superior. Apostle Island National Lakeshore has only one-quarter mile jurisdiction on waters near islands. Apostle Islands National Lakeshore also is requiring all boats launching from park land into Lake Superior to be decontaminated to prevent the spread of VHS and other species such as zebra mussels.

Great Lakes virus may be culprit for local fish kill April 22, 2008 Alan Morrell / democratandchronicle.com A fish kill discovered on the shores of Irondequoit Bay could have been caused by a viral disease first noticed in New York two years ago, an official from the state Department of Environmental Conservation said Monday. Officials estimate hundreds of dead gizzard shad were spotted earlier this month, said Webster Pearsall, the DEC's regional fishery manager. DEC officials sent samples to the Cornell University Fish Pathology lab in Ithaca, and results are expected back by the end of the month, he said. Gizzard shad are freshwater members of the herring family. Adults average 10 to 14 inches in length and weigh up to 10 pounds, and most anglers consider the fish a nuisance species. Pearsall said he doesn't think the fish died from a chemical spill because gizzard shad were the only species killed and pollution would have affected other species as well. Gizzard shad spawn this time of year, and the fish could have died from spawning stress, Pearsall said. The other likely cause is viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture has called an "extremely serious pathogen of fresh- and saltwater fish" which is emerging in the Great Lakes. The disease originally was thought to be a danger only for trout and other freshwater fish in Europe; a new strain of the virus has appeared in the Great Lakes. VHS is not a threat to humans, Pearsall said. He said people should keep their dogs from eating fish kill and people handling dead fish should wear plastic gloves.

River makes at-risk listing WATER LEVEL PLAN: Advocacy group says IJC must choose B+ THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2008 JAEGUN LEE / watertowndailytimes.com The St. Lawrence River was named as one of America's 10 most endangered rivers Wednesday by American Rivers, a national river advocacy group. The 35-year-old group chose the St. Lawrence not based on its pollution level, but on the threats it faces, said spokesman Garret M. Russo. "The St. Lawrence River is at a crossroads. I would hope that the International Joint Commission would listen to the voices of the thousands, if not millions, of people in support of plan B+," Mr. Russo said. According to a press release from American Rivers, the group receives thousands of submissions from environmental organizations, local governments and watchdog groups for their annual America's Most Endangered Rivers report. The group then chooses 10 rivers facing the most uncertain futures. Mr. Russo said the St. Lawrence River, at No. 4 on the list, is at a particularly important stage as the IJC prepares to select a water-level plan to replace the 50-year-old plan now in place. He noted there is a proposal to protect the river environment that is widely supported by the people and local government. "Protecting the river is a contact sport. People need to get involved," he said. The International Joint Commission has been widely criticized by state, federal and local officials since it announced last month that it is considering a close cousin of its current regulation. The newly proposed plan, Plan 2007, is similar to the current water management plan, 1958-D, which keeps the water level high during the summer and cuts it sharply in the fall. The commission is set to make a decision by the end of the year to implement a plan that manages water levels along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. In a press release, Rep. John M. McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor, said that he is not surprised that the St. Lawrence River was named one of the most endangered rivers. "As someone who was born and raised in Northern New York, I know well that a healthy river and lake are fundamental to the daily life and landscape of the region," Mr. McHugh said. Mr. McHugh argued that Plan 2007 would do the river "far more harm than good" and urged the IJC to adopt plan B+. "I believe that Plan B+, which has earned widespread support, best meets the needs of our river, our lake, and our communities," Mr. McHugh said. He said that the state and its residents need to continue to put pressure on the IJC to make water management decisions that benefit the environment, the economy and local residents. Alexander B. "Pete" Grannis, the state Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner, said American Rivers' decision to list the St. Lawrence River as one of the most endangered is "dead on." "The St. Lawrence is at risk in part because the International Joint Commission is poised to botch a once-in-a-generation opportunity to return to more natural water flows in the river and Lake Ontario," Mr. Grannis said in a statement. "Instead, the IJC wants to continue a river management plan that artificially constrains water levels — a plan that has turned half the once vibrant wetlands bordering Lake Ontario into impenetrable cattail stands," he said. Mr. Grannis's statement said that if the IJC does not adopt plan B+, the people of New York likely will see the St. Lawrence River moving up in the rankings in next year's most-endangered report. "The IJC spent $20 million studying this issue for five years and developed an alternative, known as Plan B+, that would change the way the river and lake are managed, to benefit the environment, hydropower and other interests," he said. "At a minimum, the IJC should present this alternative for public comment well before it reaches a final decision, expected this summer." Jennifer J. Caddick, executive director of Save the River, an environmental advocacy group based in Clayton, said she hopes the IJC will adopt plan B+ in the end. "We hope this designation serves as a wake-up call for the IJC," Ms. Caddick said. "It has been 50 years since the Moses-Sanders Dam was built and IJC is still stalling to do the right thing," she said.

....Hey now that's cool. I have had the pleasure of meeting and chattting with both Pete and Karl, both top shelf kind a guys. Just missed you this past Sunday as well Steve, I was heading out (white GM van, black Lund) as you returned from some turkey hunting classes you were giving (I think).