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Port Dalhousie


canadadude

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Been drifting Port D the last week and the water has been dirty and the fishing slow. Just before the big thaw the Brownies were smoking streamers but for the last couple of weeks the fishing has all dried up. The water is getting cleaner and tuesday I got a 5lb brownie on a pink roe bag and my buddy fishing minnow got 3 Brownies. My problem is the lack of Steelhead this year running the 12 mile creek, there is usually a good run of winter rainbow in the harbour at this time and I hope the only problem is the dirty water. The thing is the water is getting the nice green tinge with a foot or more visibilty and still no winter steel not quite sure whats going on but this is a continueing trend here perhaps a 2 fish limit out in the blue zone for steelhead is in order. I know for a fact the charter capatains are grabing 40+ steelhead aday in August out there and the rapage is showing up big time in our local fishery :(

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Yes, i've been saying for years that the limits should be reduced on the big lake. But they keep reduceing limits in the rivers and leaving the lake limits alone. Most fish caught in rivers are released compared to most fish caught by boat are killed. Would be nice to see an accross the board limit of 2, just might help. Nice to see you getting into a few brownies.

 

bb

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Well I know what your saying these charters are going out in the "Blue Zone" all summer and smoking 40+ steelies aday and us trib fishers are getting the left overs. Not only are #'s down but size aswell, I'm lucky because Port D has a good brown run every year and there around all winter and they are not heavilly targeted out in the lake so even though the stocking #'s aren;t great a good population returns!!! We did have some chromies come in Nov. but since then they must have gone back out our area is limited and they can't make it up further into the trib, they will go back out into the lake, but it just seems every year the #'s decline by about 10%.

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I have to agree that fishin has sucked lately for sure Canadadude, these conditions around here have made for tough fishin all around. I haven't even had the boat out for almost a month..not worth the trouble with the water so stained. I got a couple nice steelies in November in Port D, but haven't really fished there since. Hopefully it picks up in there soon, funny there are so many browns caught, and all I ever catch in there are steelies, I didn't get 1 brown in there at all for 2008 and that covers last January until now, I been in my boat where a bunch of browns are landed by other people, and all I get is steel :dunno::lol:

 

I think the main problem is the dirty water,steelies aren't biting that well on the Niagara either,10-15-20 fish days have turned into 1-2 fish days if you are lucky, last 2 times out shore trashin for me where skunk days Mon and Tues, and that never happens to me :huh:

Edited by jwl
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5 fish out in the lake is a bit high. Thats 5 fish per person. A charter boat usually brings 4 people per day, so thats potentially 20 fish kept. Not to mention that a charter boat can fish every day during the summer !! Hopefully the charter boat operators do the right thing. Its in their best interest to to make an effort to practice C&R.

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The limits are way too high, I would like to see a 1 or 2 fish limit across the board at least as an experiment as to how it would affect the return numbers.

 

I would also like to see a stocking program that looks like the U.S but ill grow old fast waiting for that

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I sit on the council that was formed to get the lake worked out via the fmz's sooner rather then later the lake will turn to 2..but you all know that going from 5 fish to 2 fish only reduces overall harvest by 5% maximum...Currently overall harvest is in the 30- 40 % range and to have a sustainable fishery it needs to be in the 15% range. The only way to actually accomplish this is to go Ny's route and go with a 1 fish slot size...going from 2 to 5 makes no dfifference what so ever

OMNR and LOMU both know this but think that baby steps are in order, but the reality is scientific evidence, stakeholder input was gravely ignored

Edited by aniceguy
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The limits are way too high, I would like to see a 1 or 2 fish limit across the board at least as an experiment as to how it would affect the return numbers.

 

I would also like to see a stocking program that looks like the U.S but ill grow old fast waiting for that

 

I agree with the limit of 2 across all of the lakes and that should be a combo of salmon/trout of any species. Until they do something about the commercial fishery quotas it won't make a difference anyhow.

 

Kemper if you want to see a stocking program stop wanting and get involved with a local club who does what they can. I was fishing last fall with a bunch of people I didn't know and one of them was constantly griping about the lack of fish lack of size and how they should put more fish in the river.... After about 15 minutes of this guy spewing all sorts of degrading comments an older angler came over to him and asked him point blank how many fish have you put in this river? The mouth piece looked shocked for a second then admitted he hadn't done anything. The older man said he had put over 2 million fish in this very river and now that he was 76 and for health reasons could no longer work the long hours required to help the club they were looking for younger guys to help..... Mouth piece packed up and ran off after that.

 

I hadn't even realized there was a local club doing something on the river I like to fish so I hope that this spring when the time comes I can volunteer my time to help out. If everyone could pitch in just a little maybe how knows, the MNR might see the interest and we could get them assist more?

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there is actually a pretty good stocking program annually in Port D, thousands of fingerlings get stocked, the local club there is also looking into other alternatives for this year as well. A good point was made in Canuck2fan's reply.....the local clubs need young blood out there. I am a trustee on the executive commitee for a conservation club here in Fort Erie and am involved annually in a walleye rearing/stocking project,it's a great expereince going out with the MNR(LEMU) in the spring electro fishing with them,catching,tagging,relocating fish, and collecting brood stock for a small local hatchery, then we raise the fry in a pond on the FECC property. At almost 40 years old, believe it or not...I am the young blood at the club :dunno: It's the general consensis at most of the clubs, the aging membership needs new,young blood to keep these projects going :Gonefishing:

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Was at Port D last Saturday and fishing was very slow. saw only a "few" brownies caught and they were small by comparison to what had caught back in Nov/ Dec. Looked like they may have been some returning that had been stocked. Dont know where all the bigger fish went or the bows that had been present.

 

One good thing I've noticed down there is the number that are C&R .

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gotta stick up for the charter guys. I know 90 percent of my clients only fish that one day a year at least on the great lakes. Most love to eat the fish they catch.......they come once a year and take there 5 and great, they freeze them and before they know it there gone. Howmany reuglar anglers only keep 5 fish throughout the whole year i bet none i know i keep ten times that for tournaments alone. I know if im gonna sit down and cook a fish when i cedar blank a little rainbow i can eat it almost all myself. 5 fish for the year for someone is nothing considering if they bought there own rig and fished for themselves. another point is i no dozens of charter captains who belong to clubs to suport the fisheries and my self included helped with the egg collection on the credit. now the port dalhousie net pen is a go in port i heard today theres 10 thousand fish stocked in the spring and guess who its done - mostly lake fisherman just read spoonpullers.

 

 

Bowen

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Fishing Sucks this year in your Creeks and Rivers because of Rain Wind Snow ...it has nothing to do with Charter Boats... Maybe thats why i stoped Guideing the Niagara River because of Bad Weather wasn't lack of fish it was lack of Green Water ...90% of fish out in the Blue Zone are US fish anyways ...carp to the MNR about stocking on the Canadian side not the charter boats ...you river fisherman are like icefisherman all waiting for good Ice or Clear water ...give it a few weeks i bet i see lots of Steelhead Reports all over the net ...and im sure if your a River fisherman you take more then 5 fish a year to eat thats if you eat fish ...Don't Blame people for problems your having fishing ...we all have problems in Life ...

Edited by Fishmaster
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I don't fish the Blue Zone very often anyways ...but like i said 90% of the fish in Lake Ont are US fish ...the biggest stocking program on the Lake Ont Candian side is Chinnoks ...Ringwood stocks more Salmon then they do Bows ...and the US stocks are 10000 times more then the Canadian side ... at least the 90% of Lake Rainbows are being eatin not wasted just for Roe ...Lake Ontario is a Put & Take Fishery ...Be Happy there is no Comercial Net Fishing for your river Rainbows ...

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well it ain't me that keeps too many either..2-4 fish a year out of a couple hundred.. :Gonefishing:

 

as for the river fisherpeople..yepper what we have is lack of green water not lack of fish, starting to be a big bummer :lol: fish aren't gone for sure. Also stated the put and take aspect of that fishery..if people aren't taking, there won't be much effort into the putting.......I will be helping out with the pen project when comes time as well :Gonefishing:

 

I also know personaly that there are Charter Captains that do infact volunteer thier time and efforts, some often boats, trucks, tanks ect for different enhancement projects...it's in thier best interest for a few with thier efforts ;) atleats 2 of them answered on this post :Gonefishing:

Edited by jwl
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Sorry 90% of the fish in lake o are not US fish…Lake Ontario is not a put delay and take fishery for Rainbows ( on the Canadian side) in fact a great deal of the rainbows caught are natural fish……there is some discussion that the nooks are up to 40% natural fish…If you want I can give you about a million pages worth of stuff to support this sorta stuff………

 

Steelhead are bread and butter fish for the charter guys..personally I wish tourism Ontario would do something more to promote them and the services they offer......

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aniceguy have you helped out with Ringwood ...???? and like i said i don't fish the Blue Zone very Often i would much rather chase fish that fight like KINGS...over the past few years Bows on Lake Ont are more plentyful then any other fish out there ...

Edited by Fishmaster
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