NEW FISHING REGULATIONS FOR FMZ 17!

[Ron]

Very well written and descriptive Mike. It is nice to see all the responses on here, positive and not positive alike.

 

We have worked on these regulation changes long before the advisory council had even been formed. I have received feedback from many people and for the most of it, I feel like I have accomplished something in my volunteer time with the MNR.

 

If the MNR are reading this, which I am certain they will, I wish to say thanks for listening to us and the majority of avid anglers I represented. With such diverse stakeholders representing the council:

 

Anglers – Recreational and Competitive

Bait Industry

Buckhorn District Tourism Association

City of Kawartha Lakes Tourism

Cold Creek Flyfishers

Crowe Lake Waterway Association

Curve Lake First Nation

Muskies Canada

Ontario BASS Federation Nation

Ontario Chinese Anglers Association

Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters

Peterborough Field Naturalists

Rice Lake Tourist Association

Stewardship Councils

Trent University

As you can see, it wasn't just a few die hard fishermen or just a couple of resort owners or just a couple of fishing clubs. We all had input and we all understood and listened to both sides to come up with what we all agreed on (well most of the time) would be best for the fish, not the fishing industry.

 

Cudos to everyone for their time and dedication spent!

 

Cheers, Ron...

[MCTFisher9120]

My guess is to let up on the constant year round pressure on Lake Scugog. Good on them for changing the regs, maybe for 5 or so years to let Scugog bounce back a bit.

 

Ah well, it think it's all because of me. First year Ice fishing and all these great lakes to fish.

 

Life is good,

MTBF

[Weeds]

Maybe no one cares other than me but, I was hoping for some confirmation, come 2010 Carp becomes open year round, right?

[Beans]

Maybe no one cares other than me but, I was hoping for some confirmation, come 2010 Carp becomes open year round, right?

 

You are not alone Weeds...I am wonderin' the same thing along with catfish and WGSF (rockbass)

 

I have enquired about icefishing for carp on a carp board to find out techniques, bait etc.

 

One problem as far as I can see is that most open water in the winter is below dams and those waters are mostly fish sanctuaries so no fishing for any species...

[Michael_Brown]

To the die hard carp anglers. The beauty of the regulation changes is that yes the carp and other non-classified species such as rockbass, ling, catfish and the elusive logperch will be open for year-round angling. The current regulations effectively placed a moratorium on all angling from Nov 15 until the fourth sat in April. This will no longer be in place.

These fanatstic species will open on Jan 1, 2010 and will not close.

 

Also to Mike the Bass Fisher, it is not just the pressure on scugog that will be reduced but also the Haliburton lakes with their sensitive lake trout populations and other surrounding lakes. Sure anglers will still go there to enjoy the fishery but when you want a feed of tasty crappies or just to get the kids out for a nice afternoon in Feb. The Kawartha's will be open for family fishing fun.

 

Curious note. I have caught catfish, bass, muskie and other species through the ice as incidental catches. I have never caught a carp through the ice. Smart fish.

 

 

To Ron Reyns; For over three years of monthly meetings you have represented the anglers of this region as a stakeholder on the fisheries advsiory council and made a huge impact. Your advice, insight and passion for the sport we love has been reflected in these changes.

 

On behalf of all the anglers and future anglers who will enjoy even one extra day of angling because of your volunteer work.

 

Thank You.

Edited November 21, 2009 by Michael Brown

[Beans]

Curious note. I have caught catfish, bass, muskie and other species through the ice as incidental catches. I have never caught a carp through the ice. Smart fish.

 

You have never been icefishing with Joey and Tybo...

 

BTW...Thanks for the info regarding the other species...

 

 

Edited November 21, 2009 by Beans

[Rice Laker]

As a resident on Rice Lake, I would like to add some comments to recent postings here. Michael Brown wrote: "The 300 number for sunfish is due to the fact that most anglers fishing for sunfish are from the US. Surveys indicated that the average US angler travelling here was taking home just over 200 sunfish for a weeks fishing so this number will allow those anglers to still enjoy their week of fishing"

The problem with this assumption is that it is an average. If one angler has 600 and the next 4 anglers have 100, the average is 200. The problem for tourism is that the 600 guy will not come back (and reaction for US guests in the last week is exactly that, there have been many cancellations for 2010).

 

Bluegills have always been considered an “invasive species” since they first appeared in Rice Lake in the mid-1960's. The biologists in the Dept. of Lands & Forests (the predecessor of the MNR) at the time strongly urged many bluegills to be caught as they were worried that they would “take over the lake”. Local anglers typically do not want to catch and keep bluegills and this is why US anglers were encouraged to come and take as many as possible, especially in May and June.

 

It is obvious to anyone that fishes or lives on Rice Lake that there are far fewer boats out on the lake than there used to be. This is true and MNR creel surveys indicate this decline in the number of sunfish caught. Eight surveys have been done on Rice over the last 30 years. The last 4 surveys show the annual sunfish catch as:

 

1995----515,464

2000----668,187

2004----836,726

2008----496,218

 

The non-resident licence sales match this decline as well (50% in 5 years). Sunfish have always been abundant in Rice Lake and the numbers will now increase even more. Assuming a steady annual decline between 2004 and 2008 (85,125 per year) there are now 340,500 MORE fish in the lake than there would have been if the catch numbers had been constant. These fish will also be spawning so the numbers in the lake will continue to increase. Initial feedback from the US in the last week is that the 300 per visit limit will continue the decline in US anglers, so the number of sunfish will increase even more. It is debatable which other species will be “crowded out” and go into decline.

 

Michael mentioned that there are not enough larger males and this very true for Rice Lake, no one argues this point. The Rice Lake Tourist Association, with the MNR's assistance, introduced a voluntary throwback asking that any bluegill bigger than 7" be returned. This programme was started in 2005 and the 2008 survey showed that it was working- the average size was larger, not much but at least going in the right direction. I am still having difficulty understanding why an angler can keep 30 larger fish when the opposite is what is biologically required. This was NOT what the FMZ 17 Council recommended. Why does walleye have a size restriction and not bluegill?

 

One other factor that may come into play is global warming. With the lake warming up earlier and staying warm longer, this fits perfectly the sunfish and bass spawning requirements. This will also be to the detriment of other species such as walleye that prefer cooler water.

[Guest steel'n'esox]

All I mean is new regs allow us use big lures such as spinnerbaits, jerkbaits to fish pike on these lakes all year.

For sure will catch more out-of-season fish like Muskie and Bass.

 

Wonder if it's a good ideal or not.

 

 

Have fun fishing a jerkbait through the ice, spinnerbait maybe try a topraider while your at it?

[ehg]

All I mean is new regs allow us use big lures such as spinnerbaits, jerkbaits to fish pike on these lakes all year.

For sure will catch more out-of-season fish like Muskie and Bass.

 

Wonder if it's a good ideal or not.

 

 

Have fun fishing a jerkbait through the ice, spinnerbait maybe try a topraider while your at it?

 

 

With the season being open in FMZ 17 until mid-December (starting 2010) and ice usually being on lakes well into April,

It is still very similar except for panfish through the ice.

 

Maybe some pike are in Balsam aside from that...

[Skud]

I know I would love to try for pike in Canal and Balsam immediately after the ice breaks up. I am sure there will be no bass, walleye or musky in a foot of water in April.