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VHS in Lake Simcoe??


TJQ

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I heard today that the MNR MAY (and I stress may have) have confirmed Lake Simcoe to have VHS. Has anyone else heard this??? The reason I'm asking is that IF (and I mean if) it does, does that mean bait businesses there will sell their minnows to travelers along the highway that bring infected bait further north, ie to Lake Nipissing.. or the Muskokas? or even Temagami for Ice fishing??

 

Can anyone verify this??

 

http://publicdocs.mn...chment_ID=25952

 

Like I said, I'm not sure about this, but it would be sad if true.

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When we had an issue on the credit a few years back, all fish passage, movement and collection was stopped

If it is concenred here is a fact shet on bait movement

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/stdprodconsume/groups/lr/@mnr/@letsfish/documents/document/mnr_e001351.pdf

it is listed to efect Walleye, Yellow Perch, Muskellunge, Smallmouth Bass, Rock Bass, Chinook Salmon, White Bass, Black Crappie, Freshwater Drum, Round Goby, Gizzard Shad, Emerald Shiners, Bluntnose Minnows and Spottail Shiners, so if it is confirmed there is a serious problem now in simcoe add gobies to the mix and lady simcoe is in some trouble

Edited by aniceguy
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Unfortunately I don't think there's a lot anyone can do about this. The knee jerk reaction would be to ban the sale of minnows in all of the province. Make it illegal to use minnows as bait for fishing. That ain't going to happen. And all we'd need is ONE person who has no clue to go trap his own and go fishing...anywhere he pleases and the whole effort is shot down. I'm afraid they'll/we'll have to let it run its course and maybe find a cure for it. I don't know.

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TJ.. Sadly the vhs, among a whole pile of things will creep across canada. When we tried to deal with the goverment factions, they just dont listen. Policticians have short life cycles 4yr. they reallynever concern about our future. Unless there making money..From birds carrying disease to fish migrating,to ships ballast dumped. Sadly resources in canada seem to have lo values. to us guys its priceless.

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Here is a release from Cdn Food and Drug on 2007 testing results:

 

http://epe.lac-bac.g...p/200709e.shtml

 

Lake Simcoe was a sample test site but the fish from Lake Simcoe were in an advanced state of deterioration and were not tested.

Edited by SmokestackLightnin
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Texting a fishing board while at a Christmas party. It must be a really good party eh Rob?

 

Great party. After a long work week, 3 hours of driving, 5 hours of drinking, eating too much of the biggest shrimp I have ever seen, I hit the wall. Eight hours sleep and I'm ready for my friends kids hockey game at the Tillsonburg arena.

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can't they build an electric vhs barrier? :rolleyes::whistling:

 

 

Yes Raf I hear they have one on order it will be 5 years to late and they will build it at the mouth of Lake O. For the ones who don't know this is :sarcasm:

 

 

VHS was seen by us here as a very bad thing when it first hit LSC but I must say the musky we lost have come back and they are getting bigger maybe its not the worst thing out there??? Maybe it kills the sick or week fish I have no idea but do know our musky fishing has been getting back to where it was before the die off with lots of snot rockets and shakers (20-36" musky) and all fish seem to be chunkier and healthy.

 

Maybe VHS is like gobies when they first came here everyone thought they were the end of the Great lakes but they cleaned them up and made the fish fatter.

 

Just my ramblings if it does get into there then there could be a bright side to it I hope it does not happen but there is something to look forward to.

 

One last thing ask the guys on the east and west end of Lake O how the musky are coming back they seem to be happy with the ones they are getting.

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I was talking to the owner of the Rack and Reel yesterday. She said that her bait supplier got some sort of notice about VHS. He hasn't gotten a letter yet saying that he can't sell minnows, but is expecting one. I guess they are talking about making Lake Simcoe a "zone" where minnows that are harvested locally, can only be sold locally.

 

Of coarse, like TJ said, it doesn't stop the consumer from taking them where ever they want..

 

I also herd, that the MNR is really going to crack down on the 120 minnow Max. law this year.

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In NYS we just got our minnow purchasing problems lifted somewhat...

 

For the last 3-4 years we could only purchase "Certified Minnows" (each one had to bear the NYS stamp....LOL).....this so called certified bait came in from Wisconsin and was VERY expensive and were not most times Emerald Shiners but rather "golden shiner" that did not work anywhere as well as the real stuff from Erie while perch fishing...

 

The rules were, you could NOT transport bait over the road unless it was certified and you had a receipt showing it was indeed certified...so that counted out Emerald Shiners from the Niagara River that is a must while perch'n on Lake Erie.

 

However, around June 1st this year the DEC FINALLY lifted the ban on selling Lake Erie Minnow and other minnows as long as you only transport said minnows in the bait corridor....good rule and it makes sense....but after the initial discovery of VHS in Lake Erie it has not been detected since....so that help with a LOT of political pressure from all our hunting/fishing clubs not to mention the Federation that most of them all belong to.

 

Bottom line, I can now "legally" dip my own bait in the Niagara and transport it over land to use in Lake Erie, thus saving hundreds of dollars in bait costs and or fines....

 

Here's the site that deals with our bait regs....scroll down about half way on the page....

 

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/47282.html

 

Also if a bait dealer sells uncertified bait he CANNOT have certified bait for sale and visa versa.

 

Bob

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