Ganaraska river all public access closed

[chessy]

Council, at their regular meeting of April 7, 2020, amended By-law 54/2017 being a By-law to Regulate, Protect and Govern the use of Parks, Recreation Areas and Park Facilities to prohibit camping in Optimist Park and Cavan Street Park during the upcoming opening season for trout fishing. In addition, Council passed Resolution 24/2020 requesting that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) consider postponing or cancelling the upcoming trout season on the Ganaraska River as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic. This letter was submitted to the Province on Thursday April 9, 2020.

To date, the Province has not responded or indicated that fishing seasons will be postponed. Based on current communications, it appears that this request will not be initiated, and it has been indicated that the season will proceed as planned.

Staff have reviewed several options and in order to prohibit fishing in the river from Molson Street to the mouth of the river, a closure of all lands under ownership of the Municipality that border the river would be required. This would include all greenspaces and trails and would prevent access to the river through municipal properties.

In addition, the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority (GRCA) own a significant number of properties along this stretch. Staff have been in contact with GRCA staff and they are supportive of restricting access to properties owned by

Parks, Recreation & Culture Report - Park Closures Page 1 of 2 Report to Council – April 21, 2020

the GRCA from Molson Street south to the Lake. A meeting of the GRCA Board was held on Thursday April 16, 2020 and the Board has supported this initiative (Attachment 1).

Section 19.3 of the Parks By-law 54/2017 states the following:

19.3 Temporary Closure:

The Director and/or Chief of Police and/or Director of Fire and Emergency Services and/or By-Law Enforcement Officers are authorized to close off for such temporary period as deemed appropriate any Park, Recreation Area or part of parts thereof to relieve or prevent overcrowding or traffic congestion, authorized construction, weather conditions or in the interests of public safety.

Staff are recommending that a Resolution be passed to support the closure of all municipal properties that border the Ganaraska River from Molson Street south to Lake Ontario effective Wednesday, April 22, 2020 until May 12, 2020 in the interest of public safety.

 

CONCLUSION:

Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Municipality has taken the necessary steps to meet the requirements of both the Federal and Provincial governments related to closures and restrictions to public spaces. The annual opening season for trout typically draws a large number of anglers to our community which can prove problematic in an effort to ensure social distancing and reducing gatherings of 5 or more people are maintained.

[msp]

So now all other rivers are going to get hammered pretty hard. The Ganaraska River is the only river out east that can support that quantity of fishermen. say good bye to fish stocks on the other tribs in the area.

I walk my dogs almost everyday along the banks of Duffins creek in Ajax and speak with fishermen all the time. word on the street is that a $ 100 trespassing fine is well worth it vs a "social distancing fine "

I went last week to check on my opener spots and there was clearly evidence of poaching. 20 pound test all over the place, footprints and garbage. people don't have ethics anymore. Its quite sad that fisherman are disgusting pigs and ruin it for the majority. 

[BillM]

Close it all down until next year.  Imagine that year class!

[AKRISONER]

is it just me or are river and walleye fisherman consistently the nastiest poachers of all. I guess part of it is that these two species always have the tightest regs against them.

[BillM]

Easy to poach a fish when they're in 3ft of water.   Some guys can't resist.

[AKRISONER]

12 minutes ago, BillM said:

Easy to poach a fish when they're in 3ft of water.   Some guys can't resist.

which to me is hilarious...totally different breed of human i guess. I could also go fish spinning gear and roe in my local river, but opt to get skunked mending flies instead lol

[misfish]

6 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

which to me is hilarious...totally different breed of human i guess. I could also go fish spinning gear and roe in my local river, but opt to get skunked mending flies instead lol

Oh a sinking fly will improve your odds . LM F AO

 

MNR needs to hire snipers for the bad areas. Silencers on the rifles . Once one guy falls and blood is flowing into the water, they will all scatter . Pick one or two off while their running for filtered try again please and giggles .  LMAO

[BillM]

If I see the fish, I don't both fishing for them.   Now this all goes out the window for residents however.   

[AKRISONER]

27 minutes ago, BillM said:

If I see the fish, I don't both fishing for them.   Now this all goes out the window for residents however.   

what about smallmouth on G bay...i see em in 20 fow lol 

[BillM]

35 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

what about smallmouth on G bay...i see em in 20 fow lol 

If they were pinned in 3ft deep kiddie pools maybe lol

It's the inability to get away which irks me about guys fishing super skinny shallow water in the spring for steelhead.   Let the fish do their thing and get back to the lake.   It's not sporting in the least.   

[msp]

3 hours ago, BillM said:

If I see the fish, I don't both fishing for them.   Now this all goes out the window for residents however.   

What's the difference ? 

[msp]

2 hours ago, BillM said:

If they were pinned in 3ft deep kiddie pools maybe lol

It's the inability to get away which irks me about guys fishing super skinny shallow water in the spring for steelhead.   Let the fish do their thing and get back to the lake.   It's not sporting in the least.   

Fishing for steelhead is probably the least sporting type of fishing in general no matter how deep the water is. I mean heck, they return to the same creek every year. 

[MJL]

I figured it was bound to happen. Looking at the OFAH list of closures, a number of popular spots on other rivers are closed to. I actually enjoy opener, not so much for the fishing, but more so for the social aspect of it. There's a couple of anglers from Ottawa who come down once a year (definitely don’t want to do that this year). We sometimes swap flies, spinners and steelhead crankbaits that are hard to get in our own local tackle shops.  Looks like a few of my local rivers are still open but I know 100% they’ll be super packed with anglers.

 

At this point, I’m just looking forward to hitting bright, chrome salmon off some of the piers in early Aug when things settle down. Got my dad a pretty sweet pier chucking combo for his birthday last month to test out.LOL

[BillM]

2 hours ago, msp said:

What's the difference ? 

Spawning fish vs non spawning is the most obvious difference.  

 

2 hours ago, msp said:

Fishing for steelhead is probably the least sporting type of fishing in general no matter how deep the water is. I mean heck, they return to the same creek every year. 

Nah, we'll give that title to guys fishing bass on beds    

[Garnet]

The thing about stelheading it starts relatively cheap and that's why fishing will continue.

Every year I run into 4-5 high school kids  just fishing crazy on each creek. 

Just because you are old dog don't forget where you started.

[msp]

15 hours ago, BillM said:

Spawning fish vs non spawning is the most obvious difference.  

 

Nah, we'll give that title to guys fishing bass on beds    

I agree about fishing for fish on beds.( not cool )  most fish have spawned long before opener and are in dropback mode.

[BillM]

1 hour ago, msp said:

I agree about fishing for fish on beds.( not cool )  most fish have spawned long before opener and are in dropback mode.

I think that's really dependent on the year/river.   Some seem to be all done and some seem to just be starting.  

[craigdritchie]

On 4/21/2020 at 11:50 AM, AKRISONER said:

is it just me or are river and walleye fisherman consistently the nastiest poachers of all. I guess part of it is that these two species always have the tightest regs against them.

Not sure I completely agree with that. If I had a buck for every bass fisherman I've seen who say they're "fishing for pike" or "fishing for crappies" but are actually targeting bedding bass weeks before the season opens, I'd be a pretty wealthy guy.

You get clowns in all types of fishing, it's not exclusive to any one group.

[Dutch01]

I'm a die hard walleye fisherman and I am meticulous about complying with seasons and slots. I don't fish with people who aren't.

I think walleye are a popular target for poachers, but that doesn't mean walleye fishermen are more likely to BE poachers imo.

[BillM]

7 minutes ago, Dutch01 said:

I'm a die hard walleye fisherman and I am meticulous about complying with seasons and slots. I don't fish with people who aren't.

I think walleye are a popular target for poachers, but that doesn't mean walleye fishermen are more likely to BE poachers imo.

You can say this about any species.   All comes down to ethics.   Doesn't matter when you're fishing for.