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A different type of fishing that has seen rewards been reaped by many. This forum allows us to learn more about Float and Fly fishing from those who have made it their number 1 way to fish.
...........to the eyes of Flyfishers. I don't think bait fishers know to handle stuff like this.
Not having much luck at my Rainbow lakes in the Calabogie area this year so after a few hours, I will usually head off to favorite brookie lakes. This is actually a second year fish that wasn't harvested by the ice fishers the previous winter. Yeah, I know what some of you from the other board are going to say....."fish are meant to be eaten". Well, there aren't many around thanks to you. Time to move onwards and upwards.
I'm a humpy sort of guy. I tie these by the dozen during the hard water season. I think they represent Boatman with their white wings. Mind you, I haven't seen any Boatman this year. They should be here by now. I haven't seem much of any hatches, not even on the local rivers. I like to use phentex for the shell back. It floats well and is easy for my old eyes to see. I think it is easier for the fish to see too. Put a little homemade gook (wax in alcohol) on them and they float like a cork. I also lost a 'bigger one' on my version of Ian Colin James' Muncher. I'll post a picture of them once I make some more later on (when all my small lakes are being cleaned out).
Now I'll have to explain myself a little bit here. I think it is perfectly all right to have some ice fishing as I know it is almost a cultural thing around here but it should be in lakes large enough for fish to hide. Small lakes should be restricted.
Funny how you call them "MY" Rainbow lakes. I thought they belonged to everyone.
Bob I totally respect your right to release all the fish you want but folks have equal rights to harvest fish as well. These lakes are stocked on a "put and take" basis. If people stop taking then maybe the ministry stops putting. What does bother me are the "meat" hunters who keep everything they catch and keep going back to lakes until they clean them out.
You say there aren't many fish around thanks to everyone else who keeps fish. Maybe it's just your fishing methods that don't access many of the fish in the lake during the summer. Just because you can't catch them doesn't mean they're not there. I know one real nice Speck lake that has a good population of 5lb+ fish that you would never know were in the lake unless you were fishing the deep 40ft part of the lake. Not likely you're fishing that with a fly rod.
As for ice fishing, why should people give that up so you can catch more fish? Many of these small lakes are best accessed in the winter and people get the same satisfaction ice fishing as you do fly fishing. Plus i believe that fish caught and released from cold water have a much better survival rate than those caught in hot summer waters.
I will give you one instance where cancelling ice fishing for trout has been good. Best thing that happened to Charleston Lake for summer Laker fishing. But that is totally different from small backwood lakes that offer no economic benefits to the region. Look for the same thing to happen to 31 Mile lake in the near future for whitefish, from what I hear.
Cheers
Harvesting fish is perfectly OK but the caveat is "when sustainable". You need a critical mass of fish for a lake to be a "good fishing lake". I keep an accurate record of my catches at each lake and in the last three years it has steadily declined in every trout lake I fish (and I do a fair amount) And I think my practices, flies, etc are improving each year. Granted, sometimes a worm on a bobber or floating off the bottom is the only way to catch fish in some lakes, some times. But I'm seeing fewer fish on the finder, and no sign on top. I don't think they are there in anywhere near the numbers they were before especially in the more easily accessible lakes. There could be all sorts of reasons why the fishing is poorer now for the stocked trout lakes. I get the same comment from everyone, that the fishing is lousy. The only thing we humans can control is the number of fish harvested. Something has to give. I am seeing fewer and fewer fishers out there.
Yes there are some lakes that are only accessible in the winter and that is fine for ice fishing. Go to it. The only thing is, I get this sinking feeling that the stocked fish program is going to take a hit soon in terms of budget cuts.
Getting back to sustainability. The PGT program is there to take pressure off the naturals. That is what OMNR says. That doesn't work if there are few fish to harvest and they are very aware of that, at least now they are. A certain percentage of the years stocking should make it the second year, a smaller number to year three. That way everyone has a chance to catch a good sized fish. I think that is in everyone's best interest. Stocked Brook Trout only live three years, apparently, a little longer for Rainbows and Browns.
In the later part of winter, the fish are struggling for survival in low oxygen water. Catching a fish and releasing it, could be the death penalty. Drill a hole and they will be there. Every ice fisher I talk to tells me they have better luck in the winter. No wonder. Small lakes in other provinces are closed to ice fishing and for good reason.....not just for flyfishers. However, you are right about trout fishing in the summer. I don't do it unless I plan on killing the fish.
BTW, I often fish with my sinking lines below 30ft.
Bob why do even bother trying? Fish-Hawk must torment the hell out you but I feel your pain.
In this part of Ontario you can drive an ATV or snowmobile wherever on crown land. Lucky ones have hunting camps on crown land near a remote stocked pond (we do). The gang can really clean up on a spring weekend or thru the ice. They have been doing it for years, like it or not that is their tradition....this isn't BC.
Most people don't have that kind of access or time so for them trout fishing here sucks. Ontario is the only jurisdiction that allows ice fishing and standard creel limits. There should be room for ponds that are managed for quality fishing. Other jurisdictions have catch and release ponds, reduced creel limits, no ice fishing etc. and more importantly quality fishing. The Manitoba prairies has better trout fishing than the Madawaska Highlands! Put and take policies should be a last resort.
bostonwhaler wrote:if you want to give the lakes a break then stop fishing them yourself.
Where do get these scintillating ideas from....I'm impressed
Bob...I've said it so many times I sound like a broken record. Buy a NY State or go to the Bing Retreat or get a Quebec license. I don't know what the MNR does wrong but whatever it is they are good at it.
I get that we dont have fish jumping in our boats in every lake, but if you are gonna complain about it you better be looking for a solution as well. Not just say, "hey guys I reallly like this lake, could you leave all the fish for me please"
only 3 times in 25 outings did I see another angler or anglers....either hard water or softwater and most of these outings were on weekends...
Not everyone has the time, energy etc to go tramping off to the wilderness for trout.
Most don't own ATV's, 4 x 4's etc
Now Petrie Island is a GONG show for ice fishing on the other hand....
easy to get to, short walk, bait shop right there etc.
I don't see highland lakes being devoid of fish anytime soon....this argument has been going on here for the past 5 years (longer I am sure) and people are still catching them...
Last time I was in the highlands fishing we bumped into a few others fly fishing the same waters.
We swapped stories, all good folks, didn't ask names but they were not arrogant in the least.
Maybe some day in the future I will meet Bobfly up there too, who knows?
First place to look is the MNR and what or what not they are doing right. The guy who runs the Bing Retreat has done an excellent job on his pond. The fishing there is far better than anywhere else in Eastern Ontario. That lake (Horseshoe) the MNR could do nothing with when they last stocked it back in the 70's. I have seen surveys that have been done on trout ponds and lakes and what was surprising is the fish they stock are gone within months. We are talking 90% mortality rates. Knowing this why aren't they doing something about it? Seems the latest answer to the problem is to stock splake. That is what they did on Farren Lake. Despite stocking tens of thousands of rainbows they failed. I don't like splake. Its a frankenfish made in a lab by educated idiots playing God. Maybe they should be working on producing hardier domestic stocks of browns, bows and brookies capable of surviving in the wild.
Its hard to be sure why the rainbow trout fishing has declined in our area but it definitely has in the last few years. I just had another pretty good day at a small brook trout lake so looking at my records, I would say that particular lake is as good as has been for the past ten years. The Rainbow lakes are another story. OMNR started the sterile trout program about four or five years ago and that is the same time as the decline, so maybe ganman is right. The breed is not surviving. More easy harvesting, natural predation or weather conditions are possible factors. They had the Ganarska (sp?) strain before that and they acknowledged that it didn't work. I remember them as being very small after a year in the Hatchery and their mouths fell apart if you happened to catch them on a month after stocking.
The Advisory Council is reconvening in a month or so and stocked trout is on the agenda. Hopefully we will resolve to have a minimum size regulation so that they have at least a couple of months to get acclimatized. However, even if this passes, it will take a few years for those fishers who keep small fish to get the new regs into practice. I'm hoping for a minimum size of ten inches even for Brook Trout which will be a hard sale as some take two years to get to that length. They tend to grow in girth. Trout are one year old when released. Of course, I would like to see the catch limit reduced like they have around Toronto. For some reason, OMNR doesn't think we have the population of fishers like they do down there. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more fishers around Ottawa.
The problem is monitoring. They don't have the budget to do it properly and most fishers don't file reports, so they have no idea what is happening out there. Dump the fish in and let them have at it, is the common sentiment. The other problem is getting civil servants to change. BC and Manitoba which probably have the best trout fisheries in Canada had quite a time getting to where they are. Officials were dragged kicking and screaming into change in both places. When I left the interior of BC 20 years ago the trout fishing was actually not that very good. People like Brian Chan took quite a bit of abuse but their P3 program is pretty successful now.
If any of you have strong feelings or suggestions, I suggest you email OMNR or let RJ, Bobber or myself know about it. They are listening.
