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Conservation Corner
7/22/2008 9:24 PM Posted by  TheFlyFishingBug
Should we allow such a disaster to ever happen again? February 6, 2007 By Romeo Rancourt
Just this pass year, many fish that may have escape one of the pens from Georgian Bay area in Cape Croaker, Ontario. The province has been raising fish what they where supposedly a Rainbow/Cutthroat Hybrid fish. From what I understand, it was poorly run operation and many fish did manage to escape from the pens. The mesh on these large pen nets was not really at best from what I was told and neglecting it was a big problem. They Ontario MNR believes that it has released close to half a million fish in the last five years. This operation has been since shut down but these farm fish are everywhere in Lake Huron on Ontario's side in the Georgian Bay area. You can easily tell them apart with most of them with fins that are either missing or the fish deformed from the pen nets. If you talk to they employee's on most of these fish farms, they will simply tell you that they are under staff. If you ask the government about this matter, you will most likely never get any response on it's future of fish farming.
 Tight line, Romeo R.
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7/4/2008 2:07 PM Posted by TheFlyFishingBug
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7/4/2008 1:18 PM Posted by Yourflyfishingbuddy1
Managing our Fishery I have the pleasure of fly fishing for World Class Brook Trout and am happy to had have the chance of catching a few trophy squaretails and it is one of the most beautiful trout species in the world. I do think that I'm blessed to have such a wide basin named Lake Superior in my backyard starting from Thunder Bay down the North Shore of Lake Superior and the Nipigon water shed. Just the other day I was reading about Atlantic Salmon and it seems to me that this issue is more and more publicly on world alert toward the reduction of Atlantic Salmon being on the endangered fish species list in the east coast of Atlantic Canada and Pink Salmon in the West Pacific. What concerns me most is what the government has been doing to save the natural brood stock by farming more fish. Yes I said it. Fish pens in the oceans. That scares me. Now what became of this once called beautiful fishery and why it got spoiled. We need to learn and ask why these things are happening and how to stop it from happening. Now, I mentioned Brook Trout and how lucky I am to have a chance to protect them for responsible future generations. I do know for the record of fish farming pens for the purpose of commercial industries not suited to be mixed with natural wild fish that exist and thats what they are doing. In the first place to begin with, feeding food pellets in pens, filling them with fast organic growing fibres destroy the wild fishery by creating bigger stronger fish that escape the pens and kill our natural fish stock. Not counting the fact that natural fish stock are already eating the poison. These farm fish are all concentrated in one area in pens attracting a mass of fish lice that attach themselves to our natural fish stock and little chance for the fish fry to even survive. The government needs to be more careful in managing fish industries and need to have fish hatcheries instead of fish pens and to stiffen laws and enforce strict penalties for money hungry entrepreneurs. Now, when I think of my backyard and think of what may become distinction of Natural Brook Trout stirs me to become more focused to protect the Natural World Class Brook Trout. Have I been more alert with the Chinook Salmon planted in Lake Superior invading our Natural Brook Trout Habitat by taking over spawning and resting grounds from our Squaretail Trout. We need to look at Brook Trout slot size and make it one fish kill only all equal of 21" inch in length and over for the division 21, 23 and 33 respectfully excluding stocked lakes. I personally do not want my backyard invaded by the unknowledgable public knowing full well that our fish stock could be jeopardized and sadly depleted like our neighbouring Atlantic and Pacific management. We on the bright side have the best Natural Brook Trout fishery world wide and need to take precautional care and enjoy responsibly. For more information about the restoration efforts for Wild Salmon, log on to www.asf.ca or BC Fish Pens Threaten Wild Stock. 30,000 salmon escape from Canadian fish farm - http://tinyurl.com/6c2f2t Tight line, Romeo R.
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4/21/2008 11:09 PM Posted by TheFlyFishingBug
Tight line, Romeo R.
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3/29/2008 5:18 AM Posted by TheFlyFishingBug
Aurora Brook Trout  The Aurora Brook Trout was originally found in the Montreal River system and the Ottawa River. They where almost all near instinction when reintroduced to a couple of Lakes in the Temagami District in Ontario. If you ever have a chance to visit, you would find the Temagami District and the Martin River area very interesting with plenty scenic and wildlife to see with plenty of history like they Aurora Brook Trout. Temagami is located on hwy 11 about 80 miles north of North Bay, Ontario. Closure of Aurora Brook Trout Fishery Every year, the Ministry of Natural Resources allows a limited fishery for Aurora trout on two or three of the nine northern lakes where this species is stocked for angling meaning "This year’s Wynn Lake and Borealis Lake fisheries will not open on August 1 as scheduled, to give the ministry time to develop a recovery strategy for Aurora trout. The ministry stocks nine other northern lakes with Aurora trout to provide limited angling opportunities for the species. This news was release on June 14 of 2004 The federal Species at Risk Act came into effect in June 2003 and the protection and enforcement aspects of the act took effect on June 1, 2004. Is Aurora Trout in real danger of reproducing? I was talking to a good friend of mine, a local sport fishing and hunting writer in our local news paper. He was at my place yesterday and the topic was Aurora Brook Trout! We both agreed that this fish will not survive in the future due to the fact that it only is all hatchery fish and it's jeans and genetics is weeker every time they produce these trout. All of the lakes are stock lakes and there is no natural reproduction on these fish. I also heard we have a couple of lakes in the Terrace Bay region just east of Nipigon with Aurora Brook Trout and these two lakes are kept secret to the public. The history on these fish from a study conducted from MNR biologist was determend that Lake Superior-Nipigon brook trout have the same genetics and the reason for it's colors was due to the facts that these fish have been hatchery reproduce over and over changing the feature of these trout. The bottom line is that if you have an aquarium and kept reproducing the same fish to one batch to the next, you would have a week strained of fish and the fish would eventually go sterile and go to complete instinction! August of 2006 updates below - Click on logo Tight line, Romeo R.
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1/31/2008 4:50 PM Posted by TheFlyFishingBug0
Picnic Table Stuck on Ice More nails and screws for your waders  Photograph by Romeo R. During the years in my own home city of Thunder Bay at the Lakehead University, students would venture out on they ice with their skates. In fact this area is Lake Tamblyn right in front of the Engineer Building section. Now everyone that knows the Lake Tamblyn that the McIntyre River flows true it. Now we have a frozen picnic table on they ice and what happens from here?
The legs freeze in the ice and the next thing you know we have a table that is left there until it gets drag in the water with other debris and ice chunks down the dam and in broken sections flowing down river. This picnic table full of nails and screws that can puncture your waders along the river. I can tell you that every year I picked up the left over lumber from these picnic tables and crush all the nails and screws in them making sure it wont do any damages. If only the responsible students would think about what she or he is doing let alone lucky enough having these picnic tables on campus for everyone to enjoy without destroying it's campus properties. Now take a look at the photo above with the slush freezing the legs on this table and the next thing you know it will be to late for this table as well. I only wish that the campus security would stop students from draging these tables on they ice. Waders are expensive but a nail in the foot even worst. Tight line, Romeo R.
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8/9/2007 11:47 AM Posted by TheFlyFishingBug
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12/6/2006 2:42 AM Posted by TheFlyFishingBug
Review on Atlantic Salmon in Lake Ontario Dec 02, 2006 By Romeo Rancourt We all heard of fish cultivation stations in Ontario being handed over to OFAH and think it's great news and all and it's just seams to me in Toronto, Lake Ontario locals want to have their Atlantic salmon fishery more then all other fish. I think if they succeed it's all good but one half to wonder about Lake Ontario's other salmon and steelhead that creates a fantastic fishery. What some anglers are saying is there is millions of dollar's spent trying to re-establish these Atlantic salmon in Lake Ontario and yet if you ask the locals on how many Atlantic salmon they have caught in Lake Ontario most answering zero. They have tried stalking these Atlantic salmon before and trying to succeed now is most likely will not succeed since it already failed before. The coho's, chinook and steelhead are at it's best and why tamper with a new fish that will most likely not survived in Lake Ontario. Don't get me wrong, I love Atlantic salmon but one half to wonder that this is the year 2006 and not the late 1800's. This is my personal view about this project and sometimes we need to think how critical this will be in the long run. Let's not ignore what we have going good for us and think again before committing in any programs that may be troubling later down the road. If they succeed to establish a fishery that can hold it's own, then I would certainly be very surprised. Just think of the big coaster brook trout that was once present in the late 1800's from Lake Ontario and was also plentiful back then. Yet we still have the coasters on Lake Superior/Nipigon. On they other hand, we have a better chance of having Atlantic salmon in Lake Superior with some already well establish and in way better suitable basin for this type of salmon. One half to wonder on how these fish compete with other fish species on their reds in the same time of year. We see this kind of fish bahavior already on the Nipigon River with the salmon chasing the brook trout away. Just can't see this work in Lake Ontario. Tight line, Romeo R.
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12/6/2006 2:03 AM Posted by TheFlyFishingBug
What do I do to report my Brook Trout? Make sure you have a pencil and paper handy on hand from your fly vest when fishing and follow instructions below. You can also report your Brook Trout Data Report to TheFlyFishingBug Asst. manager Randy "Beamer" Beamish smar_ran@hotmail.com
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5/17/2006 4:30 AM Posted by TheFlyFishingBug
The Steelhead and the Fly Fishers Photograph by Theriverkid Steelhead (Oncorhynkus mykiss) or rainbow trout is probably one of the best fighting fish machines in the Great Lakes Tributaries. When hook the bigger steelhead is not to be taken lightely with a mass of power like having a greyhound dog tied at they end of your fly line and trying to stop him from peelling off your reel backing. The steelhead that has made many fly fishers developing into steelheaders. The history between fishers and steelhead is very simple. Given the right fly, steelhead will sometime charge a fly so hard like a freight train in full speed living up to it's name. The fisher in they other hand is sometimes left with a non other but a fly line with no fly left in trembling mode of anticipation and shock to the mind. Obsession and determination that keeps us coming back for that next big steelhead. Without any doubt, a fresh chrome Pacific steelhead entering river systems, keeps all fly fishers and tyers experimenting and alive, trying to figure what works to catch the steelhead since anglers first started fishing for them back in the early 1800's with hooks. Ideal early spring water temperatures reaching from 42-F and wormer is the key for migrating steelhead in the Great Lakes Tributaries and steady barometric pressure readings in the 30.00 to 30.50 range seem to be good for aggressive moving fish. The key is to know on how to read the water and structures from each sections of rivers where you may encounter the steelhead on that certain time of year. Tight line, Romeo R.
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