Originally Posted by
Fenelon
Re: "I've been fishing there the last 25 years and the walleye fishery has taken quite a hit, but with the slot now in place it should start to recover ". You've definitely got that right Atilla. I've been involved in index trap netting on the lake since 1985. The arrival of zebra mussels caused massive changes in habitat utilization by walleye throughout the Kawarthas. Fish all became concentrated inshore in the weedbeds and angling success/harvest went through the roof. To give you an idea of how drastic the pop. change has been:
1982-1992 - very routine to get 20 hour six foot trap net sets with 175 - 300 Walleye. Then came zebras and the boom years of 100% angling success. It was ridiculous. Spend 45 mins dragging a worm harness, or rip jig, in the 5-10foot weedbeds and you had your six fish. The lake got pounded.
1998 - trap net catch is now down to 20.4 walleye per set (this is based on a massive 96 set trap net survey)
1999 - 2011 - continued gradual downward spiral of population. By 2009 to 2011, the catch was down to about 4 walleye per set. This result was also directly supported by 3 FWIN (Fall Walleye Index Netting) gill net surveys. MNR finally decided to do something, a decade too late. New regulations, reduced catch limits and established slot were introduced to ensure recruitment to spawning population.
Now add to this: lake now open to winter angling. Additional poaching and hooking mortality adds to the pot. Scugog Lake is now closed. Can you imagine the "spill-over" pressure that is now going to hit this lake, and the majority of it will be targeting walleye. Add to this a non-sustainable tournament that has consistently demonstrated that it's being a major annual mortality factor, and I can confidently say that there will be no "come-back" or improvement in the health of the fishery. Overharvest/mortality of all those slot fish = no progression to older age classes = reduced spawning population. If you think about the angling pressure that this tournament is adding, and it is species specific, targeting the fish that special regulations are trying to conserve: 140 teams = 280 anglers X16hrs over two days = 4480 rod hours!!! Does this make conservation sense to anyone reading this?
There is some irony in all of this. Not sure if you can call it "funny", or not. The Bobcaygeon Chamber of Commerce has clearly demonstrated that it has/and is prepared to trash the fishery, and accept this as acceptable collateral damage so they can have an annual economic boost. The restaurants, gas stations, and donut shops will be busy for a few days, but then what is left? How much economic benefit does a healthy fishery bring to this region? How much summer-long money does the cottage crowd, GTA anglers, resort and cottage rental fishermen, repeat rental customers, etc. bring when the fishing is worth coming up for? Shooting yourself in the foot comes to mind.
Stay tuned to next year. The 2017 tournament is already planned, and no doubt it will be in late May again, with lethal water temps again. Shake your head when you realize that your Ministry Fisheries Policy Section Manager will cave to political correctness again, and a permit will be signed, even though they know the fish will be dead. Not sure what else you can do. Maybe shame them into action with some social media exposure, newspaper articles, pictures of dead fish, or more letters. You can start by writing to your local MPP, The Minister, the manager of Fisheries Policy Section, The Bobcaygeon Promoter, and the local Lindsay and GTA newspapers.
Dave
