Scugog walleye

Hows the recovery been ?
I blasted a post a few years ago when the natives were having a great time catching them. They will not recover without the help of everyone.

But anyway I have not fished the lake since before they closed the walleye. I seen the decline so I stopped going.
What are your thoughts on on the population? If your a local or fish the crappies have you noticed a climb in numbers? Just read an article about it does not sound positive but it's been something I have been thinking about so I thought I would ask.
Yes I know the walleye are closed just wanted to know if the numbers are improving or not. Gotta be some that catch the odd one accidentally.

What are your thoughts will they ever recover ?

We are seeing a decline in trout numbers and small ones on simcoe. The ministry works to slow so I hope they fix the problem before it gets worse.


https://lindsayadvocate.ca/whats-goi...ugogs-walleye/



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Don't know anything about Skugog but it takes at least a decade for a fishery to bounce back if its left alone. Supplemental plantings do help it along though.

We still hit Lake Scugog for Bass and Muskie a lot over the summer. Bass hasn't been any roarin' hell,not like it used to be. There's still some monster Muskies in there,though. I hadn't hit Wallies in there for,at least,2 years BEFORE the closure and zero since. AFAIK,there's no plans to re-stock the lake. The way Trent-Severn draws down the water level every year to almost mud bogs,it's a wonder there's any fish,at all. I tried taking my boat across to the mouth of the Nonquon River to set up duck blinds and I was tossing up mud the entire way. My prop looked like it was polished. I can't believe the cottagers and home owners aren't screaming bloody blue murder.

Everything, walleye that is, that is being caught is mature adult fish. 5 lbs plus, with no yearling been seen or caught. The walleye fishery here has declined drastically over the past 10 years. Nothing to do with over fishing, but due to the fact of loss of spawning areas. With Scugog being a man made lake, the original spawning areas that were available for them to spawn have now silted in and there's no way they will ever open up again.

The only way we will ever see the walleye season open up again is if it becomes a put and take fishery. The MNR new this from the get go but coped out due to lack of funding and say they would have to put a moratorium on the fishery that might last 20 odd years or so to satisfy the general public.

As far as the rest of the fishery is concerned it's as good as it ever has been. That goes for bass, both large mouth and small mouth, muskies, and pan fish. The lake has changed, and the fish have adapted to the change.

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Originally Posted by Bo D

Everything, walleye that is, that is being caught is mature adult fish. 5 lbs plus, with no yearling been seen or caught. The walleye fishery here has declined drastically over the past 10 years. Nothing to do with over fishing, but due to the fact of loss of spawning areas. With Scugog being a man made lake, the original spawning areas that were available for them to spawn have now silted in and there's no way they will ever open up again.

The only way we will ever see the walleye season open up again is if it becomes a put and take fishery. The MNR new this from the get go but coped out due to lack of funding and say they would have to put a moratorium on the fishery that might last 20 odd years or so to satisfy the general public.

As far as the rest of the fishery is concerned it's as good as it ever has been. That goes for bass, both large mouth and small mouth, muskies, and pan fish. The lake has changed, and the fish have adapted to the change.

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Originally Posted by sawbill

Don't know anything about Skugog but it takes at least a decade for a fishery to bounce back if its left alone. Supplemental plantings do help it along though.

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It been almost 10 years since I last went lol. Well 8 I think kinda miss it.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

We still hit Lake Scugog for Bass and Muskie a lot over the summer. Bass hasn't been any roarin' hell,not like it used to be. There's still some monster Muskies in there,though. I hadn't hit Wallies in there for,at least,2 years BEFORE the closure and zero since. AFAIK,there's no plans to re-stock the lake. The way Trent-Severn draws down the water level every year to almost mud bogs,it's a wonder there's any fish,at all. I tried taking my boat across to the mouth of the Nonquon River to set up duck blinds and I was tossing up mud the entire way. My prop looked like it was polished. I can't believe the cottagers and home owners aren't screaming bloody blue murder.

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Yeah not many walleye around the areas you probably fish at the time you fish. Maybe in the spring but then the rest of the seasons would be closed .

Good luck on the musky next season.

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Bo D

Thanks

Yeah the link I posted talked about the spawning areas. It's a shame to see a great fishery disappear. Should go and target the crappie but I was never into them. I like my perch ,walleye and whitties that's pretty much the only fish I will keep.

Simcoe only provides 2 of them, also always fresh never frozen rule I like to go by . I do freeze the odd bag but I try not to. Fish and eggs are my favorite when I get in off the ice only fish the morning bite so brunch is great [emoji106].

Some pics from spring ice lol. Not scugog https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b8187ec078.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1dd91a87c8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...651b733b31.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f4f6c3ccf6.jpg

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That plate of fish and eggs looks awesome. I could almost taste them...That's one way to get some ones attention...

Nice catch of perch and better still, that filleting knife on the left would look nice in my tackle box.

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Originally Posted by sawbill

Nice catch of perch and better still, that filleting knife on the left would look nice in my tackle box.

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That wood grain one is some kind plastic not even sure of the name.. but it is one of my favorites found it at the thrift store for 10 bucks lol. I posted on a another forum last year to try and find a make as there are no markings or name on it. The other black one is just a nelle one . Not even sure why it was there maybe I was low on clean forks to hold the skin while I took the meat off lol.


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Originally Posted by Bo D

That plate of fish and eggs looks awesome. I could almost taste them...That's one way to get some ones attention...

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Its fast and simple.
Its definitely a favorite for when I return. I can be sitting down to a nice breakfast within 20 minutes of being home. Fillet the fish before I rise the pan is turned on ,rince and right into the pan after a seasoning. 3 minutes later I put down the toast and start the eggs lol.

Average amount I bring home are about 8 to 12 tops , so cleaning if fast . The rest swims away until the next time .

I will start a fish and eggs thread when ice is available lol. [emoji7]

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The one looks like a Normark knockoff. I've used a number of different makes but the Normark Presentation was always my favorite.

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Originally Posted by Bo D

Everything, walleye that is, that is being caught is mature adult fish. 5 lbs plus, with no yearling been seen or caught. The walleye fishery here has declined drastically over the past 10 years. Nothing to do with over fishing, but due to the fact of loss of spawning areas. With Scugog being a man made lake, the original spawning areas that were available for them to spawn have now silted in and there's no way they will ever open up again.

The only way we will ever see the walleye season open up again is if it becomes a put and take fishery. The MNR new this from the get go but coped out due to lack of funding and say they would have to put a moratorium on the fishery that might last 20 odd years or so to satisfy the general public.

As far as the rest of the fishery is concerned it's as good as it ever has been. That goes for bass, both large mouth and small mouth, muskies, and pan fish. The lake has changed, and the fish have adapted to the change.

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I'd question the 'nothing to do with over-fishing' line. That's what the Canadian, Spanish, and other foreign fishermen professed about the Grand Banks in the 90s before the cod fish were almost wiped out. Typically never just ONE reason for loss of fish or game in an area.

As other posters have previously stated, I have personally witnessed un-called for over-fishing in both Scugog and Bay of Quinte. Both, coincidentally of walleye. I've seen nets set up at the mouth of rivers/creeks in the Bay BEFORE the season, and indiscriminate 'fishermen' ( if you can call them that ) keep overly large spawners both before and during legal season; dead spawners laying on the banks with one strip of meat taken from them after a spearing session. MNR won't do a thing when it involves 'native rights.' Don't tell me that doesn't affect fish stocks.

There should be ONE set of regs that EVERYONE follows no matter what your race, creed, or religion. It works for federal laws that way for the most part so why the difference in fish and game enforcement? To ignore these travesties that go on, and not do anything about it, is embarrassing. Believe me, it does impact fish sustainability.

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Originally Posted by retrofish

I'd question the 'nothing to do with over-fishing' line. That's what the Canadian, Spanish, and other foreign fishermen professed about the Grand Banks in the 90s before the cod fish were almost wiped out. Typically never just ONE reason for loss of fish or game in an area.

As other posters have previously stated, I have personally witnessed un-called for over-fishing in both Scugog and Bay of Quinte. Both, coincidentally of walleye. I've seen nets set up at the mouth of rivers/creeks in the Bay BEFORE the season, and indiscriminate 'fishermen' ( if you can call them that ) keep overly large spawners both before and during legal season; dead spawners laying on the banks with one strip of meat taken from them after a spearing session. MNR won't do a thing when it involves 'native rights.' Don't tell me that doesn't affect fish stocks.

There should be ONE set of regs that EVERYONE follows no matter what your race, creed, or religion. It works for federal laws that way for the most part so why the difference in fish and game enforcement? To ignore these travesties that go on, and not do anything about it, is embarrassing. Believe me, it does impact fish sustainability.

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Nipissing sounds what you just described [emoji107]

Yet the average Joe cant catch a keeper walleye with lower limits. [emoji54]

I had fun the last time I iced the bay of q was definitely a fun day lol. That was a few years back tho.

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We're talking Lake Scugog, not the Atlantic or the bay of Quinte. I've lived on the lake for 40 plus years and partook in creel senses with the MNR on numerous winters when the lake was in it's prime and at any given time not more than 5% of the fishermen checked left the ice with a limit of fish.

The lake has aged, and not well, with none to very little currant to keep the decaying weeds and silt off of the spawning areas. What did do some of the damage to deplete the walleye #'s was a couple of years of the ice going out early with the spawners up tight to shore and the ice sinking and burying or crushing the fish.

The walleye fishery will never come back no matter how long they keep the moratorium active on Lake Scugog.

I think its a bit far fetched to suggest sinking ice would actually crush an adult fish unless they got trapped in pools. They're smart enough to move into deeper water as the lake levels drop. What is more likely is that the fish spawned in the shallows then those shallows were left high and dry when the water dropped.

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Originally Posted by sawbill

I think its a bit far fetched to suggest sinking ice would actually crush an adult fish unless they got trapped in pools. They're smart enough to move into deeper water as the lake levels drop. What is more likely is that the fish spawned in the shallows then those shallows were left high and dry when the water dropped.

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Bingo....

It had nothing to do with the lake level dropping, actually with the snow melt water was high. Ice started melting away from shore, the fish were up shallow and when it started to break up it sank. A week or two later there were hundreds of walleye floating on top of the water. Like I said in my previous post it happened more than once.

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Originally Posted by Bo D

It had nothing to do with the lake level dropping, actually with the snow melt water was high. Ice started melting away from shore, the fish were up shallow and when it started to break up it sank. A week or two later there were hundreds of walleye floating on top of the water. Like I said in my previous post it happened more than once.

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I live on the lake and have never seen hundreds of walleye floating on top only thousands of carp

I'm still a bit confused. Ice doesn't sink but could/would settle on the bottom as lake water receeded. Still gives fish a lot of time to move out into deeper water.

Maybe it was only one year the ice sunk

I ha e a friend that lived there for a while he always spoke about the water levels dropping after they laid eggs. Ha e heard that for a number of years by others aswell.

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Originally Posted by fishfood

Maybe it was only one year the ice sunk

I ha e a friend that lived there for a while he always spoke about the water levels dropping after they laid eggs. Ha e heard that for a number of years by others aswell.

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they dropped water levels every spring to feed the trent syestem but have stopped now

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Originally Posted by sambo

they dropped water levels every spring to feed the trent syestem but have stopped now

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When did Trent-Severn stop dropping water levels? Just this past season,we could almost walk across the lake from the top of Scugog Island even with all the rain we had. Launching was a real treat,almost needed to back the truck and trailer right into the lake to get the boat off. It was ridiculous. The Otonabee River and Rice Lake were still at record levels all summer and fall.

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Originally Posted by sambo

I live on the lake and have never seen hundreds of walleye floating on top only thousands of carp

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I've never seen ice sink either . . .

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Originally Posted by retrofish

I'd question the 'nothing to do with over-fishing' line. That's what the Canadian, Spanish, and other foreign fishermen professed about the Grand Banks in the 90s before the cod fish were almost wiped out. Typically never just ONE reason for loss of fish or game in an area.

As other posters have previously stated, I have personally witnessed un-called for over-fishing in both Scugog and Bay of Quinte. Both, coincidentally of walleye. I've seen nets set up at the mouth of rivers/creeks in the Bay BEFORE the season, and indiscriminate 'fishermen' ( if you can call them that ) keep overly large spawners both before and during legal season; dead spawners laying on the banks with one strip of meat taken from them after a spearing session. MNR won't do a thing when it involves 'native rights.' Don't tell me that doesn't affect fish stocks.

There should be ONE set of regs that EVERYONE follows no matter what your race, creed, or religion. It works for federal laws that way for the most part so why the difference in fish and game enforcement? To ignore these travesties that go on, and not do anything about it, is embarrassing. Believe me, it does impact fish sustainability.

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You have a real tough sell trying to convince me the natives are putting any kind of a dent in the BOQ fisheries with their spring harvests . . .

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

When did Trent-Severn stop dropping water levels? Just this past season,we could almost walk across the lake from the top of Scugog Island even with all the rain we had. Launching was a real treat,almost needed to back the truck and trailer right into the lake to get the boat off. It was ridiculous. The Otonabee River and Rice Lake were still at record levels all summer and fall.

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Sorry i should have said not as much

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Originally Posted by toddy

I've never seen ice sink either . . .

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Maybe not 'sink', but have you never drilled a hole when ice fishing, then have the water rush up ,so in a few minutes you are standing in a 12 inch deep lake about 100 yards wide? The pressure of the ice forces the water through the hole, so the ice is not sinking but being pushed down by the weight of the ice on the water . The water on the ice then adds to the weight so you get a 'bowl' of water on the ice. After it freezes that is the best place to skate, nice and smooth.

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Originally Posted by fishermccann

Maybe not 'sink', but have you never drilled a hole when ice fishing, then have the water rush up ,so in a few minutes you are standing in a 12 inch deep lake about 100 yards wide? The pressure of the ice forces the water through the hole, so the ice is not sinking but being pushed down by the weight of the ice on the water . The water on the ice then adds to the weight so you get a 'bowl' of water on the ice. After it freezes that is the best place to skate, nice and smooth.

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If that ever happened to me i would run for shore LOL

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Originally Posted by fishermccann

The pressure of the ice forces the water through the hole, so the ice is not sinking but being pushed down by the weight of the ice on the water .

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It's not the weight of the ice but the weight of the snow on the ice which causes the ice to be pushed down.
Ice floats but can only hold so much weight before the ice's floatation is over powered by the weight on it.

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Originally Posted by sambo

If that ever happened to me i would run for shore LOL

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Happens often with a heavy snow load and thinner ice .

But for the ice sinking I would guess that the water levels were dropped while it still had ice on the lake. Again if it was a late ice off and early ice some times there is a die off from the lack of oxygen.

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Originally Posted by Woodsman

It's not the weight of the ice but the weight of the snow on the ice which causes the ice to be pushed down.
Ice floats but can only hold so much weight before the ice's floatation is over powered by the weight on it.

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You beat me to it had to take a call before I could sent it lol.



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Originally Posted by Woodsman

It's not the weight of the ice but the weight of the snow on the ice which causes the ice to be pushed down.
Ice floats but can only hold so much weight before the ice's floatation is over powered by the weight on it.

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You are correct.

I highly doubt that Scugog will ever again support a quality Walleye fishery like it did in the past. The nail was first tapped into the coffin when zebra mussels entered the Kawarthas in the eighties. It quickly changed the entire primary productivity and trophic status of the lake. The Secchi disk reading (light penetration/water transparency) tripled in less than a decade as they effectively filtered the phytoplankton out of the lake. Scugog is a puddle, so now you have light penetration right to the bottom. Bad news for Walleye that prefer turbid habitat. Good news for anything that's a sight feeder. Then the nail got tapped in another inch when spiny water flea arrived. The entire primary productivity of the lake again dropped as this new invasive zooplankter efficiently predated our native zooplankton . If like many of the other studied Kawartha Lakes, they were so effective that many of the key native cladocerans, copepods, etc are now totally absent. This was the base rung on your food chain for just about everything that swims in the lake. Give it a few harder taps when Bluegill arrived, adding another competitor to the food chain. The final, and arguably the biggest, nail drive occurred when Black Crappie invaded. To give you an idea how substantial this is, all you have to do is look at the OMNR spring/early summer trap netting data starting in the early 90's. The density is now so high they were getting something like 4200 crappie per lift in a six foot NSCIN trap net!! Almost hard to envision. Imagine the direct competition all all life stages now for anything swimming in the lake. Better still, imagine the level of predation that occurs with a crappie density like that. Regardless of spawning success, with a crappie density like this you'll be lucky to get any walleye recruitment. A newly hatched walleye fry would probably have a better chance at the Lotto 649 versus beating the odds and surviving predation to age one. Add to this 15 years of unregulated angling when the writing was on the wall and the fishery was in decline. No wonder the MNR couldn't catch hardly a single Walleye the last time they did BSM (Broad Scale Monitoring) gill netting on the lake. In hindsight, poor lake Scugog had it's fate sealed when the first set of Trent Severn navigational locks were built in Bobcaygeon (something like 1829). Maybe she'll now be known as a world class crappie destination!

Agree with all your comments Fenlon. World class carp fishing on Scubog as well.

Fenalon.. excellent post.. if only there was something that could be done to fix it ..

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Originally Posted by Fenelon

I highly doubt that Scugog will ever again support a quality Walleye fishery like it did in the past. The nail was first tapped into the coffin when zebra mussels entered the Kawarthas in the eighties. It quickly changed the entire primary productivity and trophic status of the lake. The Secchi disk reading (light penetration/water transparency) tripled in less than a decade as they effectively filtered the phytoplankton out of the lake. Scugog is a puddle, so now you have light penetration right to the bottom. Bad news for Walleye that prefer turbid habitat. Good news for anything that's a sight feeder. Then the nail got tapped in another inch when spiny water flea arrived. The entire primary productivity of the lake again dropped as this new invasive zooplankter efficiently predated our native zooplankton . If like many of the other studied Kawartha Lakes, they were so effective that many of the key native cladocerans, copepods, etc are now totally absent. This was the base rung on your food chain for just about everything that swims in the lake. Give it a few harder taps when Bluegill arrived, adding another competitor to the food chain. The final, and arguably the biggest, nail drive occurred when Black Crappie invaded. To give you an idea how substantial this is, all you have to do is look at the OMNR spring/early summer trap netting data starting in the early 90's. The density is now so high they were getting something like 4200 crappie per lift in a six foot NSCIN trap net!! Almost hard to envision. Imagine the direct competition all all life stages now for anything swimming in the lake. Better still, imagine the level of predation that occurs with a crappie density like that. Regardless of spawning success, with a crappie density like this you'll be lucky to get any walleye recruitment. A newly hatched walleye fry would probably have a better chance at the Lotto 649 versus beating the odds and surviving predation to age one. Add to this 15 years of unregulated angling when the writing was on the wall and the fishery was in decline. No wonder the MNR couldn't catch hardly a single Walleye the last time they did BSM (Broad Scale Monitoring) gill netting on the lake. In hindsight, poor lake Scugog had it's fate sealed when the first set of Trent Severn navigational locks were built in Bobcaygeon (something like 1829). Maybe she'll now be known as a world class crappie destination!

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That's an excellent well-researched post. Not only is Scugog world class for Crappie,Blue Gill,but,they provide lots of feed for giant Muskie that this lake has always been noted for. If Trent-Severn would pay more attention to maintaining water levels throughout the year,maybe more waterfowl hunters would be attracted to the area,also. Tourism in the area has taken a terrific hit for the last few years. Some political lobbying at the federal level is certainly what's needed to influence the decision makers at T-S. It's past time to read the bureaucrats the riot act.

T .. the best waterfowl hunting grounds in the area are privately owned.

We have been lobbying the Trent Water Way system for years and it has fallen on deft ears. Unfortunately it's Lake Scugog that feeds the Trent system. But on the other hand we've been told we loose more through evaporation than anything else, and with Scugog being such a shallow lake to begin with it's more noticeable..

Scugog is only part of the feed. Canal, Mitchell, Balsam and Cameron are others that feed into the system.

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Originally Posted by fishermccann

T .. the best waterfowl hunting grounds in the area are privately owned.

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Yep,it's called The Syndicate on the southeast shore of the east arm south of Cesarea. Private property extends out into the lake (flooded farmland). It's guarded jealously,but,the owners allow fishing all summer (excellent Bass and Crappie),but,once fall rolls around,the "No Trespassing" signs come out.