Keeping Steelhead Rainbow Trout in the Saugeen River For Future Generations
In recent weeks, Great Lake steelhead have been floating upside down in the Salmon River in Pulaski, New York. Scientists remain puzzled, although yesterday, a Cornell scientist hints it could be happening due to a nutritional disease from baitfish. Read the full story: http://bit.ly/1sEgXw5
Transport truck dumps tons of asphalt into Saugeen River after an accident on slick roads. It appears to solid asphalt and not liquid which is a far better scenario. We won’t know the full impact until Ministry Environment publishes their report. Full Story: http://www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca/news_item.php?NewsID=70943
Check out this ‘Salmon Cannon’ built to fire salmon over dams on the west coast. Full story: http://bit.ly/1ucz5ML
The Ontario Steelheaders Annual Fall Steelhead Derby on the Saugeen River is coming soon and we welcome all members and non-members to come enjoy a day of fun with family and friends for a friendly competition of who can land the biggest steelhead trout of the day.
After the derby ends, dinner is served at the Rod Jones Pavilion, where we have draw-prizes, raffles, merchandise, club updates, guest speakers, derby prizes and biggest steelhead trout trophies are awarded.
We have a couple new rules this year:
Overnight amping is available at the Denny’s Dam Park located on the Saugeen River. Members and non-members are invited to camp with tent, travel trailer or RV for the event. For more information, see the park page.
The Saugeen River derby is held at Denny’s Dam Park on the Saugeen River near Southampton Ontario.
Denny’s Dam Fishway: Grant and the LHFC boys who manage the Denny’s Dam fishway have spent the summer cleaning out the fishway as it was jam-packed full of debris from the spring ice blowout. A contractor was called in to help with some of the stubborn pieces of debris. As of August 17th, the water in the Denny’s fishway and live fishcam are running again. The fall adult transfer is all set to go.
Walkerton Denil Fishway: Water is currently too low for assessing the Walkerton fishway. Jody from Owen Sound MNR will be updating the club on the status of Walkerton fishway at the annual fall derby in October.
Lake Simcoe angler from Mississauga was in possession of 95 Cisco and only produced 2 to Conservation Officers on March 8th, 2014.
Officers discovered a bag full of cisco behind the ice hut following the inspection.
The individual was also charged for fishing without a license, catching and retaining cisco during closed season, obstructing a conservation officer and unlawfully using another persons license.
A previous conviction for angling without a license was considered in sentencing.
The male was fined $3,700 dollars and will be prohibited to fish for the next 5 years.
Spring flows highest in decades ; ENVIRONMENT
The Owen Sound Sun Times
Tue Jun 3 2014
Page: A1
Section: News
Byline: DON CROSBY, SUN TIMES CORRESPONDENT
Winter snowfall and unusual spring weather created conditions that set records in parts of the Saugeen watershed, but without reports of serious flood damage.
The combination of abundant and persistent snowpack, the lack of winter snow melt and consistently cooler than normal temperatures meant the snow cover was still significant by the time above-freezing temperatures arrived in mid April.
Water flows recorded at Walkerton on April 14 of 450 cubic metres per second were the eighth highest since records began being kept in 1915. The last time the flow was that high was in 1977, said Gary Senior, senior manager of flood warning and land management.
At Hanover, the peak flow of 204 cm/s on the main Saugeen River was the highest since data collection started there in 1983. Oddly enough it occurred a day after Walkerton’s highest flow, even though Hanover is upstream of Walkerton.
“The delayed response at Hanover was due to gradual loss of the remaining snow in the upper watersheds, particularly from wooded areas,” Senior told a recent Saugeen Conservation board meeting.
Flows on the Teeswater River at Bruce County Rd. 20 peaked at 86 cm/s, the highest for that site since a measurement gauge was installed 28 years ago.
Although river ice throughout the Saugeen watershed was thick and intact all winter, most of it had flushed out of the system just before peak flows arrived.
Had the river ice still been in place during mid-April’s peak flows, flooding could have been much worse, Senior said.
In Walkerton flooding occurred in the downtown north of Durham St., the town’s main east/west corridor running parallel to the Saugeen River. But that flooding wasn’t a result of the river overflowing dikes.
Local drainage from rainfall and snow melt accumulated behind the dikes and was unable to escape, while elevated river levels sealed off storm sewers safety valves.
Although the 2014 flood was noteworthy, Senior said it is important to keep it in perspective.
For Walkerton, the peak flow of 450 cubic metres per second is still well below the highest maximum of 640 cm/s that occurred in 1948. There were seven other larger floods than the one in 2014 since records were kept.
Water levels stayed well below the top of flood control dikes at Paisley, Walkerton and Durham. Some buildings and properties were flooded in rural areas and although there was some disruption, large scale damage was absent, Senior said.
He said without the authority’s planning and program which regulates development in low-lying areas susceptible to flooding, it’s probable that damages from this spring’s flood would have been much higher.
Without the flood control dikes, some communities would have suffered much more extensive inundation.
Senior said the Greenock Swamp, which acts as a gigantic sponge, helped to reduce flooding in the Paisley area.
“If we didn’t have that wetland the flooding in Paisley, even with the dikes, would have been way, way worse. The wetland slows it down so the Teeswater (River) doesn’t flood as bad as it would,” he said.