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Tired and Retired

The time has come to reflect on past failures and more importantly, the accomplishments of this adventure to improve the fishery in the Saugeen.

The commitment of many on this project has spanned over thirty years.

It all started in many a meeting with the Ministry at a time when we were very lucky to have the best yet, Minister of Natural Resources, Mr. Allan Pope. He was in favour of our ideas, so we just had to convince the Owen Sound MNR and the fly fishing clubs in the area which we did. We were very fortunate in the early 80’s to have a land owner let us use his dam at Orchard Park to install upwelling egg boxes. We later worked with Dofasco and they built one box. New systems taught us how to plant eggs, keep the flow right and build filter boxes.

Things started to show promise and success, and so the next goal was to get a fishway installed at Walkerton. Again, Dofasco came to the rescue and supplied all the rebar and culvert material. Success was coming again and we saw real improvements, but then is all stopped. The Hydro Electric Plant put a poor fishway and return pipe for smolts in at Maple Hill.

All this time, more helpers were at Denny’s Dam working on egg collection. Then we decided to transport adults up stream past the barrier, so we built two transfer trailers. Things started to pick up a little as a result, but we needed more fish coming to the fishway. And so, we cut a notch in the dam and a trench was put in to lead the fish to the fishway. Yet another project was the installation of a hatchery in Mildmay. We provided 200,000 eggs each year to this hatchery for many years. And today, we are making new modifications and fine tuning at Walkerton and Maple Hill fishways.

Rod Jones
Rod Jones
Through all this, I worked with a great bunch of men and women. Many are still around today, and new faces appear every year. Well done! Thanks to all of you!

In Appreciation

Thank you my friends, for sending donations to various charities in memory of Shirley. For those that sent a cash donation, please know that all of this was sent to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. I’m sure your generosity will help someone. Thank you all for your support and friendship during a difficult time, and always.

Rod Jones
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New Signs

A new banner was also created to symbolize the partnership between the Ontario Steelheaders and LHFC. We displayed it while we were filming with WFN, and you’ll likely see it at future Ontario Steelheaders events.

Banners displayed on the wall at LHFC’s Kincardine Trout hatchery.
Banners displayed on the wall at LHFC’s Kincardine Trout hatchery.

New signs posted on Saugeen River
New signs posted on Saugeen River
After gathering suggestions and input from our directors and MNR since last fall, new signs were developed for the RiverWatch Program on Denny’s Dam Conservation Area properties, Watch for the signs, and watch for more information on this program.

Please don’t take matters in your own hands. Avoid confrontation. Use your cell phone to report resource violations.
Over the winter months I assembled a team to work on developing a new website and while we made a lot of headway, it is still not complete. We have a great framework and a lot of work has been done, but we’ve had to shelve the project for now till we get through the spring season. Like I said, we’ve been pretty darn busy. Our plans are to resume this work over the summer in hopes of having it complete by fall 2012. Thanks to Scott Kidwell and the rest of the team for all your efforts thus far. I’m looking forward to getting back to work with you soon!


2012 Saugeen Enhancement Supporter Decal
2012 Saugeen Enhancement Supporter Decal

The Decal Supporter Program is going strong in 2012. New decals were developed in the fall and we’ve been canvassing all winter. A few last minute applications came in just before we went to print… way to go guys! We have met our goals for the program this year, and there’s still room to do more in the fall. You will see the various participants’ advertisements throughout this newsletter. Thanks to all our 2012 supporters! 

Help support the Ontario Steelheaders Saugeen River Rainbow Trout Enhancement project.  Get your Supporter Package today and Start Advertising here!  E-mail webmaster@ontariosteelheaders.ca  for more information.


Putting this newsletter together is not for the faint at heart either. Believe me, I’d much rather be transferring adults and helping with egg collection. It takes a lot of coordinating and begging writers and advertisers to submit their material, forms photos etc. in a timely manner. After all, the writers don’t get paid so meeting a deadline is truly a demonstration of their commitment. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all of the newsletter contributors on behalf of the Ontario Steelheaders. Directors, project managers, sportsmen and researchers alike, thank you so very much for your hard work. It means a lot to us, and I invite all of you to participate here.

As Editor, I am committed to keeping this newsletter a fair, open forum for discussion and giving everyone a fair opportunity to express their own ideas, questions, concerns and opinions on any relevant or entertaining subject matter; without criticism, censor, or influence. My only rule is “don’t be nasty”!



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News and Media Update


I miss winter! Seriously though, things were relatively quiet over the winter months until it became obvious that we were looking at an early spring warm-up and the spring runs were bound to arrive way ahead of schedule. After a frantic race to get the final repairs and upgrades done on the #1 tanker completed early; the guys raced to Denny’s Dam to intercept one of the biggest runs of steelhead to ever run the Saugeen, and we’ve all been very busy since. Aww… who’s kidding who; building a fishery like this no matter how frantic and pressured, is the best job in the world!

Reel Fishy Jobs Taping 2012
Reel Fishy Jobs Taping 2012
My coolest of cool jobs with the Ontario Steelheaders pulls me in a variety of directions, and I seem to get involved in one way or another with many different cool people and projects. Here are a few.

One of the big highlights for me last month, was no sooner were the reports coming in about the huge success of the early Adult Transfer when I got a call from the folks at WFN (World Fishing Network). Mark Melnyk, host of Reel Fishy Jobs wanted to film an episode, and document the work that’s done by all the volunteers at Denny’s Dam during Adult Transfer, Egg Collection, the hatchery work and the partnership between the two clubs. This took a LOT of coordinating with all those involved, but the team pulled it together in time, and Mark and his crew spent an entire day and a half with us at Denny’s Dam, we captured fish in the trap, went on a transfer run, collected the days eggs and milt, and took them to the Kincardine Hatchery where we spent a few hours with Al Wilkins.

Grant McAlpine Reads Mark the Riot Act on Safety HD cameras roll as the Steelheaders prepare to lift “The trap“
before entering “The Hole.”

Reel Fishy Jobs Taping 2012
Reel Fishy Jobs Taping 2012
By all accounts it was a huge success and I have to thank all the guys and gals at the fishway; you were great! Thanks go to Al Wilkins for hosting us at the kincardine hatchery, and a big thank you to the good folks at OMNR who got us the permission and papers we needed to film on their property in the nick of time. Way to go team! Mark was really impressed with what we do, and excited about getting back to the editing suite with his footage. Watch for us on Reel Fishy Jobs on WFN this spring!
We’ve also been invited to appear on Grey County Life with hosts Dianne Foulds and Dave Carr on Cable 53 on Friday April 20th to discuss the Ontario Steelheaders activities in the community. I immediately extended an invitation to MNR Owen Sound district office and they will be sending a representative to stand with us during the interview. Watch for us on Friday the 20th of April, at 11:00 am on Grey County Cable 53!
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Saugeen to Benefit From Research


Well it’s that time of the year again to let you know what’s new, and up-and-coming with the Ontario Steelheaders. It’s been a relativity quiet winter for most of us as Mother Nature didn’t allow us to get out on our usual hard water hot spots unless you ventured up to Nipissing or beyond. The Saugeen was good all winter for those brave souls who did get up here to give the winter Steelies a go. As most of you know we did our planting of the advanced fall fingerlings in November and they are all doing well in the Beatty Saugeen. Thanks to the group that helped out at the Port Elgin LHFC Hatchery over two weekends starting Oct 28-29 and finishing them the following weekend, 60,000 plus advanced fall fingerlings were clipped.

The weekend of Jan 28-29 a group of volunteers made up of Josh Choronzey, Tom Hamilton, Will Stewardson, Scott Redin, Travis Forester, myself and Anthony Zadwordi clipped 20,000 plus fish that by this spring, will be some very good sized yearlings. The LHFC took to the task of clipping the remainder and they got all of them done but 5,000 which Josh Choronzey, Dan Gravel, Scott Redin, Erica King and I finished off March 11/12. So a big thank you to the people who helped and also to LHFC for their assistance not only for the clipping but the fine job of raising these little guys destined for Saugeen later this spring. If you have never seen the LHFC Hatchery, go see it! It is a thing of beauty, and you can tell the guys from LHFC take great pride in their Hatchery and also in the great work they do there. We have to give them a big thank you for their assistance in getting the Saugeen’s steelhead runs where they today without it, it would have been an even tougher task than it has been; so thanks to Al Wilkins and his great group of guys at the LHFC. Just think, if the groups in the Georgian Bay area could work together like LHFC and the OS how much could be accomplished.

There are some very interesting things to tell you about that came out of a meeting called by the MNR and inviting the LHFC, Ontario Steelheaders, Sydenham Sportsman Assoc. and a few other clubs form the Georgian Bay area. Rod Jones, Josh Choronzey and I attended the meeting the weekend of Mar 3 /12 on our behalf. Rod and I got snow bound till 1:00am due to an actual snow storm. Good thing Rod and I have gotten older, cause if it was back in the day; Owen Sound may not have survived! The big take from the meeting is that MNR is going to put a lot of focus on the Saugeen River system for the next few years. They will be doing upgrades and repairs to Denny’s Dam staring in July of this year. They will be installing monitoring cameras not only Denny’s, but also at Walkerton, and two cameras at Maple Hill’s fishways for research purposes. Very soon there will be a live site available for you all to look at and see what’s going on as far as water temp and condition as well if any fish are moving at Denny’s. They are also going to do studies of smolt movement and spawning sites. They have a study on the go for the Dundalk Plateau which is the headwaters for a lot of rivers like our beloved Saugeen, the Bighead, the Grand and a number of others. The study is targeted at Wetlands degradation from the time of pre-settlement, and to see what damaging effects are being placed on the wetlands and what can be done to preserve them, as they are a very integral part of the watershed. They also informed the group that they will be doing a lampricide treatment of the Bighead and Nottawasaga river systems this year. We also had an opportunity to speak to Rich Henry and Hart Hill; the two CO’s for the Bruce Peninsula. We addressed our concerns about the issues that we are having on the Saugeen River and they have assured us that it will be addressed and they reviewed with us, the information they need when we call the MNR Hotline. They need vehicle license plate number, type and make of vehicle and a description of the individual or individuals. They have also indicated that they will be doing periodic enforcement campaigns on the river. You will see some new signage this year at various locations on the river regarding poaching, fish limits etc. Spring came very early this year and with that in mind our Fishery guy Darryl Choronzey made sure that we had permits from the MNR for March 1/12 so when the fish ran early, the Steelheaders were ready to move on transferring 1,000 adults to the Beatty Saugeen and Otter Creek. As you’ll see in this spring’s newsletter lots of cool stuff happening with the OS so go out and dig up some new members… the more the merrier and the stronger we become the more we can do! Keep in mind there will be Elections this fall for anyone who feels like getting involved at a higher level.

Good luck to all of you this season!

Yours in Fishing!
Karl Redin
President Ontario Steelheaders president@ontariosteelheaders.ca
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From Madeline’s Membership Desk

190 + STRONG!


Well, here it is officially spring, and considering the weather we have received lately it is feeling like an early summer. Our membership roster continues to grow and presently we are well over 190 members
strong and growing every day! Things have been relatively quiet over the winter but we are gearing up
for the Spring/Opening season and expect to be quite busy over the ensuing months. We will be
offering Membership renewals at the upcoming Spring Derby so please see me for your renewals. The
Ontario Steelheaders success is directly related to the strength of its membership, so I urge you all to
continue to support our efforts by renewing your membership. Let’s see if we can top 200 members
this year!

I have received many comments from the membership applauding all the efforts from the volunteers. Some have even taken the time to write a letter and I would like to share with you all the comments
received from one such member. He writes:
“I’m a fly fisher and this past year has been the first that I’ve gone outand really worked at trying to consistently catch steelhead. By all accounts, the Bighead and Saugeen have been great this year and I’ve been able to catch and release more steelhead than all my other years put together. This is undoubtedly due in large part to the efforts the Ontario Steelheaders have put forth…Congratulations, on what has obviously been a job well done”. 

As always, you are more than welcome to contact any one of us on the Board of Directors with your questions, comments, suggestions, concerns and of course praise is always welcomed 🙂


Madeline Walker
Membership Director
Ontario Steelheaders
membership@ontariosteelheaders.ca
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Help Wanted!!

    HELP WANTED:

The Ontario Steelheaders are interested in putting your talents to work! If you believe you have a special talent to contribute to the management of this organization, please don‟t delay!! There are many ways you can contribute as our directors require assistants to complement their efforts.

Please contact a director and we will do our best to put your skills to work to enhance and protect this fishery.

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Denny’s Park Project Report

Published by Gary Sherman Source:  Fall 2011 Ontario Steelheaders Newsletter Backgrounder: In 1996 The Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority announced that Denny’s Dam Conservation Area would be closed to the public due to financial constraints. The possibility existed that the property may even be sold. The Ontario Steelheaders, consistent with its mandate, approached the Authority with an offer to lease the Park and co-manage it in order to ensure continuing access for all resource users. This resulted in a significant financial commitment to the Ontario Steelheaders. Monies generated by our activities at Denny’s Park, are from time to time earmarked for park improvements and fisheries enhancement projects. Our committee works diligently to collect funds, and to run the park efficiently, in order to make these ventures possible. The Ontario Steelheaders would like to thank everyone for their timely payments which make these and other improvements to our park and our fishery possible. Thank you! It’s your park! Use it, respect it, and support it! Chairman’s address: Well here it is fall already, seems like just yesterday we were busting up ice bergs just to get into the park. The spring ice jam certainly created havoc with the camp but through efforts of a lot of people it was brought back into shape. Some of the camp improvements this year are the placing of speed limit signs, a new collection box which is more secure to collect funds and a new portable toilet at the west end of the park. We would like to thank everyone who helped in any manner in maintaining and improving the park. There are two projects that need to be singled out:
Washroom Roof Improvements
Washroom Roof Improvements
  First, is the placement of a concrete floor and eaves trough at the Rod Jones Pavilion; I know a number of people were involved in the labour portion of this project but special recognition is to be given to Derek Czarnota (Derek‟s Construction) for the donation of all materials required for this project. The other is the new roof for the washrooms. Bob Pfaff spent a large portion of his holidays installing the new roof with donated materials that he required. These materials were given to us by Mr. Tom Ware of Hy-Grade Steel Roofing in Guelph. Once again thanks to everyone for efforts that make our park what it is. Left: Ontario Steelheaders Volunteers replace the roof of the privy at Denny’s Park       On a different note I would like to remind everyone that the use of abusive, insulting or threatening language, making excessive noise or disturbing other persons is forbidden in Denny‟s Park and on all SVCA properties. The vast majority of our users enjoy the park for what it is, and respect the regulations. The minority, I ask you to rethink why you are here and join with us to ensure that our park will be here for everyone‟s enjoyment far into the future. Please be mindful of your neighbours. I do not want to leave you with the idea that the news is all bad because it is far from that. We hosted three youth groups this year at no charge that enjoyed our facility and were very thankful for our hospitality. Through park revenues generated, we donated $100 to the Goderich Relief Fund, $2,000 to the Lake Huron Fishing Club for the rearing of smolts and transferred $4000 to the Ontario Steelheaders Fisheries Enhancement Team to help with their work. The Saugeen Conservation Authority and its board members toured the park and were very impressed with the park and the work the Ontario Steelheaders do as a whole. It has been a learning year for your committee and I would like to thank each of them for their efforts. I know there were times you felt like walking away but stayed. Through your hard work, take pride in the accomplishments of this year. Project Chair, Gary Sherman
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Sixty-five Thousand Fall Fingerlings Added to the Saugeen

Approximately six months ago I asked for a meeting with the District Manager of the Ministry of Natural Resources Shawn Carey and also Dave Reid the Upper Great Lakes Manager for the Ministry of Natural Resources. The reason for the meeting is discussed under the next title in this newsletter, but before we get to that subject, let me first say that the Ontario Steelheaders have entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Natural Resources to give the Saugeen River steelhead enhancement program a „little‟ additional injection of rainbow trout for the coming year. To complete one objective, it was suggested that the Ontario Steelheaders also take „advantage‟ of the opportunity to rear additional rainbow trout to the fry or fingerling size. Now again, for the last time, I don‟t like raising fish to waste fish. I don‟t believe in stocking fry or fingerlings of any species or for that matter stocking them in the wrong locations, but I believe we came to a mutual and satisfactory compromise in this „one time‟ only stocking project.   After the meeting I contacted our president Karl Redin and got the go ahead to move further with this proposal. From there I met with Al Wilkins the Lake Huron Fishing Club president. The following program is now well underway and will be completed by the second week of November.   Here we go with a brief explanation. Yes, we took up the opportunity to expand our program for this year only. We have entered in to a one time only project of raising and releasing an additional 65,000 „advanced‟ fall fingerling rainbow (steelhead) during the first weeks of November, with all fish being released into a 50 mile stretch of the Beatty Saugeen between Hanover and Highway 6. Thanks are extended at this time to Al Wilkins president of the Lake Huron Fishing Club, Gary Biederman the hatchery manager of the club‟s Port Elgin fish hatchery, Grant McAlpine and his crew of tireless workers at Denny‟s Dam.   This one year only program will not only enhance the river and lake fishery, but will also significantly increase the number of spawning adults in the future to our target site…the Beatty Saugeen.   These fish are being released into some of the finest trout-suitable waters in the province. Water temperatures are fairly constant with little over-winter freezing and related winter mortality. These fish will grow, smolt, imprint, and know how to get home when they mature and return from their stay and maturing in Lake Huron. Ten locations have already been picked on the Beatty for fingerling release, which will maximize survival of the young fish.