Building a Fishery… One Fish at a Time

It hasn’t been a secret if you are an avid trout angler. The Saugeen River in Southampton has been the hottest steelhead destination in the province the past several months. Anglers from across Ontario have been lining the banks from Denny’s Dam to the lowest section of the river since September. With unseasonably warm temperatures this winter, the steelhead fishing has continued to be incredible with ample angler access and ice free water to fish. The main reason behind this excellent fishing can be notched on the belt of two local volunteer organizations; the Lake Huron Fishing Club and the Ontario Steelheaders. Two weeks ago, I had the chance to volunteer some of my time during a “fin-clipping” project at the LHFC Kincardine Trout Hatchery. I spent two days working alongside other members from both clubs and walked away with a greater appreciation of the dedicated work that goes into creating this awesome fishery on the Saugeen and Lake Huron.

The Lake Huron fishing Club raises 60,000 steelhead (rainbow trout) at their Kincardine Hatchery annually. These fish are hatched from eggs collected by members of the Ontario Steelheaders at Denny’s Dam on the Saugeen River during the spring. After being nurtured by LHFC volunteers for 1 year, these juvenile fish are released far upstream in the Saugeen and from there; they begin their lives in the wild, both in the river and Lake Huron proper. To identify these hatchery-raised fish from wild trout, Ministry of Natural Resources’ protocol calls for the clipping of the adipose fin on these steelhead. This task is carried out by Ontario Steeheaders and LHFC volunteers. Over the course of two weekends, the entire 60,000 juvenile trout were clipped. This is not easy work either. Crews of 4-8 volunteers surround the tanks and carefully lop off the tiny fin located along the back near the base of the tail. This was like a factory production line, but the goods we were producing were fish! Mortalities from this procedure are surprisingly low, with only 2 fish succumbing to stress in the weekend I was present.

 

Hatchery Data at a Glance

Kincardine Trout Hatchery Stocking Totals

 

YearSpeciesReleasedEggs UsedFin Clip
2006Rainbow Trout40,96964,848 fryLV
2006Brown Trout62,47275,139
2007Rainbow Trout69,479112,678RV
2007Brown Trout71,44981,844
2008Rainbow Trout56,03289,560RV
2008Brown Trout51,35955,800
2009Rainbow Trout57,359100,739AD
2009Brown Trout (F)51,923 (F)61,765 (F+G)
2010Spring Rainbow Trout56,685110,526AD
2010Fall Rainbow Trout (D)20,683 (D)NA
2010Spring Brown Trout (G)4,995 (G)NA
2010Fall Brown Trout (H)49,149 (H)67,616 (H+K)
2011Spring Rainbow Trout (E)52,676 (E)131,701 (D+E)AD
2011Spring Brown Trout (K)7,861 (K)
2011Fall Brown Trout ()58,44968,828
2011Fall Rainbow Trout (A)62,408 (A)233,411 (A+B+C)
2011Rainbows to SSA (B)27,845 (B)NA
2012Spring Rainbow Trout (C)~63,000 (C)NAAD
2012Fall Brown Trout71,372
YearSpeciesReleasedEggs UsedFin Clip

 

 TOTAL: 1,911,078



2012 Hatchery Work
2012 Hatchery Work

Overseeing the clipping duties was Kincardine hatchery manager Al Wilkins. Wilkins took the time to explain to me the ins and outs of the hatchery and exactly what the LHFC provides the angling public with in terms of fish stocked. 60,000 of both rainbow and brown trout are raised annually in the Kincardine hatchery. The rainbows are part of a joint program with the Ontario Steelheaders and destined for the Saugeen at stocking time in April. This past fall saw the LHFC and Ontario Steelheaders raise an extra 50,000 steelhead which were released as fall fingerlings to compliment the 60,000 yearlings that were just clipped. That is a lot of trout! The browns are raised to yearling size as well and seeded into the waters along the Huron shoreline from Point Clarke to Pike Bay and beyond. The LHFC also runs a second hatchery in the town of Port Elgin. This facility is also manned by volunteers, and raises Chinook Salmon for the anglers of Lake Huron. This year the club collected 120,000 salmon eggs in the fall and they have hatched out and are now under the close supervision of Port Elgin hatchery manager Gary Biederman until they are stocked as fingerlings in the spring.

This process of raising fish is not cheap. It costs the LHFC about $10,000 to raise each species. Under the MNR CFWIP program, clubs are allotted funding to offset some of the costs of operating a hatchery, but overall, the contribution from the government is minimal. The LHFC relies on fund raising, contributions from the Ontario Steelheaders, and monies generated from the club’s summer fishing event; the Chantry Chinook Classic. This derby will once again take place in late July and early August on the shores of Lake Huron.

Hats off to everyone involved in transforming this fishery. Our achievements are made possible by “Teamwork in Action”

Ontario Steelheaders 2012 Annual Spring Steelhead Derby

Please join us Saturday May 5th at Denny’s Conservation Area (Denny’s Park) for our annual Spring Steelhead Derby.


Cash Prizes+++Food+++Draw Prizes +++Trophies+++ General Assembly+++Memberships+++

Entry fee: $10.00 adults — $7.00 junior
Weigh-in deadline: 5:00 PM
Everyone Welcome!
*Please observe all Ontario Fishing Regulations

 

Chairman’s Address:


Hello, fellow fisher-people! … Well folks it’s time again to get the rod dusted off and put it to use for the Derby. Hopefully you all can come out to play. The fall derby was absolutely amazing! With the turn out we had 101 people register to participate. The weather was crappy indeed and yet you still came out to support the cause. Thank you!


The derby placements were :

1st  --  Chris W. -- 9.5 lbs
2nd  --  Laurien  --  8.1 lbs
3rd --  Lorenzo  --  8.0 lbs
Junior --  Kyle  --  1.6 lbs
C&R Award  --  Dio  --  22 in.

We all had a great time and hope to get a repeat in May. So come out and join us for a good time, don’t forget to BRING THE FAMILY!

Anyone wishing to donate prizes to the DERBY please see Dave or Dar Munro at Denny’s Park, or call at home 519-651-8109. All Prizes Welcome!


Bring the kids!! Join us for a fun day on the river. Take in the sights and sounds of the Saugeen River and join us for dinner and a get together afterwards. Registration is available at Denny’s Park. Look for the signs..!! Dinner will be served at the Rod Jones Pavilion, where we will have draw prizes, merchandise, club updates, and the derby prizes and trophies will be awarded. Please join us for a great day of socializing with members, important information updates and a cozy campfire afterwards. Overnight camping and day use at Denny’s Park is available for derby participants and their families. Membership applications are also taken at the ceremonies.

Dave Munro
Social Events Director
Ontario Steelheaders

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

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”!



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!

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

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

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.