Well folks it’s that time of year again were I have to bring you all up to speed on the affairs of your Ontario Steelheaders. Where to begin lots has happened since we last talked.
The fall transfer went well but it cost me a case of beer to Mr. Choronzey as we had a side bet that we would or wouldn’t get our 500 adults transferred my side was that we would and his was that we wouldn’t as mother nature was closing in on us. He must have a hand on her pulse as the weather shut us down and we fell short by twenty some odd fish but hey the way I look at it some is better than none and Grant McAlpine and his crew did a great job as usual so I don’t mind losing to Mr. C. We also did a stocking of advanced fall fingerlings which is an added bonus as we’ve only done this once before in 2012 when the LHFC had another banner crop of little guys and so we had to lehttp://www.steelheaders.ca/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=paget some go early to make room in the hatchery.
Speaking of the weather are you all as tired of this winter as I am my back still aches when I see snow flakes. It certainly has been a brutal winter for snow and cold but it is Canada and we all will get through it. If your and ice fisherman or snowmobiler you sure had a awesome winter for it. The down side of all of this is if we get a quick thaw we could be facing some bad flooding in numerous places and this could delay our time spent this spring chasing our favorite fish.
The club has all it’s paper work in order for the spring transfer of adults and now we sit and wait for the weather to break, we have three transfer tankers now so as long as we have tow vehicles available we should this year finish in record time. We will again be doing the transfer of our yearlings from LHFC hatchery. The little guys were all clipped back in February so they are eating and growing waiting for their new home in Saugeen later this spring.
Clipping this year thanks to a big turn out of OS and LHFC members set a record number of little guys clipped in one day at just over twenty thousand great job guys well done.
The newsletter is later than usual for this we apologize but as the OS is a volunteer group life sometime gets in the way and things don’t go as planned. The group has had a number of personnel health and other issues so we are moving as best as we can and there will be a newsletter in a new and improved format. We are still working towards our Not For Profit status and also planning to have an AGM later this year, we will keep you informed as things progress so we ask for your patience and understanding.
The website as you all may or may not have seen looks and works great and is continuing to evolve for the better so visit it often and enjoy the labour of love from our web guy, Scott Kidwell. Thanks Scott, job well done.
Thirty five years ago the OS started with it’s upwelling boxes on the Beatty Saugeen and have been working on this system ever since. That is a long time and things have continued to move forward like the fixing of Walkerton the addition of the fishway at Maple hill and soon another at Maple hill, other projects are in the works but are still in the planning stages so stay tuned for these will be very exciting if all comes together.
Thank you to all the people and MNR staff who over the years gave of themselves to the improvement of our beloved Saugeen and continue to do so without these selfless individuals we wouldn’t be were we are today so keep up the hard work and thank you again.
Due to all this hard work our efforts this year came to the for front as the OS and LHFC jointly were recognized by the Canadian Fishing Hall of Fame as the Conservation Project of the Year a real feather in the hat of both organizations. The presentation took place at the Spring Boat and Fishing show with all the top people in the fishing world being present. Darryl Choronzey made a very heartfelt presentation to both groups of course with a few jabs during the presentation at his peers re various issues but we also have to thank him as we all know he’s worked just as hard to help the Saugeen get to were it is just like the OS and LHFC. Along with a beautiful plaque the group received a donation of One Thousand dollars of which the OS portion was donated to LHFC to assist in the cost of feeding our little guys. We hope to have the plaque on display in Steelheader Park at the bulletin board so come take a look.
Have a safe and great rest of 2014 and we’ll be in touch sometime later this fall but keep looking at the Website as things will be posted as they happen.
Best Regards,
Karl H. Redin
President