Monday, May 2, 2011

Spring Fling!

After having to postpone our annual Ken Fisher Memorial Spring Fling derby last weekend, we were greeted with wonderful weather this past Saturday with sunny skies and a flat Lake Ontario.

With the King of the Lake tournament going on, as well as many other anglers out, it was a very busy day along the south shore. It seemed that stick baits either with planer boards and/or leadcore and spoons ran way back on downriggers took the majority of the fish. Coho's, chinnooks and browns made up the bulk of everyones catch.

In the end it was John Poirer's 15.96lb Chinnok salmon that took 1st place. John was fishing with Shane & Aidan Thombs. Congratulation on the win John!



Right behind them was Gavin Cameron's Chinnok that weighed. 13.85lbs. Gavin's partner was Dave Clayton.

Rounding out the top 3 was Bill Ransky with a Chinook salmon that weighed 13.35lbs. Bill fished with Graham Jowett

Once the boats were on the trailers & fish were weighed, a nice BBQ was enjoyed by all courtesy of Mike Dumesnil and Walker Downriggers. Thanks also to MC Rockets for making sure everyone took home a new bait to try out next time on the water.



Our next event is our Pike Tournament this Saturday on Long Point Bay http://www.straitlineanglers.com/LongPointPike/LongPointPikeTournament.htm
The following week its salmon again with the "Feed The Fry" tournament out of Port Dalhousie



Saturday, April 16, 2011

Spring Has Sprung!

Finally, it appears that spring is upon us here in the Golden Horseshoe!
Various sources are citing that traditional spring fishing mainstays are beginning to produce. Grand River catfish, various inland crappie spots, and with the removal of the Fort Erie Ice Boom, Lake Erie perch won’t be far behind either.
Things are also starting to happen along Lake Ontario’s south shore as well. Many browns, and a few chinook’s and lake trout have been caught recently. As well, Saturday April 16 marks the beginning of the St Catharines Game & Fish Association’s 36th annual spring salmon & trout derby. Many great prizes are available and the cost of an entry ticket remains very reasonable. Check out the poster below for more details on that.

Additionally, 30,000 chinook salmon fry are set to arrive from Ringwood Hatchery for Port Dalhousie’s Pen Project. Here is what the set-up will look like this year.  










A big thank you once again goes out to all the volunteers from Ringwood & the SCG&FA for all the time & resources that get poured into this initiative.
At our April general meeting we had a great crowd out to listen to Karl Chmilnitzky (2010 King of the Lake Champion). Karl wasn’t shy at all in sharing some stories from his tournament experiences, as well as priming us all for the upcoming season by discussing various trolling tactics and a great Q&A session. Thanks again to Karl (and Steve) for making the trip down from Orangeville.
Our next Club event is the Ken Fisher Memorial Spring Fling derby out of Jordan on Sat April 23.
Click Here For More Details

We remind you to check our Facebook Page or follow us on Twitter for latest updates on all club happenings. You may also email us at to be on our email list:  straitlineanglers@gmail.com

Friday, March 11, 2011

A New Approach To Stocking Lake Ontario's Salmon

With spring really just around the corner and the open water season soon upon us, let’s take a few moments and shine some light on a recently new concept on how some groups around the lake are stocking the fish we enjoy so much.

The Strait Line Anglers Club through the expertise of All Tool Manufacturing and with the funds from Suncor Energy, have been building Imprinting Pens for salmon and trout. The Port Credit Trout and Salmon Association and the St Catharines Game & Fish Association are provided these pens, free of charge, with the cooperation between clubs to strive for a quality fishery.

This year the Strait Line Anglers Club will deliver the third pen in our second generation design in Pen construction. This second generation design has the wrap around float to abate debris, improved lid design for shrinking pen netting material and built with added material specs that makes this pen the best constructed version in Ontario waters. Input in the design came from Jerry Mitrovich of the St Catharines Game and Fish Association as well as Al Van Dusen of the Central Lake Ontario Salmon Association club and Ontario pioneer in Pen stocked salmon.

In the last few years, a handful of fishing clubs and organizations in co-operation with the MNR and their local municipalities have taken the initiative to stock their quota of salmon and trout with pens.  
While many groups from New York State had been doing this for many years previously it was the CLOSA group from Wellington, Ontario that began doing this in Barcovan. Once word spread from this group’s successful endeavor, other interested parties around the Lake were seeking guidance and advice on how to start up their own pen stocking initiatives.
               
Why pen stocking? Traditionally salmon and trout have been stocked by the MNR and local clubs by simply dumping the fry in the lakes tributaries and harbors and hoping that the majority of these young fish would swim out to lake to survive and grow and hopefully return to their stocking sites in the autumn of their fourth year. Well the Great Lakes have ever been changing in recent years. Many tributaries seem to have decreasing flows and have been losing prime spawning habitat. As well, the over abundance  large flocks of Cormorant fish eating birds have been able to pick off the young fry near release sites, thanks to the clearer waters caused by Zebra Mussels.

Now With Pens, salmon and trout are now placed into holding pens in the same general release sites. Depending on the water temperatures and dissolved oxygen content, these fry are kept in the Pens for 3-5 weeks time. During this period, volunteer’s within the local clubs feed and monitor the fry and the conditions. It is also believed that during this period, the fry are able to imprint themselves to these areas and will significantly increase their abilities to come back “home” once they reach their mature spawning age. Another added bonus is that once released to the lake these fish will have almost tripled in size and won’t be as vulnerable as prey for the birds. Lets look at a photographical rundown of the pen stocking proccess

Here is what our pen design looks like

The fry delivery truck
Into the pens
Releasing the pen raised salmon safely into the lake

 Having our future generations involved is a must!






 There are now currently a number of such stocking programs all across the Canadian shoreline of Lake Ontario. For the time being only Chinook Salmon are being stocked in the pens in Ontario. Perhaps rainbow and brown trout may be considered in the near future. March is a busy month at the hatcheries as in the next couple weeks, each group’s allocated fry need to be transferred and counted within the hatchery and they need to have their adipose fins clipped before they will be deemed ready for release. There is most likely a group involved with these programs not far from you if you wish to learn more and want to lend a hand, as help is very much appreciated. For more information and to aid in finding such a nearby group please check the following links:





Additionally, one exciting event that is coming up is the Lake Ontario Trout & Salmon Symposium to be held in Mississauga on Saturday April 9 2011. Please see the above link for the Port Credit Salmon & Trout Association to learn more.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Show Time!

Well it is that time of year again. Some are out drilling and jigging the ice, some are drifting whatever soft water they may find open and the rest are planning & prepping for upcoming spring season. With that comes the many shows and  tackle shop open houses to help us find those newly released items, as well as replenishing the few open spots in our tackle boxes, spooling up with fresh strong line and even meeting up with old buddies we may not have seen for a few months.

Here is a brief rundown of the shows & open houses in the area that are happening within the next couple months.

February 27, LOTSA Show & Expo, Lockport NY http://www.lotsa.org/2011_LOTSA_EXPO.htm

March 12-13 Niagara Outdoors Show http://www.niagaraoutdoorshow.com/


April 9-16 Grimsby Tackle Open House & Spring Sale  http://www.grimsbytackle.com/

April 16 Tall Tales Bait & Tackle spring sale & line spooling clinic www.talltales.on.ca

April 22-24 Peter’s Bait & Tackle Open House & Spring Sale www.peterstackle.com

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

First Blog Entry!

Welcome!
Well now we’ll see how this goes. We invite you to come & check out our blog regularly as we plan to utilize it by providing the latest news from the Strait Line Anglers Club, as well as providing the results from the many tournaments & derbies we run, and we’ll even also have relevant up-to-date fishing reports and “hot tips” pertaining to the general waters many of us fish regularly. We also invite you to check out our official club website www.straitlineanglers.com , follow us on twitter and look up our Facebook fan page. If you have any questions or comments along the way, please get in touch with us. We like feedback!

Sharp hooks!