• A Special Thanks and It's Just About Over

    I'm starting this off first by saying thank you very much to Grant McAlpine the boss of the lifts at Denny's Dam and his crew. Al Wilkins the head honcho in charge of the Kincardine Hatchery, Gary Biederman the man in charge at the Port Elgin Hatchery and Brian Hambly the supervisor for the Ontario Steelheaders tanker crews for all their hard work over the last couple of weeks. Oh and I definitely don't want to forget Jody Schieflley at the MNR.

    A few finishing facts about what's taken place over the last few days at the Saugeen River. First the Ontario Steelheaders and the Lake Huron Fishing Club trapped and transported a thousand Adult Ontario Steelheaders 70 miles up into the Beatty Saugeen for natural spawning and imprinting purposes in a few short days. Over three days more than 50,000 healthy steelhead smolt were taken from the Lake Huron Fishing Club's Kincardine fish hatchery and released more than 40 miles up river for great imprinting. Now the two clubs are collecting more than 300,000 wild steelhead eggs for our hatchery program and helping out two other area clubs needs. Next we will be collecting approximately 80,000 additional eggs for another share program between our two clubs and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Big steelhead are everywhere throughout the Saugeen and yet there is still thick ice piled up out at the rivermouth. Thanks to all the old boys, the new members young and old and especially a young guy named Trevor. I'd personally like to thank all the old boys especially, Brian, Bill and Johnny Campbell for working everyday over the past few weeks. The week will finish off with more than 100,000 chinook salmon being released into the Saugeen from the Lake Huron Club's Port Elgin hatchery and thank you Gary and the gang there.

    These guys have worked hard transporting those 1,000 adults into the Beatty Saugeen for super spawning success and imprinting those big bruisers.



    After the adult transfers the boys are emptying out the two Lake Huron Fishing Club's yearling smolt that really are the best raised steelhead in the province. They all go Walkerton for super imprinting.



    Now what a lot people don't know is the fact that Biederman and his boys also raise those 100,000 chinook in the Saugeen and watch out what happens in the future.

    Then we finish it off with Grant and the boys collecting 100,000 steelhead eggs for our clubs' program, plus 100,000 eggs for two other on the Peninsula's programs and an additional 70,000 eggs for a joint program we have with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources



    And we even have some real young 'old' guys helping us...thank you very much Logan...you were fantastic.



    Just before putting this together Ontario Steelhearder president Karl Redin phone to let me know 70 plus steelhead were taken during the one day Ontario Steaders derby and the majority were silver and still green. The ice was still piled up off the mouth of the Saugeen.....Look out this run is going to be long and hard.
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