LHFC April Newsletter

Lake Huron Fishing Club Newsletter
April 2012
Incorporated 1983
P.O. Box 355, Southampton, Ontario, N0H 2L0
Club Website: www.lakehuronfishingclub.com
Derby Website: www.chantrychinook.com
Newsletter Website: http://64.177.125.54/LHFC/newsletter.htm


Message From Our President

It has been a very busy month. A Fish and Wildlife Heritage Commission meeting in Toronto, OFAH Annual Conference in Toronto, Midhurst District Fisheries Update in Owen Sound, Great Lakes Fishery Commission Meetings in Windsor, a LHFC General Meeting, visits to some of our Sister Clubs, many many phone calls and innumerable e-mails.

What have I taken away from all of these discussions and conversations?
A feeling of optimism!

There are tens of thousands of sportsmen and women in our Province that care just as passionately as we do about our fish and wildlife and the future of hunting and fishing. We are communicating better with each other than we ever have. We are learning that by supporting each other, both hands-on and philosophically, we can affect real change. This applies to policy, attitudes, and understanding in addition to our physical accomplishments.

With another round of budget cuts, municipally, provincially and federally, our governments are no longer capable of managing our natural resources or our sport. This leaves it to us to step up to the plate and take responsibility.

The Lake Huron Fishing Club takes this duty seriously and we are recognized throughout the province and even internationally for the great work that we do. Please talk with your friends and explain why they should become a Lake Huron Fishing Club member. If they are passionate about fishing they will be helping themselves.

Al Wilkins fisheye@bmts.com 519-396-9764

Trout Hatchery Report

Our hatchery is full of fish. There are 6 large tanks holding 63,000 rainbow trout yearlings ready to be released. When the temperature in the Saugeen gets back up to a bit over 10 C we will start the stocking. Any member who wishes to be involved can let me know and we will let you know when we are ready to begin.

Our 60,000 brown trout have been moved over to the intermediate tanks and are doing well. The egg trays are all set up again and we are waiting for the rainbow trout eggs to arrive.

This week Grant McAlpine and crew have been trying get some eggs but with the current cold weather the fish runs have slowed down.

This has been a strange year for the rainbow run. Two weeks ago Grant and crew assisted the Ontario Steelheaders with trapping adult rainbows at Denny's Dam for the adult transfer program. In 3 days they captured over 2,000 rainbows moving through the fish ladder. Unfortunately, for us, these fish were not ripe. It seems that the extra early spring took the fish by surprise as well.

The river warmed up enough to get the fish moving but the eggs weren't ready yet. Last week Mike Hahn reported that he stood at the top of the new fish ladder on the Walkerton Dam and counted 73 rainbows move through in only 18 minutes. This is incredible.

The Ontario Steelheaders, the MNR and Mike Hahn need to be congratulated for making this fish ladder functional.

Hopefully, in our next newsletter I will be able to report on a neat project that Al Frennette, from the Ontario Steelheaders, is trying to put together to tell the story of our Clubs' rainbow trout program on the Saugeen River.

Al Wilkins

Salmon Hatchery Report

The salmon are growing nicely. The warm weather we had in March warmed up the pond considerably and resulted in a significant weight gain over the period. This was beneficial in another way as well. After the power failure 3 March, the motor on the large supply pump burned out. We installed the new small pump and it is supplying the tanks at this time. The small pump does not allow us to supply as much well water as the large pump but with the warm weather the pond got nice and warm so we didn’t need the extra well water.

We have been informed by the Ministry that they will not be clipping salmon this year. I have applied for the stocking permit and expect we will be stocking earlier this year because we don’t have to wait for clipping and the growth rate we are experiencing with the warm weather.

It seems this is a bad year for us for pumps. Last week we did a clean out off the settling pond and our portable submersible sewage effluent pump we use to pump the sludge to the town sewage system also failed. Another burned out motor. The clean out was completed using a rental pump. Looks like my 2012 to 2013 budget will be higher next year for some pump replacements.

Garry Biederman

Membership Meeting "State of Lake Huron" Report

Instead of our next regular scheduled General Membership meeting on Thursday, May 10th the Lake Huron Fishing Club is hosting a presentation by the Upper Great Lakes Management Unit of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Biologists will be presenting a summary of the reports recently given at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission Annual Meetings in Windsor. The latest information on the ecosystems and fisheries of Lake Huron will be given in an easily understandable format that will help you understand what is going on in the lake that we love. Presentations will begin at 7:30 pm at the Underwood Community Center. Please bring your family and friends and let others know. For more information please contact any Executive member.

Passing Of A Friend

We were all saddened by the passing of our long time member Alan Beaith on March 1st.

Al was a dedicated fisherman and sportsman and worked hard for this Club at the hatchery, working on the docks, helping at club events and planting thousands of trees. We can all feel thankful that we had a chance to know Alan.



Road Cleanups

We are going to need a few people to work out of Port Elgin and Kincardine for a morning soon cleaning up our sections of county Roads 23 and 33. These are our Adopt-A-Highway sections. We would like to get this cleanup done before the grass gets too long. If you would be willing to help out for a couple of hours when we are ready to go please let an Executive member know. A signup sheet will be posted in each of our hatcheries.

Kincardine Rotary Docks Installation

The docks will be installed on Friday April 20 and Saturday April 21.

Rain dates are May 4 and 5.

Installation will be 2:00 to 6:00 PM on Friday and 9:00 AM to finish on Saturday.

Anyone wishing to rent a dock should contact Dayle or Kathie at 519-396-4202.

Teacher School Hatchery Program Letter

To Whom it may concern,

I have been involved with the Lake Huron Fishing Club’s “Salmon in the classroom” program for the past two years. In my teaching career I have always been known as a “creature teacher” with a number of animals from guinea pigs to chicks in my classroom. I was quite excited by the prospect of having salmon in my classroom for my students to observe and learn about. However, with limited knowledge and experience with fish, I was thrilled when the Club was willing to not only provide the equipment and the fish, but also their expert knowledge and support to make this a positive experience for me and my students. This is not something that I would have been able to do without their financial support, time and energy.

Last year my Grade 2/3 students eagerly watched as our salmon eggs hatched and the fry grew until they were large enough to be released. Over the months, the students became very attached to the fish and were very attentive to their needs. Each day, the students would assist with cleaning the tank, checking the water temperature and also feeding the fish. They were excited to watch the fish as they first emerged from their eggs and marveled at how they grew and changed over the 6 months that they were in the classroom. Releasing them into the wild was bittersweet as the children were happy to return the fish to their natural habitat, yet were sad to see them go.

During the year the students learned about the life cycle of the Chinook salmon and also how they could help to care for the salmon’s habitat by taking care of lakes and rivers. Students learned to keep litter and chemicals out of lakes, rivers and storm drains, and how protecting trees keeps soil from washing into the rivers and covering the gravel that salmon need to spawn. A tour of the local salmon hatchery after the release of our classroom salmon helped the students to learn how the classroom fish had been part of a bigger project to help increase salmon numbers in our area. They felt empowered in their ability to help to protect and improve their local environment.

This year my new students in Junior and Senior Kindergarten have embarked on the same journey. Although the lessons look a little bit different due to the age difference, the excitement is the same. The children talk to and read to the fish every day, and love to have their turn to feed them; watching in anticipation as they gobble up the pellets. They too are looking forward to releasing the fish this spring. The students recognize that the salmon are an important part of the natural food chain and that children can play an important part in protecting fish habitat.

The community is also involved in the salmon project. Within the school, many students in other grades drop in during the school day saying, “Can we see the fish? Boy, they’ve sure grown!” and ask many questions of myself and the Kindergarten children. My former students who had the salmon experience last year are particularly involved. It is good to see that the impact of their learning from last year is staying with them, and that those lessons are still relevant to them. Parents and younger siblings of my present students also come into the classroom daily to see how the fish have been growing and changing throughout the weeks. They are impressed with the students’ knowledge and understanding of both the fish and their habitat. It is wonderful to see how a whole community can come together to share this experience.

I would highly recommend the Lake Huron Fishing Club as a recipient of the xxxxxxxxxx Grant to help to purchase the equipment to spread this wonderful learning experience to other students and schools. This is an experience that no child should have to miss out on.

Sincerely,

Tawnya Schlosser

JK/SK Teacher
Hillcrest Central School
Teeswater, ON

__________________________________________________ ____________

Lake Huron Fishing Club
P.O. Box 355,
Southampton, Ontario, N0H 2L0