Fishing in McGregor Bay by Stewart Cowan

 The months of May, June and July saw better pike fishing than in many previous years. Fish between four and six pounds were common.  This would suggest some very successful spawning years between 2002 and 2005.  As anglers continue to release more fish than they keep, and to do so with appropriate care, we should see many big pike in coming years.
    July marked memorable smallmouth bass fishing in  McGregor Bay. Their numbers can only be due to very successful spawning.  Their size would seem to be due, at least in part, to their consumption of gobies.  If you can find gobies, you can probably find smallmouths.
    In September of 2008, I saw two fish at Birch Island which showed clear signs of VHS (Viral Hemorrhagic Septicaemia).  They had been caught in the North Channel.  This year I heard of none in the area.  This does not mean that it isn't here.  It will undoubtedly recur. We need to be aware of it and to follow the protocols if we see it.
    The moratorium on walleye fishing in McGregor Bay is scheduled to expire at the end of 2008.  I received numerous reports of incidental catches of walleye this season, with all size groups represented, including young-of-the-year.  However, there is good reason to think that the moratorium should be extended.
    Between May 15 and June 6, natives from Whitefish River, funded by A/ OFC (Anishinabek/ Ontasi. Fisheries Research Centre) conducted a trap netting survey throughout McGregor Bay. 30 overnight trap nets were set. Water temperatures ranged from 10 degrees-15 degrees Celsius (50 degrees-59 degrees F).  Species captured included 59 smallmouth bass, 27 northern pike, six rock bass, five muskellunge and four yellow perch.  Also included were rainbow trout, white and long nose sucker, boufin, black crappie and bullhead.  They also caught one walleye.
    I have not found out the precise purpose of the project.  It appears likely that it was a population survey of inshore species.  It was too late in the season to be a spawning survey. Numbers of walleye were being caught in McGregor Bay at that time mainly by pike anglers. It would seem if this project caught so few walleyes relative to bass and pike, that there is not yet a walleye biomass in McGregor Bay compatible with a sport fishery.
    The existing fishery regulations document is in force for 2008 and 2009.  If this moratorium is to be extended, I have no idea how such an extension might legally be publicized.  It would be unfortunate to lose the effect of years of effort by removing the moratorium too early.

FROM THE MANITOULIN EXPOSITOR, OCTOBER 22, 2008
    President George W.Bush has signed the Great Lakes Compact, enacting into U.S. federal law a cross-border commitment to protect the waters of the Great Lakes-St.Lawrence basin. The Compact curtails out-of-basin diversions and regulates large-scale water use on both sides of the border.
    Ontario ratified the Compact in 2007. Quebec did so in June of 2008.
 

FROM THE EXPOSITOR, AUGUST 13, 2008
    Deb Jacobs has been assigned to MNR Sudbury District as a new biodiversity/species-at-risk biologist.  Her mandate is to provide local expertise on threatened species and to co-ordinate recovery strategies for these species.
    Of special local concern are the dwarf lake iris, least bitterns, Blanding's turtles, Houghton's golden rod, Hill's thistles and pitcher's thistle.
 

FROM THE EXPOSITOR,JULY 30, 2008
    Lake Huron water levels are up 20 centimetres, (8 inches) over last July's levels.
 

FROM THE EXPOSITOR, JULY 9, 2008
    Mary Ellen Shain, a student of conservation biology at Laurentian University and invasive species watch liason with OFAH (Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters) reports that among 185 known invasive species in the Great Lakes, the round goby, rusty crayfish, European water milfoil and zebra mussel are well established.
    These species lack natural predators, so their populations can explode.  Once establshed, their removal is virtually impossible.  Damages and cleanup of these species cost the Canadian economy an estimated 15 to 34 billion dollars in any given year.  When we encounter them it is important to follow the correct protocols to help prevent their spread.
 

FROM THE EXPOSITOR, OCTOBER 16, 2008
    According to recent research carried out by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) ship sturgeon in the North Channel, naturally occurring bait fish, those which constitute most of the diet for many sport species, are present there in large numbers.  The balance of this biomass is changing.  Native species are flourishing in inverse proportion to foreign varieties.  There are more native chub, emerald shiners and lake herring, but fewer smelt and alewives.  This decline in alewives has led to an increase in the lake trout population.  Possibly the alewives forage on lake trout eggs. It is also possible that the alewives produce an enzyme that kills lake trout spawn.  Lake trout are now thriving in the North Channel.  At the same time, chinook and coho salmon are declining,  along with the smelt and alewives on which they feed.