Break the ‘ice-fishing blues’ by planning your 2010 spring fishing trip to Bracebridge and Huntsville area lakes. Search through this fish stocking list from the Ontario MNR. The list shows which lakes have been stocked by Lake Trout, Brook Trout , Brown Trout, Splake and Rainbow Trout in 2009.

Download the 2009 Fish Stocking List by clicking here. (PDF format – 2.5 mb)

Areas Included In This Fish Stocking List

What is encouraging to me is that many of the fishing haunts I have visited have been stocked within the the last 2 years. For example,

• Vernon lake was stocked with 5400 lake trout in 2008.
• Mary lake had 2200 lake trout added in 2009
• Elusive brown trout were added to the North Muskoka River (2000) and Beaver Creek (1500)  – both near Bracebridge

The MNR has asked that if you catch a “clipped” trout (lake trout and brook trout are tracked this way) that you record where you caught the marked fish and report which fin was clipped. This information can be shared with the biologists at the Bracebridge office:

Stephen Scholten
Fisheries Biologist
Bracebridge
(705) 646-5523
steve.scholten@ontario.ca

Nothing beats the discovery of finding section of water that holds enough ‘hook-yearning’ fish that give your reel hand a monster set of cranking blisters. The same feeling holds true for those of us who find, or own, a plot of land that oozes wild game from bushy shadows.

We call the spot our own and like sly foxes our eyes make a quick sweep of the area to ensure the secrecy of our newly added GPS

The view below at one of my secret spots

way-point. If your are like me, this hunting or fishing ’sweet spot’ becomes one of our most closely guarded secrets. It remains unknown to all but a few close friends.

Herein, lies the potential problem with good fishing and the dilemma that it causes in my mind.

It is so easy to get wrapped up in keeping our secrets with ‘the few’ – that we forget the benefit of sharing the experience with ‘the many’.

I am guilty of this. Big Time!

An angler approached me, before a local fishing  tournament, and asked me to mark some great fishing spots on Vernon Lake. At first, I marked all my favorite spots except for one. I struggled for several seconds before I could get my hand to mark the last and most secret of my spots.

Why?

I think it was because it is nice to have that spot on a lake where you can go and expect to catch some fish – without having to worry about another angler being there before you were. With my new found love of fly fishing, I can really appreciate the importance of solitude in your favorite fishing spot. After all – it is part of the experience of fishing.

I guess what I am wrestling with is how can we as ‘anglers and/or hunters’ expect to propagate the excitement we enjoy (and cherish) in our conservation activities if we become tight-lipped about where all the ‘good’ spots are?

Am I alone? Possibly. Ask yourself this: Could you easily hand over a GPS coordinate list of your top 5 fishing spots on your favorite lake? If your answer is yes – stop reading.

Imagine if the NHL, NBA, or NFL expected to share the excitement of their sports by keeping the venues for these high impact sports for just a select few of the population who happen to know where the next event was taking place? Does it seem realistic to expect future anglers to get ‘cranked’ about fishing when their first experiences are spent ‘fish-less’ in the great wide open of a new body of water?

Some of you are now saying, “What about the enjoyment of the experience of, the newcomer, learning to find their own fishing spots and techniques?”.  I can’t disagree with you. I am just wondering if that is making fishing one dimensional? Could we also add to the teaching process of the outdoors a clause that encourages us to share that extremely productive bend in the river with someone else – without the need to be tight lipped? This would, in turn, encourage a more complete 2-dimensional fishing  experience because it has been shared and enjoyed by others who caught just as many fish as you did.

This is not sour grapes. As the keeper of my own secret spots and a fantastic technique for catching lake trout in Algonquin Park, I am still thinking this through. I’d appreciate your thoughts.

Is it time to end the secrecy and let others enjoy the fishing in your spot?

12lb walleye from Bay of Quinte - Caught by Kyle Billingsley

My cousin Kyle has been hard water angling this winter.  I recently became aware that he hooked into a huge of Bay of Quinte pickerel. I don’t have many details yet, but his wife tells me he was jigging for the behemoth that weighed in at 12 lbs! Great job Kyle! Thanks for the photo Di.

Muskoka Outdoors visitors – I would love to post pictures of the fish you have been catching through the ice this year. Email them to me using the Contact  link below.

Somewhere in Northern Ontario...

“May your day be surrounded with the ones you love and enjoying something you love.” – Muskoka Outdoors