Muskoka Outdoors

The Ontario Conservation Officers Association has recently published the second edition of their $20 wild fish and game cookbook.

If you are looking for some unique tastes for your next wild game meal-consider supporting the OCOA’s fundraising initiative. The non-profit organization will use portions of the proceeds to benefit youth outdoor programs and college bursaries.

For more details read the post from Outdoor Canada’s Editor, Patrick Walsh.

From my early days as an angler, I have always been intrigued by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) fishing records. To be honest, they always seemed to be out of reach for a local angler like myself. The what was until a recent announcement by the IGFA to open an ‘All-Tackle Length Category‘ in their record books.

This mean any large fish that you catch and release could become an IGFA length record!

You do NOT need special certification or a specific type of fish scale. Essentially, all that is required is that you catch and release according to the IGFA rules for this category and take specific photos of the fish on an IGFA fish measuring mat.

This opportunity not only encourages a quick release of a trophy class fish (for someone else to enjoy), but also increases the chances that an angler’s name, and released fish, could make the IGFA record books because the entry requirements can practically be met in any boat – anywhere.

Here are the current IGFA records for some common freshwater fish that may be lurking in a lake near you. When you catch one – let me know.

Current IGFA All-Tackle Length Records

The IGFA fish measuring mat

Bass, largemouth  Micropterus salmoides 48 cm
Bass, smallmouth  Micropterus dolomieu  34 cm
Carp, common  Cyprinus carpio  55 cm
Catfish, blue  Ictalurus furcatus  73 cm
Catfish, channel  Ictalurus punctatus  60 cm
Grayling   Thymallus thymallus  25 cm
Grayling, Arctic  Thymallus arcticus  37 cm
Muskellunge  Esox masquinongy  76 cm
Perch, white  Morone Americana  21 cm
Perch, yellow  Perca flavescens  18 cm
Pickerel, chain  Esox niger   39 cm
Pike, northern  Esox lucius  68 cm
Salmon, Atlantic  Salmo salar  64 cm
Salmon, Atlantic (landlocked)  Salmo salar  46 cm
Salmon, chinook  Oncorhynchus tshawytscha 53 cm
Salmon, chum  Oncorhynchus keta  48 cm
Salmon, coho  Oncorhynchus kisutch  53 cm
Salmon, pink  Oncorhynchus gorbuscha 39 cm
Salmon, sockeye  Oncorhynchus nerka  35 cm
Trout, brook  Salvelinus fontinalis  34 cm
Trout, brown  Salmo trutta  51 cm
Trout, bull   Salvelinus confluentus  51 cm
Trout, cutthroat  Oncorhynchus clarki  44 cm
Trout, lake   Salvelinus namaycush  74 cm
Trout, rainbow  Oncorhynchus mykiss  54 cm
Walleye   Stizostedion vitreum  52 cm

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario MNR) and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) have jointly announced that the Bancroft-North Hastings area of Ontario will be open to a one week elk hunt in 2011.

There has not been an elk hunt in Ontario for over 100 years, but the ground work for this new hunting opportunity began ten years ago in Elk Island National Park, Alberta. According to the Ontario MNR website, elk were transferred from Alberta (between 1998 and 2001) and released into these areas: Nipissing/French River, Bancroft/ North Hastings, the North Shore of Lake Huron, and Lake of the Woods. (Entire Article Here)

Ontario Elk - Photo: Ontario MNR Website

An article from the Science Daily shared that the transplanted elk encountered a high mortality rate of 41% during the years of 1998 – 2004 attributed to wolf predation, illegal hunting and stress from the transfer process.

Since that time, the mortality rate has decreased yearly and the population has increased in many areas. The elk population in the Bancroft area is now estimated to be between 330 and 766 animals. (Ontario MNR Website)

The OFAH news announcement shares details about the Bancroft 2011 elk hunt,

“A limited number of licenses and seals will be available through a random draw process for designated Wildlife Management Units in the Bancroft-North Hastings area. The short season is slated to run from the third Monday in September to the following Sunday, which is September 19 to 25 in 2011.”

Some Hunters and residents have reported to me that some elk have been seen in our area.

Muskoka Outdoors salutes all partners involved in this historic announcement.

*Science Daily Article: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. (2007, February 27). Over A Century After Disappearing, Wild Elk Return To Ontario. ScienceDaily. Retrieved

Find some time during the winter break to visit Canada’s largest marine marketplace in the Direct Energy Centre located at Toronto’s Exhibition Place. The 53rd annual boating event starts January 8 and ends on January 16, 2011.

What particularly stands out about this event is that it is also on the site of the world’s largest indoor lake. This sets the aquatic stage (of 1,000,000 gallons of Lake Ontario water) for events like:

• Wakeboard & Wakeskating WOWfest – Boarders and skaters crank up the volume for a spectacular show of grinds, tricks and flips
• wakeboard lessons
• FREE ride in an inflatable boat, canoe, kayak, or paddleboat
• Duma the waterskiing and boat-driving dog

The angler will also find this show to be a worthwhile endeavor. Not only will there be bass boats to look over, but an angler will be able to view the Great Canadian Fish Tank. It is a 40ft x 8ft aquarium filled with 5,000 gallons of water and stocked with native Ontario fish. Daily fishing demonstrations and seminars by Canada’s top anglers deliver a rare underwater view of how fish react to and strike at various types of bait, lures and fishing techniques.

More Show details

SAVE $3 when you buy tickets online!
Available here November 1st through midnight, January 7th!

Click here to order tickets!

When:
January 8 to 16, 2011
Saturdays 10 am to 7 pm
Sundays 10 am to 6 pm
Weekdays 11 am to 8 pm

Where:
Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place
100 Princes Blvd.
Toronto, ON M6K 3C3

www.TorontoBoatShow.com

If approved by Montana Wildlife Officials, 40 Sage Grouse could be relocated to the Province of Alberta to help boost a declining provincial population. A recent Winnipeg Free Press article states that,

“If the first group of relocated birds thrives, wildlife managers intend to ship 60 more sage grouse each year to Alberta for up to three years, said Mark Sullivan, wildlife program manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
Sage grouse are classified as endangered in Canada. In Alberta, their numbers have declined by about 80 per cent in recent decades as open land has been developed for agriculture and energy production.” Entire Article Here

Sage Grouse- Public Domain U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The article also states this will be the first time that wildlife will have been transferred to Canada from northeastern Montana.

Some more searching on this topic turned up a second article from the CBC news website in 2009. In the news article titled, Wildlife groups hail court ruling on sage-grouse, the transfer was probably initiated by a court ruling that ruled that Canada did not protect enough tracts of land in Alberta and Saskatchewan that act as breeding grounds for the grouse.

According to the CBC article,

“In the past year, sage-grouse numbers have dropped an estimated 20 per cent, with Alberta Fish and Wildlife counting 66 males on leks in the spring of 2009, down from 84 in 2008.”

Leks are the breeding areas of the sage grouse.

It is always good news to hear that species can receive protection when population densities plummet. I immediately think of the successful re-introduction of the wild turkey to our area of Ontario.

My only concern about this type of good news is that land now impacted by these new protected areas will have an effect on farmers who require the land for their crops and livelihoods.

The Endangered Species Act can be a two edged sword. Let’s work hard on keeping the balance.

PETA made some headlines (and I guess this blog) recently when they released a press statement indicating their disgust of Sarah Palin’s caribou hunt on Sarah Palin’s Alaska TV Show.

The anti-hunting and fishing organization also said that they would help Kansas ease some budget stress by paying the State rent to put up a sign outside a popular fishing area. A sign that would say, “If you wouldn’t do this to a dog, why do it to a fish?”

For more details that came from the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance website – Read the entire article here.

The antics of PETA are much like mosquitoes in your tent at night. You can’t do much about the buzzing – you just have to try and ignore it.

PETA's Kid Friendly Comic

This is a group that would have the world ban turkey dinners at Christmas, and an early evening fishing adventure with your kid.

Have you ever seen this comic publication from them saying that fathers are killers if they fish?

A bit out of touch don’t you think? Much like the mosquitoes on the ceiling…