2017 Lake Simcoe Muskie Restoration Program

Combined Spring Trapnetting, Egg Collection and Hatchery Weekly Updates

Gloucester Pool and Georgian Bay-Port Severn

April 18 - June 30, 2017

Written By Wil Wegman

Photos By Various MNRF and Hatchery Staff

Hello Muskie Fans, The following weekly updates were sent to Muskies Canada and Orillia Fish and Game Club reps as well as some key MNRF staff, each week during the five week trapnetting program. Periodically additional information was provided (and included in the updates) by hatchery staff after the trapnetting and our egg collections efforts were finished.

Thank you for your support of the Lake Simcoe Muskie Restoration Program.

Launching the Jon boat with two trap nets ready to go on Day One … Due to gusty winds, only a single would be deployed April 25 but it was well worth the effort! Week One, April 25-27 2017 Crew: Brent Shirley and Kate Gee-Midhurst, Wil Wegman Aurora District: Our initial plans after reviewing weather forecasts and keeping a tab on water temperatures at G Pool, (thanks Dustin at Bush’s Marine) and on adjacent Georgian Bay (thanks Lawrence of the MNRF crew trapnetting there) was to begin setting nets the week of May 1st. During the 4th weekend in April however, conditions started to change rapidly as water and air temps warmed up and weather predictions for the last week

in April changed to include some downright balmy days. Texts began to fly back and forth Sunday April 23 with Brent Shirley (Midhurst) and myself as we tried to stay one step ahead of the weather and play the prediction game based on multiple forecasts we were reviewing. Ultimately, together with Midhurst and Aurora District staff we hastily prepared to begin setting nets on Tuesday April 25th. As luck would have it, the day turned out to be nasty and cool, with lots of rain mixed with strong southeast crosswinds. These ingredients combined to make net setting an unpleasant chore so Brent, myself and Kate realized after setting one net, that any future attempts at more net-sets that day was not a wise move. We were happy with that one net-set though. It was one we moved 20 metres from where the usual set is placed. Over the last couple of years more and more woody debris had accumulated there, potentially affecting how efficient that net fished, so we decided to move it. From there, we unloaded all the nets onto our hosts property (a wonderful couple who have let us use their home dock and waterfront as our base of operations for about 10 years) and organized everything for a more successful day of setting nets the following day – bright and early Wednesday.

The view from our ‘office window’ and base of operations until we collect enough muskie eggs for the two hatcheries

‘Meg’ … Looks after home base while we’re out in the boat, but before we leave this gorgeous Nova Scotia Duck Toller insists we play ball first! Wed. April 26. Crew: Wil, Brent and Kate: The same three person crew (about max # for setting nets in an 18’ Jon boat) arrived early Wednesday to optimize their chances at setting nets successfully before winds picked up later that day. One by one, the six foot trap nets were deployed. At one site, the same(?) mother Canada Goose that was there last year for the entire 6 weeks, was already on her nest. And, just like last year … she was right beside the only stump on a small rocky outcropping that we had to tie the main lead line off to. Needless to say she was none too happy with me as I tried to reach the rope around the stump right next to her. Lifting one hand in the air to attract her attention, I was able to divert her attention long enough to move the rope around the stump and avoid being pecked at … and as I tied off we promised to not bother her again until we collected enough eggs of our own!

Mother Goose wouldn’t budge as we tied off to a stump next to her – guarding her eggs and hopefully

our trap net when we’re not there!

Once our last net was set, we travelled over to that first net we set on Day One … to fish it. None of us had very high expectations as water temps were still cool (7.5C) and we weren’t entirely certain about how effective our semi-new site would be. As we pulled up the nets though, our spirits lifted as not only were there plenty of fish (brown bullhead, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed sunfish, rock bass and perch) in there, but there was our first glorious muskie! We quickly processed the other species, then had a good look at the muskie. As we peered deep into the net we saw that it had one of our tags from a previous year, but could tell with all the black encrusted algae on it, that it was a very old tag. As I steadied the fish, Brent scraped the gunk off the tag and was able to read out the number for Kate to record. A quick reference check right there in the boat with some printed data meticulously documented over the years by Brent … clearly indicated that this very fish was a male, caught and tagged by us seven years ago in 2010! Perhaps just as remarkable was that it was originally caught at relatively the same site – just 20 metres away and was never used for an egg collection. The fish was in excellent shape – without even the slightest blemish in the spot (between the rays of the dorsal fin) where the tag was inserted. With that lone male happy to see us and ripe with milt, we chose to hold him overnight in the same net … in the off chance we’d get lucky with a female the next day.

The site fidelity of muskie during the spring spawning period is well documented and often reinforced during the trap netting efforts on Gloucester Pool. This male held by Brent was first caught and tagged in 2010 and re-caught seven years later in the same area The following day we exchanged Kate Gee for Aurora’s own Carolyn Hann and once again set out bright and early on Gloucester Pool/Little Lake – but this time not to set nets but to check them. With a noteworthy wind in the main lake, we decided to fish our furthest net there first before winds picked up as promised. As we pulled up to the net, we were impressed that despite the high winds overnight, the set had not budged an inch and looked as good as when we set it. The new “Big Red” anchor that we were using for this main lake - often wind swept site, was certainly doing its job! Once we pulled the net alongside the workboat it didn’t take long before excited heaping and hollering commenced as the trio spotted not just one … but two 40 inch plus muskie amongst all the other fish in this net! And to make us really giddy with glee – we had a ripe untagged female and ripe untagged male ready to go! With winds picking up and an-on the spot egg collection possibly not the best option, a decision was made to quickly travel back to our base, grab the huge muskie tub, come back, fill it with water for those two special would-be parents and deposit them in one of our closer net sets. We did that, then tied off the funnel (to prevent escape and entry of any new fish) and quickly fished the other four nets and closed them off as we usually do Thursday’s. (The health lab in Guelph cannot accept gametes for testing past late afternoon on Friday.) We found very good catches for this early in the season, but no more muskie.

Brent and Carolyn go thru the process of hardening eggs and preparing for transport to the

hatcheries. Each hatchery supplies their own water

With three muskie collected in the tub, off we went across the bay to calmer waters back at base. Reps from Blue Jay Creek and Fleming hatchery were contacted and staff back at the districts were notified as was the health lab. All were as pleasantly surprised as we were to be informed a muskie egg collection could be imminent. We are typically set to perform egg collections at any one of our net sets, however with potential T storms predicted later that day and the wind factor coming into play, the choice was an easy one to make. And … so was the whole process of removing eggs from the female and fertilizing with the male’s milt (we chose the tagged male from Tuesday with the other on stand-bye in case he couldn’t perform under pressure). We commented in fact how manageable these muskie (all in the 40-42 inch range) were compared to the larger more rambunctious ones we dealt with last year when water temps were at least double what they were currently ... at 8-9 C. And, even more impressive, for a mid-sized 42 inch female this young lady provided plenty of eggs - at about 20,000 for each of the hatcheries.

All muskie are measured (length and girth), scale sample taken (possible for ageing but more for

genetics), tagged if not already (with MNRF phone number and unique ID number on each) and we

record if they are male or female, ripe or hard before they are released

Success came early … here Carolyn and Brent show off our first egg collection while eggs were still fresh before they expanded somewhat

Although staff from Blue Jay Creek (BJC) were amidst their own egg collection … for walleye out on Manitoulin Island … they ran a staff person back to shore who would grab a vehicle and meet Brent Shirley in Point Au Baril for the passing of the eggs. Here both Victoria from BJC and Brent had to deal with a major thunderstorm that turned the skies black for their respective drives. Meanwhile Carolyn and myself avoided all stormy conditions on our way to Fleming College and our egg drop for Mark Newell was uneventful. He gladly accepted the eggs, looked them over and, face-a-gleaming remarked what beautiful condition they looked to be in. “Sorry to have ruined you weekend Mark!” I quipped as we handed over the eggs … knowing that he’d be busy almost round the clock for the next few days tending to his precious progeny … but he responded with a big smile “Man … you just made my weekend!”

Above: Biologist Carolyn Hann getting set to release one of our three muskie

Below: Brent tells Wil to tuck in his darned T shirt before he releases one of the three muskie

Week Two – A look ahead; As we are continually reminded, trying to predict outcomes of this trap netting and muskie egg collection program can sometimes be an effort in futility – however here’s how things are shaping up for week two: Starting Early: Typically we open nets Sunday, so we can fish them Monday. However … as you avid muskie anglers know all too well, stormy, rainy, windy weather can be absolutely prime for muskie activity and Sunday those are the very conditions we are tentatively looking at. With that in mind, Brent and I will open nets Saturday so that they can fish under those optimal muskie catching conditions … in the hopes of another successful egg collection on Monday. If not Monday … then staff from Midhurst and Aurora will be out the following three days to try and make it happen!

With some Gloucester Pool walleye potentially showing up in Georgian Bay near Port Severn … where another MNRF crew is trapnetting, Midhurst and Aurora Districts decided to tag the few walleye they catch while trapnetting for muskie. Above, Brent shows off one of those walleye, and below Wil and Carolyn another

WEEK TWO Week Two: Sat April 29-Thursday May 4th, 2017 This was our first week of checking nets as week one all five nets were only available to check on the Thursday – the day of our egg collection. As last week’s update concluded, Brent Shirley and myself would open nets on the Saturday instead of Sunday in order to take advantage of ‘good muskie’ weather – to maximize our chances of another egg collection on Monday. Brent and I met bright and early at 7am Saturday morning but were not thrilled that windy, rainy weather was now matched with a major cold front. However, we still hoped against hope that the lousy weather that day and even worse on Sunday – would still entice those muskie to stay with the program … ie to get caught in our trap nets so they could contribute to the cause before being tagged and released to roam the waters of G Pool again.

Monday May 1st Crew: Brent, Kate, Wil and Aurora District biologist Melanie Shapiera. Cool and wet weather didn’t dampen our spirits as we set out excitedly early that morning to fish our five nets. With an uncustomary 48 hour net set, we anticipated nice full nets of the usual customers for this early in the spring …. Large and smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed and bluegill sunfish, rock bass and black crappie, brown bullhead and northern pike and maybe even some bowfin or walleye. All but the later were caught that day in ok numbers but there was no question the dropping barometer and significant cooling trend had halted major fish movements. Air temps were down an incredible 20 degrees from the last time we checked nets Thursday… from a high of a booming 28C down to a low of about 8 today! Zero muskie were seen that day.

1st Wil and Kate and then Mel show off a couple of the big largemouth bass that were caught during week 2 Tuesday, May 2nd Crew: Brent and Wil. Carolyn Hann (Aurora District Biologist) and Brent Armstrong (Midhurst Aggregates Technician) Another day of very much the same … unfortunately. Cool, wet and windy conditions prevailed. High water today was coming over the dock. With a little filamentous algae already beginning to show up in two of our nets, our concerns for a duplicate of the mess we had to deal with last year (due to prolonged cold water conditions) were lamented over. Low catch rates of the usual fish species for all our five nets prevailed. With similar weather conditions predicted and low catches anticipated for the rest of the week, a decision was made to hold back on setting our sixth trap net and to utilize it as a replacement just in case we had to pull any out for cleaning in the coming days. No Muskie by end of work day.

Brent Armstrong doesn’t get out on the boat as much as he used to in previous years so he enjoyed his time back on the Pool – especially hefting big largemouth like this. Contrary to other typical aggregates officers across the province … Brent’s favorite species is NOT Rock Bass

Brent Shirley went retro on Tuesday touting a circa 1975 MNR cap emblazoned with the old government mantra for Ontario “Keep it Beautiful.” He even found shades to match!

Carolyn and her pumpkinseed Eva easily manages a strong slippery bowfin

Even brown bullhead catfish get some love from Wil

Wednesday May 3rd Crew: All-Aurora District staff: Wil and Mel. Alex Kissel (Acting Lake Simcoe biologist) and Eva Bobak- Integrated Resource Management Technician Although the crew started off with major cloud cover, the cool northwest winds soon blew thru to clear sunny skies for the rest of the day. Fortunately the waterbodies of Gloucester Pool and adjoining Little Lake are not like the wide open stretches of adjacent Georgian Bay or even Lake Simcoe … so all nets could still be fished safely and effectively. Once again though the crew was disappointed to see very low catches and no muskie while temps still hovered in that 8-9C range. UGLMU Crew and District’s Crews Work Together: On Wednesday a crew from MNRF’s Upper Great Lakes Management Unit (UGLMU) began to set their muskie trap nets in Georgian Bay’s Severn Sound out from Waubaushene. This same crew was out a couple of weeks prior in the same area for a walleye-focussed trap netting program and helped keep the G Pool Aurora/Midhurst crew in the loop with water temps and catch rates. The UGLMU crew was based out of Point Au Baril on Georgian Bay in 2016 and when they captured a ripe male and female muskie, Brent and I went up there to conduct an egg collection. This year, with the two crews working so close together (separated by just the locks in Port Severn) it has become even easier to work together towards achieving successful egg collections. To this end, a method in the past that was used successfully (dry egg collections) – would be tried again in 2017. The UGLMU crew, captained by Lawrence Skinner, has kindly offered to take eggs from any healthy female muskie – keep them in the dry within egg jars, collect milt in a syringe from a male – keep on ice and transfer back to the dock for the G Pool crew to do the mixing. They will then deliver eggs to the two hatcheries and gametes to the Health Lab in Guelph for testing. This cooperative effort would never be possible without open and almost immediate communication and thanks to strong cell service and a strong desire for success from both crews – our chances to succeed have been doubled. When all our work was done on G Pool Wednesday, Wil took a trip to Waubaushene to deliver the required materials to Lawrence and his crew. Thursday and Friday no muskie were caught by the UGLMU crew.

Mel and one of the larger pike we see from the Pool*

Eva and a beautifully healthy pike* Alex – a new bio for Aurora District with ‘his’ pike*

*Note … when catches are real low, crew reserve the right to photograph the same fish being held by more than one staff person

Although no nets were completely void of

fish, there was no question counts were

way down. Two beautiful pumpkinseed

sunfish below were highlight of the net set

shown here

Bass love crayfish and both predator and prey came from this net-set.

Thursday May 4th Crew (all Midhurst) Kate and Brent. John Almond and Ryan Stapleton Although winds were moderate for the folks from Midhurst, cool, wet weather prevailed and once again overall catches were very low. The first stinkpot (musk) turtle was captured and released As were a few more northern map turtles. No muskie for our last day of the week on G Pool!

Below: Ryan – a new Resource Management Tech with Midhurst enjoyed his first trip

John Almond, formerly of Aurora District, is now the Resource Operations Supervisor in Midhurst. as a crew member on the Pool. For several years he tried to find an opportunity to get out on the boat while in Aurora, but finally had that chance in Midhurst – and loved every minute of it. Hatchery Updates:

Mark Newell at Fleming was quite busy plucking dead eggs on his first weekend after receiving them April 27th but he still managed to retain the majority

Through a microscope he filmed a tremendous piece showing a muskie egg about to hatch that is now posted on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCIV49wO2Uw You may have to watch this little clip a couple of times to catch it!

Late Friday, May 5th Mark notes that muskie eggs hatched at 185 hours post fertilization and that almost all eggs have now become sac fry – approx., 12,000 worth.

Blue Jay Creek had more initial mortality that first weekend but conditions and state of remaining eggs has improved. More details available next week

Week 3- A look Ahead: With just five days of fishing five nets each day already behind us – it seems odd to already be calling this our third week – but technically that’s the deal – so here’s what we have planned based on the poor weather and catch rates we experienced May 1-4th.

With water temperature around 9 C and set to drop during this wknd (May 6,7) due to air temps dipping below zero at night and just a high of 3 on Sunday and still just 6 on Monday, the decision was made NOT to open nets this weekend as is usually the case. The chances of ripe muskie moving are just far too slim with these continually dropping temperatures.

Instead, on Monday (wind permitting) or Tuesday as alternate two nets with particularly low catches will be taken out, cleaned and then reset in new areas. The 6th net that was repaired last week by Kate and Ryan, will likely be deployed as well. The remaining three nets will be re-opened (they were closed off as usual last Thursday)

If provisions can be made with the health lab to potentially accept gametes for testing late on Friday – the crew will fish the nets Friday

It is expected that as temperatures begin to slowly increase … so too will our chances of success. Until then, think warm thoughts as we look forward to a more productive week. Thanks.

WEEK THREE

Monday, May 8th Crew: Wil and Brent With low catches, cool water temps, some flurries, below freezing temps and high winds on the weekend prior, the decision was made at the end of week two, not to open the nets on Sunday as usual. However, it was not an uneventful weekend on the muskie front as the UGLMU crew on Georgina Bay captured three muskie- one female and two males and managed a small egg collection on board their beautiful new Stanley Boat … in the dry! This ‘new egg collection method for the Midhurst-Aurora crew’ was to be primarily an experiment with just 1,000 eggs. (Our first regular egg collection April 27 yielded ~40,000 eggs total). The G Bay eggs were collected in the dry within a standard egg collection jar, and the milt was extracted from the male with a syringe – and both were retained in a fridge until early Monday morning. Here Brent, Wil and Alex Kissel mixed the eggs and milt according to the standard egg-collection protocol – and then Alex delivered them to Mark Newell at Fleming. Immediately afterwards Brent and Wil set out to open the nets on G Pool for week three. They headed to the far end of G Pool first to open one of their most productive nets before the wind really kicked up as promised. From there they went all the way back towards Port Severn in Little Lake and opened another net but noticed the current (Georgian Bay Locks not far-off) between the narrows of the two lakes, were about as wild and rough as either of them had ever seen. With record rainfalls and huge amounts of water entering the system, it really came as no surprise. At their net set, it should also have come as no surprise that the current played major havoc with the entire net and it was a bit of a mess – so with protection from the wind in this spot they hauled it all into their boat and re-set as best they could under the uncustomary high current conditions. At their next site, wicked wind was already sweeping across broadside to their nets with major whitecaps upon arrival. As much as the duo enjoys a challenge, trying to open this particular net was

simply not a safe endeavour so the decision was made to leave it for the next day. Their two other nets were opened without any fanfare and ready for the next day. No muskie reported by the Georgian Bay crew and their overall fish counts were down as well. Tuesday May 9. Crew: Wil, Brent and Mel (Three person crew typically used when setting or hauling out nets) Although temperatures remained well below normal for this time of year, for the first time in a long time, the crew was very grateful for both sun and relatively low winds. The plan was to set one new net at a location in a spot not used for several years on G Pool, and to remove another net between the two lakes – which had poor catches and was beginning to really be affected with filamentous algae. As some of you may recall, this algae proliferates during the spring when extended cold water temperatures (below 10C) prevail and it was a real plague for last year’s crews to deal with. This trap net would be removed, brought back to Midhurst, spread out onto a parking lot, baked in the sun and cleaned with a power washer before being re-deployed. On their way to set their first net, the crew was thrilled to see an immature bald eagle leap from its perch as they drove by. This was the 2nd eagle (the first was mature and seen at Little Lake last Thursday). Both Gloucester Pool and Little Lake have many cottages along shore and the crew typically prefers net sites where boat traffic will not be affected. The new for 2017 site has everything going for it. Deploying this net went without a hitch and it was ready to fish for the next day. Unfortunately none of the nets that were open and fishing that day had any muskie and overall catches were still low as water temps were still in the 9C range. The crew had major current to contend with at two of three sites. In fact current was so strong that the lead (main net leading to shore) had a major curve in it and the wings (smaller nets off to the side of the lead, that funnel the fish into the gap and house- where they are detained until released after sampling) were crumpled and ineffective. At one site, the crew hauled the entire net out, cleaned off major debris from the current and re-set. Mel and Brent (at the bow pulling in whilst cleaning the net) were literally covered in dirt, slime, and debris from the net while I was out of range at the stern operating the boat with a sly grin on my face. Retribution was not far off though as my turn up front came at our next site which was the net covered in filamentous algae. Trying to shake much of it off before it came aboard was somewhat successful but we weren’t quite sure if most of the green slimy – almost hairy goop ended up back in the lake or all over us. No muskie reported by the Georgian Bay crew and their overall fish counts were down as well. Wed. May 10, 2017 Crew: Wil and Shilah Lefeuvre (MNRF Aurora District - F & W co-op student) Steve Suchanewski (F & W technician - Midhurst District) and Kate The calmest day yet! With almost glass like conditions, 12C and mostly sun – this was a great day to be on the water checking nets. The first one checked would be their new net and although it yielded no muskie it did produce a good haul of other species. At their other sites the crew noted that although the current had subsided substantially from the day before, the affect’s on nets was still quite evident so some significant tweaking with leads and wings was done to straighten everything out before they left. Water temps were slowly climbing but still just under the double digit mark- well below normal for this time of year.

Top Right: Shilah with her first ‘trap-net’ bass- a nice smallmouth (left) on her 3rd day of co-op placement. Below, she holds a male bowfin beginning to show off some spawning colors. Shilah comes to us from Fleming College’s F & W program after graduating already from the Environmental Technician program at Georgian College No muskie reported by the Georgian Bay crew but their overall fish counts were up and their crew anticipated more muskie catches were not far off! Thursday May 11 Crew: Brent, Wil and Ben Keen (Hwy 407 biologist with Aurora District) Two calm days in a row – oh my, we’re getting spoiled! Despite complete overcast, the weather was great for pulling and resetting trap nets and that’s exactly what we did. Water temps finally reached the two digit mark at just over 10C but were still well below normal. Before setting however, the net had to be fished so we travelled down to our newest net site (set yesterday) first and were pleased to see it fished well and caught a wide diversity of fish. Although we didn’t catch any muskie here for the first 24 hours, we were encouraged that they could be in the area – especially after seeing the bight-like marks on one of the largemouth in our nets.

Steve – who’s handled plenty of fish,

still gets excited when a nice black

crappie comes aboard

Wil with one mark-free largemouth and another one a little more chewed up.

Ben remarked that he sure doesn’t get to work with nice pike like this along the 407- where he spends most of his efforts ensuring environmental safeguards are in place.

Smallmouth were plentiful at the first site as well. Here Brent holds one of his favorite species to catch – either whether in a trap net or with rod and reel!

Ben’s rather quizzical look speaks volumes as he examines a seemingly healthy largemouth with

almost its entire front dorsal fin missing, a major indent and just a few spines remaining.

After that net set the others were checked and catches were still much lower than they should be for this time of year. As well as cool water temps, a couple sites were still adversely affected by current and the one last one with major filamentous algae build up (slated for removal today) had a low catch as well. After all the nets were fished, that net was removed from the lake while the recently cleaned (sun baked, then power washed then sunbaked again) net would be re-deployed.

A close look at one of the wings shows The lead net also had its fair share of algae the filamentous algae

NASTY! Dealing with this mess was no fun but it had to be done. Brent noted the 2nd picture of Wil (where he couldn’t see his Aurora coworkers face) was one of his better shots.

By day’s end – Wil’s black rain pants were covered in Filamentous algae that closely resembled the Fish-o-flage camo jacket he was wearing! Although it was a long day on the water, the crew felt quite satisfied that they had optimized their chance for success moving forward. They removed the one net that had really begun to show algae this week, removed another where strong current was messing it up and they set two nets in two brand new locations that showed great promise. Of course seeing eagles returning to this area is always a treat and the crew watched their immature one (seen in G Pool earlier in the week) flying around the channel between Little Lake and G Pool and the adult was soaring Little Lake near Green Island Friday May 12 Crew: Wil and Carolyn, Brent and Megan Eplett (Species At Risk Biologist, Midhurst District) Although nets are usually closed Thursday’s, special arrangements were made with the hatcheries and the Guelph Health Lab to deliver eggs and gametes for testing– should the crew be fortunate enough to capture ripe male and female muskie.

Another calm and beautiful day on the water – making it three in a row this week! The crew started bright and early – just in case an egg collection occurred. They began checking their nets one by one and are happy to share the following photos from their various nets: The first net was still fishing beautifully and yielded a fair number of nice fish but no muskie. Just as they were fishing it though, a text came thru from Lawrence Skinner, leading the crew on Georgian Bay. They caught a ripe muskie in their first net and had extracted milt- which was ready in a syringe should a ripe female from either crew materialize. The pressure was on to produce a female mate!

There’s nothing quite like the anticipation of arriving at your first netting site early on a gorgeous morning. Here the crew gets ready to fish their ‘text book looking’ trap net. The lead line towards shore is identified with the floats on top and meets the wings (on each side) and fish are funneled into the gap and house. The crew lifts that part of the net, opens the zipper and begins sampling fish. The entire catch is released immediately afterwards if no muskie are found.

Carolyn (left) and Megan each with two very nice black crappie. Brent looks on commenting how tasty those fish would be! Note: Good polarized sunglasses are mandatory – not just to protect the crews’ eyes from the sun, but to clearly be able to see the condition of the net, fish and any obstructions.

Carolyn (left) manhandles a big common carp – our first of the year. Megan holds

onto a hefty channel catfish (also our first of the year) utilizing the side barbs to get

a firm and safe grip.

Beautiful bluegill sunfish numbers are way up so far this year

One of the biggest northern pike we’ve caught on the Pool – Carolyn on the left and Megan to the right.

That pike swam off in excellent shape

Big largemouth did not elude the four person crew on the last day of week 3.

Left to right –Megan, Brent, Wil and Carolyn

The first longnose gar of 2017 came from a new net site- set Thursday

Two bald eagles were observed Friday- both the mature one seen here and the juvenile of the

previous day.

Near the end of the day, the crew had checked four of their five nets (one extra used to switch up with nets pulled out due to heavy filamentous algae) but had still not seen a muskie. They came upon their last net … the second of two new ones set yesterday. It was fishing beautifully and the crew saw and heard that it was rather full of fish.

They anxiously peered over the gunnel and into the net: “There’s one … there’s a muskie!” said Carolyn … “and look there’s another one … there’s two” shouted Megan! When a muskie crew has not seen any muskie for 15 days (since April 27 when they made their first and only egg collection) it should be no surprise that the elation on board the 18’ workboat was off the charts. Brent noted that both fish were tagged … but more importantly, we had to quickly determine if they were male or female … ripe or hard. Time was running out if a trip to the lab at Guelph was still an option before they shut down for the weekend. After Brent got a good grip on one fish a couple of simple yet masterful strokes by the wily muskie veteran easily determined it was a ripe male. With the same result for the other fish … the crew was undoubtedly let down that no female would materialize, but they quickly regained their spirits knowing that this new net set not only doing its job but was outperforming others. Over 90 other fish were quickly identified and released.

This male muskie was first captured in a trap net and tagged way back in 2005 and was recaptured not far off from this site again in 2006.

WEEK FOUR Monday, May 15, 2017 Crew: Brent and Morgan Hawkins-(Wildlife Technician) Midhurst, Wil and Mel-Aurora An unprecedented 72 hour net-set had the hopes of the crew ‘off the charts’ once again as they set out early to start another week on the Pool. Their optimism was especially high not only because they had captured two ripe male muskie in their last net on Friday, but over the weekend, the Georgian Bay UGLMU crew based out of Waubaushene had captured three ripe muskie in their nets each day! If only the Health Lab at Guelph University was open weekends to accept gametes for testing – all other parties (hatchery staff, UGLMU staff and district staff) were on board to drop what they were doing to make an egg collection happen.

Veteran UGLMU trap netter, Muskies Canada Barrie chapter member and master muskie handler Lawrence Skinner displays a nice ripe female caught over the weekend in Georgian Bay.

Morgan and Wil display their catch: Largemouth and pike and then their stinkpot (or musk) turtle that was safely released from the net. In all the years the crew has captured these “Species of Special Concern” not one fatality (including far more northern map turtles) has occurred. Last pic- a small pike with a deformed back.

Melanie and Wil with one of several nice smallmouth bass captured the first day of week four.

Unfortunately like last year, this spring’s muskie trap netting efforts have been full of highs and lows and after their last net was checked Monday – it was another low – as no muskie had ventured into their G Pool or Little Lake nets over the entire 72 hour period. Tuesday, May 16 Crew: Brent and Ryan Stapleton-( A. Resource Management Technician)-Midhurst), Wil and Shilah-Aurora Although some nice catches of other species occurred on Tuesday, no muskie were captured.

Wednesday, May 17 Crew: Brent and Ryan, Emily Funnell (Resources Management Supervisor) and Ben Aurora District

Above, Brent’s retro-look is back, complete with goofy glasses and 70’s MNR ball cap - and it’s is always enough to get a chuckle from the rest of the crew.

Left: Ryan with a hefty

smallmouth from the Pool and

Shilah with a Northern Map

Turtle – then a combo of

Northern Maps and Musk

Turtles sunning themselves.

before returning to the lake.

After basking in the warm sun some

northern maps are anxious to return

to the lake. The crew catches the

occasional crayfish too – including

this native Northern Clearwater

Crayfish.

Despite the jovial atmosphere that dominates onboard their 18 foot jon boat, when it comes down to data collection …. Brent Shirley is all business. He has meticulously documented everything from species counts to weather conditions to the condition of their net sets for the majority of this program over the last 10 years. Wednesday the crew of Brent and Ryan, Emily and Ben worked with the Georgian Bay crew (UGLMU) – to complete a small ‘dry-egg collection’ from a ripe male and female they captured out of Severn Sound. This small collection went to Fleming College Hatchery.

In previous years, Emily Funnell spent plenty of days as a biologist working the trap nets on Gloucester Pool. She was happy to handle a few fish during a return visit in 2017 as Resource Management Supervisor for Aurora District.

Coulton with the UGLMU crew on Georgian Bay holds a gorgeous and enormous Micropterus dolomieu that tipped their scales at a whopping 7 ¾ lb. Thursday, May 18 Crew: Brent and Kate, Wil and Alex Again hopes were extremely high as the crew set out that morning. Overnight, conditions remained warm (over 20C) and water temps had finally increased to the 13 C range. Predicted weather for this Thursday? High UV ratings, sunny, strong south winds and 30C. As it turned out, not only did the predictions by weather forecasters come true – but so too did those from both the UGLMU and G Pool netting crews – each believing that ripe muskie and an egg collection would occur! The day turned out to be quite eventful and each crew did their part: UGLMU capturing two ripe males for two syringes of fresh milt and the G Pool one capturing a standard (for this year) ~42 ripe inch female without a tag- so never caught in their trap nets. But before that egg collection could take place a few other species had to be fished out and sampled in the six nets on G Pool - so the photos below document some of those catches.

When a netting program catches pike that are in terrific condition the occasional one with injuries or deformities is quickly noticed by the crew. This northern’s top jaw and lower teeth had some issues, but otherwise it still appeared to eat and swim well enough.

Our first white sucker of the season came from within sight of Whites Falls – where Six Mile Lake dumps into Gloucester Pool. Here Kate shows a good view of the underslung ‘sucker’ mouth which makes the species so adept at feeding off bottom.

Left: In southern and central Ontario yellow perch are usually a very common species captured within MNRF trap nets. However for the G Pool crew this is not the case so Alex shows off one of only a handful of perch caught so far. Right: Wil shows the first male Bowfin in full spawning colors – a fairly common catch in their nets when water temps warm up … but those have been slow in coming this spring. Once all the nets were fished – and the female muskie was safely retained in one, the crew travelled to Waubaushene for an important pick-up.

Left: The UGLMU crew on the beautiful clear waters of Georgian Bay – coming into port with two syringes of precious fresh milt from one of their ripe males. The handoff to the G Pool crew is on the right. Within a rapid-fire series of text messages between the 2 crews, the 2 hatcheries and the 2 district offices – this precious commodity became known as “Coulton’s milt.” The valuable white milky liquid would be used to fertilize the eggs from the female waiting back in one of the nets on G Pool. Some confusion may have become apparent within the texts so one was sent clarifying that this was not literally Coulton’s milt because “that would be gross” and was indeed that of a ripe young male muskie contributing to the program. As the crew travelled back to G Pool from Waubaushene they couldn’t help but take note of the moment they were all part of – one that would see for the first time the use of sperm from a Georgian Bay Muskie to fertilize a female’s eggs from Gloucester Pool. Although both genetically recognized as “Georgian Bay” fish … any major firsts in the LSMRP are always noteworthy.

Not quite all the items are shown here while that task is underway, but before any egg collection begins- everything required is gathered onto the deck of the work boat ready to use at moment’s notice: Hatchery water in jugs from BJC and Fleming, mixing bowls-one for each hatchery, paper towels to clean fish’s vent area, wild turkey feather to remove any feces or blood clots from egg mixture, pre-mixed Ovadine for disinfection, egg jars, coolers and ice packs for each hatchery, whirl packs to collect gamete samples for health lab and of course standard sampling gear for after the egg collection- scale envelope, knife to remove scales – for DNA, tagging gun, tape measure – for length and girth (2nd year now we are no longer taking weights- to reduce stress on fish).

Left: Brent, Wil and Kate and Right Alex with the G Pool female muskie just before release.

When ready, eggs are transferred from the bowls to their respective egg jars, where the crew carefully adds hatchery water, then Ovadine and again flushes clean with hatchery water. After all the steps were complete, Brent and Kate drove north to Parry Sound to meet up with Blue Jay Creek’s Victoria, while Alex drove south with the gametes and Wil over to Lindsay and Fleming College’s hatchery. Along route, eggs and water need to be kept at uniform temperatures within the cooler and staff need to stop every half hour to pour off water in the jars and add fresh.

Mark Newell – hatchery manager at Fleming has several procedures to follow the second the eggs are transferred over to his care. One involves an Ovadine disinfection bath

At the Fleming Hatchery, the young fry from the first egg collection carried out on April 27th are doing extremely well, under the careful tutelage of manager Mark Newell

Friday May 19, Crew: Brent and Steve, Wil and Mel “What a difference a day makes!” As extreme as the weather was Thursday (with air conditioners full blast for the drive home) so too was the weather Friday … with the heat on during the extra early morning drive to G Pool. 30C Thursday dropped to 5C Friday with strong gusty north winds making it feel much colder. The crew was just happy to be out however for their 2nd early Friday in a row … and as Muskie Canada members and others may recall- Friday is usually an office catch up day as nets are usually closed Thursdays. Special arrangements though involving staff from both hatcheries and runners from the district offices to get gametes to Guelph before they close up for the long weekend at 4:00 were made well in advance … to make today possible.

Although Melanie loves to see plenty Species of Special Concern like these Northern Map Turtles, she would have much rather participated in a muskie egg collection on Friday … but that was not to be as her expression here seems to say it all. Meanwhile Steve still manages a smile at the end of another day and week on G Pool. Notables, Hatchery Updates and Looking Ahead:

All 6 nets in G Pool and Little lake were closed off Friday before the long weekend – a simple double rip tie over the funnel, prevents fish from entering Over this long weekend I’ve spoken to both Paul Methner at Blue Jay Creek and Mark Newell at

Fleming … and although each say the condition of their fry from the first batch of eggs is excellent – eggs from the other(s), isn’t. Both hatcheries would really appreciate another family. So a new update over this holiday Monday … Nets were reopened by Brent and myself today and will not be pulled tomorrow as was anticipated. We’ll go day-by-day this

week before we pull the plug – but need all of y’all to pray real hard – for no hard muskie – just a plethora of big ripe males and females to help us get the job done

The UGLMU crew completed their muskie-specific trap netting program Friday (May 19) and will take five days before they resume their efforts for another program on Georgian Bay

Overall – at time of writing (Saturday May 20) eggs from the April 27th collection at both hatcheries have become excellent looking fry and are now feeding. Paul Methner at BJC Notes his are taking well to Brine Shrimp

The eggs from this week’s collection at both hatcheries are still doing ‘ok’ … not great but ok, as both have observed significant die off.

The decision therefore to pull nets after this week- has been delayed, pending the outcome of the eggs at the hatcheries over this long weekend

Both Midhurst and Aurora crews are set to attempt one more short work week to ensure each hatchery has enough of eggs for a successful rearing season

This one was caught and tagged more recently and Carolyn released it in great shape

This almost mammalian looking channel cat from our last set came in just under 18 lbs

Looking Ahead:

The 1,000 eggs from the dry egg collection method did not take at the Fleming hatchery as fertilization was not successful. Although there may be enough eggs/fry to meet targets, a decision was made to try for a few more days just in case issues arise at the hatcheries.

An exciting week five is coming up (May 22-26) and will be our last one on G Pool. The regular crew is extremely positive and will be welcoming some new players who can also hardly wait to get on board.

WEEK FIVE Hello Again Muskie Fans, Please feel free to pass this last update from Gloucester Pool on to others with Muskies Canada or the Orillia Fish & Game Club. We’ll try to prepare another one focusing on results from the Georgian Bay crew – and a more focussed update from each of our two hatcheries – Blue Jay Creek on Manitoulin Island and Fleming College in Lindsay. Victoria Day Monday, May 22 Crew: Wil and Brent

Above: It’s typically not until this long weekend that the dogs come out at Big Dog Point which leads into G Pool from the channel past Little Lake. Our call “who let the dogs out” however was left unanswered. In our last update, we let everyone know that we made a decision to continue fishing nets for the remainder of this week in the hopes of getting another family for each of our hatcheries. So, all we did today was open those nets – tighten the leads, straighten out the wings and cross our fingers for the upcoming days ahead of us.

Above: Opening nets typically involves a bit of TLC to ensure nets were set just right. One key task involves tightening the lead anchor that basically holds the whole trap net in place. At one of our most historically productive net-set sites on the Pool, the on-shore winds and even strong cross winds have often played havoc with our nets …discombobulating them enough that every time we fished them they had to be straightened out afterwards. This certainly wasn’t the case this year, as an old relic was resurrected from deep within the chasms of the old net barn in Midhurst District. “Old Red” as she was affectionately called, was taken out of retirement and put back into service. She more than earned her keep; retaining nice straight nets in all but the worst weather. The crew was very happy with her overall performance . She was a heavy ol girl to dislodge from bottom though at easily twice the weight of regular anchors, and in the above photo Wil has her up on the bow’s-deck ready to be hooked up. From there Brent would put the outboard in reverse and we’d tighten the whole net for another week of fishing like a dream.

Tuesday, May 23 Crew: Brent, Wil and Carolyn (3 person crews were used this week) As temperatures slowly warmed over 13 C, more warm water species ready for the spawn began to show up.

Biologist Carolyn Hann displays one of several long nose gar captured in our nets.

Above: Wil and Carolyn with one of several nice smallmouth bass caught during their last week on

the Pool. Unfortunately no muskie were captured in any of their 6 nets.

Wednesday, May 24 Crew: Brent, Wil and Mel

Above: Melanie holds one of several male bowfin displaying the big spot on the tail and full spawning colors. She managed an outward smile, however her inner-self was full of dismay without muskie or a chance to participate in an egg collection … as another day without any lunge was upon them.

Above: The crew took advantage of the calm day Wednesday to begin removing a couple of their nets. Here Wil (right) tries to cover himself as he loosens the rope to the net. As some readers may recall this net site in Little Lake became known as Goose Island last year and once again the name held in 2017. Unbeknownst to this Wanna-Be-Mother Goose (left) who was already on her eggs when they tied this net off on April 26th – the eggs were covered in mineral oil by local residents with the cottagers association under permit from Canadian Wildlife Service. This localized population control is reported to be more effective than destroying the eggs, as Mother Goose will just lay more eggs if they are destroyed, but will sit on them well beyond their normal period if the eggs are oiled waiting for them to hatch … which of course won’t happen.

Above: Musk (Stinkpot) turtles once again showed themselves on the Pool but no muskie were caught. Thursday May 25 Crew: Brent, Wil and Ryan Even though rainy conditions have accounted for many successful egg collections over the last ten years or so on the Pool – overnight storms have proven to be even better and those didn’t materialize. The 25-30mm of continual rain the crew worked in this day sure did … but no muskie materialized.

Above: A soggy Ryan with a beautifully whiskered channel catfish. A fairly vibrant channel cat population seems to exist in G Pool with decent numbers of big fish like this caught every year in the trap nets … however not many anglers ever report catching them. The crew decided to remove two more nets Thursday that were not fishing well but to leave two more open for Friday instead of closing them off.

Above: Earlier in the program MNRF co-op student “Shilah” saw one of the old ringer washing machines (used as shoal markers as shown with Shilah below on Little Lake) and asked if it was some kind of weird robot. As the program ended the crew came upon this rather unique dock mascot and actually asked the same question! Upon closer look, it came complete with a solar panel to power the two lights used for eyes in this mascot’s face… So this actual robot pic is for you Shilah!

Above: Wil shows his disgust at the filamentous algae build-up of one of their nets only days after it was completely cleaned – pressure washed and sunbaked back in Midhurst. Once again Brent remarked that the 2nd pic is another of his favorite shots of Wil. The crew took note, that although they learned last year this type of filamentous algae proliferates during extended cold water conditions in the 8-12C range, that not all of their nets displayed the slimy green goop. Those that were placed over harder bottoms, with more wind/wave action were almost free from the algae growth. Ironically, one of the nets that quickly acquired more than its share of algae after being cleaned and reset in a new location, also caught more than its share of fish- outperforming the others. Friday May 26 Crew: Brent, Steve and Wil Our last day on G Pool for 2017 … and as we set out from the dock that morning we couldn’t help but wonder after more than 10 years here, if this could be our last outing for good. Catch rates certainly are down … and we realize colder than normal weather and water temps were partially to blame the last two years. We also were not convinced that we may have caught the majority of the muskie in this relatively small system. Generally, muskie are recognized for their adept ‘net avoidance’ characteristics once caught … even though we do see a good percentage of tagged (ie previously sampled) muskie in our nets. Needless to say it was with mixed emotions that we headed out this last day.

Above, Brent and another nice smallmouth bass from one of the two remaining trapnets

Above, Steve with a beautifully packed, clean trap net… One of only two sets that had not been moved for the entire program and like other years accounted for muskie … two in 2017.

Despite all kinds of preparations with staff to run eggs to Blue Jay Creek, Fleming and the Guelph lab should an egg collection occur early enough on Friday … it was not to be, and the disheartened crew pulled the last of their two trapnets out of G Pool. Moving Forward:

Currently the fry from the first family (April 27 egg collection) are doing well … feeding and growing as they should

The 2nd smaller family at Fleming is not great. At over half way thru the hatch there appears to be a high rate of deformed fry in the few that made it thus far.

Third small family hatch has just begun and look ok so far. Mark has upgraded their status from a D+ to a C-

The UGLMU from Georgian Bay is back on the water trap netting as of Friday May 26. Although their current efforts are not focussed on muskie, they do typically have a couple of nets that are in prime muskie waters.

The UGLMU crew of Lawrence Skinner, Coulton Simms and Valerie Davey have graciously offered to continue to collect muskie eggs and milt for another possible egg collection during the upcoming week

Staff from Midhurst and Aurora are on standby this coming week to perform the mixing of a dry egg collection in Waubaushene should it take place and to run eggs to the hatcheries and Guelph lab.

Above: The G Pool crew never grew tired of the wonderful view that greeted them every day from the waterfront of their hosts’ home. Malcolm and Michelle Sexsmith have been exceptionally kind and generous to allow the joint Midhurst and Aurora MNRF cast of characters complete use of their dock and waterfront for about 10 years now. Regardless of whether it took less than two weeks … or up to six to collect enough muskie eggs for the hatcheries, this wonderful couple have been tremendous and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

HATCHERY UPDATE: May 29-June 2nd

From Fleming College Mark says that the 1st family (provided April 27) is looking really good. He predicts it’s on track to conservatively produce 1200 fall fingerlings. Currently completing the primary stage of pellet feeding, fish took to the manufactured feed remarkably well. The college hatchery is now experiencing their first losses due to cannibalism as they enter the secondary phase of pellet training. Family 2: Overnight dry fertilization from Georgian Bay over the weekend of May 6th. We had just 1,000 eggs to work with but with some questions regarding eventual outcome, this was deemed an experimental exercise for Fleming so the low number was preferred. Mark let us know that these eggs were no joy to work with and that in the long run they were not successfully fertilized. 100% loss was the result.

Family 3: This was also a very small dry egg collection collected by the UGLMU crew on the waters of Georgian Bay the morning of Wednesday May 17th. Milt and eggs were mixed shortly after noon hour that same day by the Gloucester Pool crew and then delivered to Fleming College. Mark reported poor quality eggs, possibly a problem with the genetics as eggs losses prior to hatch were high and occurred over the whole course of embryo development; many of the hatchlings that did make it out of the egg were malformed and not viable. On track to produce possibly 100 fall fingerlings. Currently these are just about to enter "swim-up" stage. Family 4: This was the last egg collection and occurred with both crews contributing efforts and fish … The Georgian Bay crew with fresh milt from a male muskie they captured the morning of May 18th and the G Pool crew used that milt to fertilize the eggs in the conventional manner-i.e. directly from a nice female they caught that same day. Unfortunately these eggs showed signs of excessive pre-fertilization stress with many crushed eggs on intake to the hatchery. Mark was kept busy removing these but eventually a small batch was the result once they were cleaned up. Mark let us know that after intake they proceeded well and hatched nicely but that they had a moderate loss due to the elevated amounts of egg proteins in the water clogging the screens of one early rearing unit that caused a localized water quality issue. Currently sac-fry are one day behind Family 3 and they are on track to produce 300 fall fingerlings from this family.

Young fry pictured below at the Blue Jay Creek Hatchery

From the Blue Jay Creek (BJC) Hatchery on beautiful Manitoulin Island, Paul Methner and his crew have been working hard with the two families they have received. His first family came from the same first egg collection carried out April 27. Although initially BJC had more issues and die off with that first batch than Fleming, losses settled down after the weekend and the remainder have since been doing remarkably well. Paul noted that these eggs have also hatched and that many of his fry are still feeding well on brine shrimp while others have already taken to dry/crushed pellet food. He noted that with

size variations among the young fry that some cannibalism is already taking place … but we all know that is common amongst young hatchery-raised muskie. Paul is on track to produce about 700 fall fingerlings from this batch From that 4th family … Paul also had many of the identical issues that Mark dealt with at Fleming. Likewise, he and other hatchery staff worked diligently to maximize production from this batch to the point that about 500 fry hatched on May 26 … and is on track to produce approx. 100 fall fingerlings from this batch. As well as continual open communications with Mark Newell from Fleming both Paul Methner and Paul Vieira of BJC consulted extensively over the off season with some of the major muskie hatcheries in Michigan and New York. Both Paul’s noted that their US counterpart’s grand production numbers often require different methods to successfully rear all those young fish. However some tricks of the trade that they heard about were transferable for their operations at BJC. Additionally, Paul Vieira actually went to Wolf Lake Muskie hatchery in NY with Ryan to visit and learn some of those muskie rearing techniques first hand.

Close up of young fry at BJC UGLMU Update. The Georgian Bay crew experienced rapidly warming water temperatures (18+C)and high winds this past week and although they were excited to capture muskie for a possible dry egg collection they really only had a couple of nets in prime muskie locations. Unfortunately only one ripe male was caught and although milt was extracted ‘just in case’ … no female materialized. So with all possible egg collections complete for 2017, the fate of our muskie for the LSMRP lies in the hands of our hatcheries and periodically other reports will be provided by them.

Blue Jay Creek: Continued struggles here as muskie were very reluctant to take to pellet feed and high rates of cannibalism persisted.

June 22, 2017 Fleming Update from Mark Newell Hey Wil, just wanted to update you and let you know that all is good. I've just let Harwood & BJC know

that we will have some surplus fish for their hatcheries ...which of course means Fleming hatchery

should hit our target of 2000 fish with no problem. Family 1 is amazing, so into the pellets, I've been

putting tons of extra work into sorting to keep cannibalism down so things look great! I know it's late in

the game to hear it, but safe to call your team's collection efforts a complete success this year. Please

extend my thanks and appreciation to all your colleagues that made it happen.

June 30, 2017 Fleming Update from Mark Newell

1,200-1,300 surplus muskie from Fleming will go to Harwood Fish Culture Station where they will be

raised by MNRF staff until ready for stocking into Lake Simcoe this fall.

Note: Family #1 at just graduated to 1.8 mm feed; Family #3 is in transition from 0.7mm to 1.2 mm feed.

Family One

Family 3

Young muskie aggregated under a feeder

Wil Wegman

<°))))>< Resource Management Technician

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Aurora District wil.wegman@ontario.ca