Keeping Steelhead Rainbow Trout in the Saugeen River For Future Generations
I was happy to be a part of the celebration this week with Ontario Steelheaders president Karl Redin when Rod Jones was presented with the Canadian Recreational Fisheries Award for his long time commitment to the Ontario sport fishery. Rod has been dedicated to the game for more than 40 years. Congratulations Rod! You are joining a small elite group of conservation minded individuals. You definitely deserve the recognition. Way to go.
Once again it is that time of the year for the annual spring Steelheaders Derby. Hopefully it isn’t going to be as soggy as the past couple, but I know no one is holding their breath onthat….lol. I have posted a volunteer signup sheet in the park for any one that is willing to help us out with a couple of the tasks that are required to make the derby fun and enjoyable for all. If you sign up for a task, we will depend on you to be there and in functional condition (you will have to save the partying till your task is completed).
Any one that is going to donate prizes could you please get them to me ASAP or at least let me know what it is that you are going to donate. This will give us a better game plan & idea of what we have for our always awesome prize selection. Once again thank you very much to all that donate, you all know the money raised goes to a great cause.
There is a women class that was added last fall, but unfortunately none of the ladies landed any chrome. So to all you lady Steelheaders this is your chance to be the first on the trophy. There is also a plaque for the spring and Fall derbies now for the live release class, so if youget a beauty that won’t make the leader board get its length & let it go to breed and be caught another day.
Now for a reminder of some of the derby “Rules”: Three air horn blasts at the end of the park will indicate 1 hour remaining to weigh in, 2 air horn blasts will indicate 30 minutes remaining & 1 long air horn blast indicates that the derby is officially close. My iPhone is going to be the set time that this is based around, so it may be a good idea to sync your watches and cells to my time. All fish will be weighed with the scale provided by the Ontario Steelheaders & only this scale, no exceptions. There will be no exception for late weigh-ins, no matter how great yourstory (fishtale) is. If there is a tie, the 1st person to weigh in one of the tying fish takes the top position. Last but not least, tight lines, have fun and be safe.
Overnight camping is available at the Denny’s Dam Park located on the Saugeen River. Members and non-members are invited to camp with tent, travel trailer or RV for the event. For more information, see the park page.
The Saugeen River derby is held at Denny’s Dam Park on the Saugeen River near Southampton Ontario.
Tip of the hat to Ken “Creekman” Davis for illustrating the latest California WaterBlog with his 35-second video of salmon spawning in Putah Creek. In an early December survey, Ken found that an estimated 200 salmon came to spawn in the stream – by far the most in more than 30 years on annual surveys. UC Davis fish biologist Peter Moyle couldn’t be happier: http://bit.ly/1FfRiD2
Posted by UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences on Thursday, March 12, 2015
A very long four days, working with the Ontario Steelheaders with our annual spring adult steelhead trap and transport program on Ontario’s Saugeen River. We trap 1,000 pre-spawn adults at Denny’s Dam and drive and trailer them 50 miles upriver to the Beatty Saugeen and it’s great spawning waters. We only lower the trap twice a day for only an hour and trap an average approximately of 500 plus fish a day in the two lifts. We can only handle 50 fish in each of the 3 trailers a trip. It took a little more than five days to capture the thousand adults. Adults average 7 pounds plus, but we always see fish over 15 pounds. Lots of tough work on the boys and their trucks. The fish are driven to the Beatty and tubed into the stream. Next up, we stock 50,000 yearling smolt next week. The Saugeen now see runs of 40,000-50,000 adults yearly due to volunteer efforts. Some of us are getting a little old for this type of workout.
Spring is in the air and the Ontario Steelheaders / Lake Huron Fishing Club members started yesterday afternoon with their annual Saugeen River adult steelhead transfers. Just the first test lift yesterday. The trap was down for only two hours and 200 fish were captured and 150 transferred by trailer 40 miles upriver to the promised spawning grounds. The next few days will see a thousand trailered and thousands simply checked and allowed to pass through Denny’s Dam. What a miracle program…The estimated spring and fall runs now ranges from 40,000 – 50,000 fish.
Happy Spring! Yesterday was first day of spring for 2015. While Michigan seems to be getting steelhead runs in their rivers, Lake Huron tribs in Ontario may have to wait a bit longer.
As the News and Media Director of the Ontario Steelheaders, it gives me great pleasure to announce that Rodney (ROD) Jones one of our longest and dedicated members, will be presented with the “Canada’s Recreational Fisheries Award.”
The Award recognizes his outstanding contributions to promote the interests of recreational fishing in Ontario and improve recreational fisheries on the Saugeen River watershed. His leadership has made a significant contribution to recreational fishing and fisheries conservation in Canada. The Award ceremony place and time will be announced at a later date.
A letter is attached for all to read signed by the Honourable Gail Shea, P.C., M.P., Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada.
Best Regards,
David Allen
