19 replies to this topic

[Fish4Dinner]

There is this small man made pond in my sub-division in Maple. It was stocked with large mouth bass to eat flys and what not. For years only my buddy and I fish there and were catching 3-6lbs large mouth. Than we say a bunch of people fish there last year before bass season even open. They filled up 2 pails of large mouth in like 2 hours. I wanted to call MNR but i didn't. They killed my spot where i go to kill the itch. It was like 2 mins from my house and they bite all day. Now its just full of bugs.

[ec1]

sorry to hear, but things like these happen. Idiots!
Next time make sure you call the MNR. If they poach at a pond, they most likely will poach at other locations too!

[frozenfire]

definitely let the mnr know.

[Jackie]

I HATE WHEN PEOPLE DOES THAT S**T.........ARRGGGG I remember too good pond use to have bass up to 7lb....but now...not even 1 oz......the pond is empty........sigh...

By the way....what's the phone # for MNR??

[frozenfire]

everything you need to know here:

http://www.mnr.gov.o... ... 63377.html

[Jackie]

Great, Thank you so much frozenfire. I really can't bear those people no more....

[idesign]

How about we call cops for fast response.does it work.let me know.thx

[frozenfire]

How about we call cops for fast response.does it work.let me know.thx

as stated on the ministry website...only call 9-1-1 if the incident involves public safety.

[disspatcher]

Frozenfire has it right....let the cops do the job they are hired for and the MNR to do theirs.

Not a good scene for sure seeing a pond get violated like that...especially out of season!

But you know what they say..."If you are not part of the solution you are part of the problem"
Responsible anglars who sit back and do nothing...have not alot to complain about.

Sounds a little harsh yes, but WE all have to do our part to protect these sensitive resources...

[David Kearney]

Correct Disspatcher, make the call, if they leave before they get there, get the licence plate #, never confront the poacher yourself, it`s way too dangerous a situation and you never no what someone is cappable of. Although, noing myself, I would say something, and probably get into some sort of altercation! LOL Report the scum bags.

[YAWN]

Your all got your eyes covered with blinders sorry but straight up if u think anything will ever be done by the MNR.

E.G last year high park right in T.O busy spot guy filled a bucket with tiny ass bass not the right size and way past the max a bucket full common it was a disgrace to see and it wasn't just one guy it was two of them sitting there.

I know there are some decent fish in there I've pulled them out before so seeing the babies punked pissed me off.

Your dam right I went up to him and make a commotion you know what he said

"I no speak English" He did leave after my rant gotta admit.

I wasn't violent or intimidating not at all that's not what I'm on about PEACE people, but speakin up says a lot.

If u say nothing don't complain later, you say something pretty sure they'll leave!

[diggyj]

Please, in the future report them. Get a license plate if you can. Guys like that should be punished.

Dirk....

[Jackie]

There's no point talking to those people for real. If they care, they wouldn't violate the rule in the first place. They just don't care. So just call the MNR Straight UP!!! EVERYONE JUST CALL THIS # 1-877-TIPS-MNR (847-7667) whenever you see violators, don't even bother talking to those them. It will just make us look stupid.....

[disspatcher]

Thanks for the Phone # Jackie, Im going to put it in my speed dial..that way I have no excuses when I come across donkeys like this. My phone does have a camera too..great for pics of people fishing and the cars that get them there. hint hint

[disspatcher]

Your all got your eyes covered with blinders sorry but straight up if u think anything will ever be done by the MNR.

E.G last year high park right in T.O busy spot guy filled a bucket with tiny ass bass not the right size and way past the max a bucket full common it was a disgrace to see and it wasn't just one guy it was two of them sitting there.

I know there are some decent fish in there I've pulled them out before so seeing the babies punked pissed me off.

Your dam right I went up to him and make a commotion you know what he said

"I no speak English" He did leave after my rant gotta admit.

I wasn't violent or intimidating not at all that's not what I'm on about PEACE people, but speakin up says a lot.

If u say nothing don't complain later, you say something pretty sure they'll leave!

In some cases I do confront the individuals..BUT I do it in a way as if Im trying to inform them of something they are ignorant of, rather than enforcing the rules myself.

For the most part I am also a wee bit larger than they are.. and Im sure that helps too

[UglyFish]

when u get a license plate number, also take pictures of the people, vehicle and the illegal act, I.E. too many rods used, over the limit, OSS species. that way, when u call the MNR and these ppl take off or ditch the catch, u have PROOF of the act. u can bitch about iot all u want, but with out proof, they'll just walk away to do it again.

[openfire]

I'm 95% sure I know what pond you're talking about. That pond was one of our first discoveries when we started the "project" a few years back. It's listed in the GTA reports section, and can be seen among the Maps in the maps section under Vaughan Pond Maps http://www.ontariofi...d-maps-t32.html I had days where I caught (and released) 30 or more bass in the span of an hour or 2 there. It was absolutely loaded. Not so much anymore.

I can tell you that if we're talking about the same pond, I can confirm that it has definitely been pretty much ruined as you say. There are still bass there, but in nowhere near the numbers or size as before. It will probably take a few years for it to rebound if people were to stop fishing there today. Frozenfire can probably give you a better, more scientific estimate of what it would take for the pond to rebound.

In addition to the illegal poachers, I know that there is or was a group of guys who were taking bass out of that pond and moving them to several of the nearby ponds. They claimed that they were doing it because the pond was being fished out and they wanted to start new bass populations in the other ponds. If you look at the Vaughan ponds maps, look at some of the nearby ponds and you can probably figure out which ponds many of those bass were moved to. I know of one in particular.

As for the illegal activities going on there, I don't think that much can be done about it really. You can try calling the MNR, but given the sheer numbers of ponds located smack in the middle of densely populated sub-divisions, there aren't enough resources to police them as far as I'm concerned. I could be wrong, but I don't think that they view these ponds as anything more than "residential storm run-off ponds" and not worth the expense to police. Again, I could be wrong, and I hope I am.

I don't know why anyone would want to destroy a pond like that. It was a real gem.

[Fish4Dinner]

Well if the guys were moving the fish than I can understand why. But the FAMILIES I saw had them in waterless pails and in bags as well, so I am sure they kept them to eat.

[frozenfire]

if i recall correctly, largemouth take 3 years to get around the 12" mark in ontario. 12" plus would be ideal breeding size...I'm sure smaller fish are entirely capable of breeding, but their yield should be much smaller.

the pond you speak of now is not entirely fished out. there are still smaller sized fingerling bass that are still around (1-2 year age class). the pond can and will rebound if the larger fish are not taken out (catch and release only). lots of factors come into play though... one major one i've noticed being water levels.

i've mentioned this before. it was 2 or 3 years ago when an amazing pond in markham was discovered. it was almost a bass on every cast. well...that didn't last long. I mostly blame the water level the following year that really killed it. a good 1-2 feet lower than what was previously seen. this reduces the surface area signifcantly and also reduces suitable habitat as well. the pond being more shallow will heat up faster and oxygen will be depleted more quickly. ULTIMATELY, this means that the maximum carrying capacity is lowered. Meaning less fish. This will happen even if not a single fish was removed. massive fish die-offs will occur (which i've witnessed). if water levels returned to normal, a rebound in the population should be expected... sooner if there are fish of various age groups.

sorry for straying off-topic...just what i've been noticing with the local ponds

you can think of it this way.... if all the large fish are removed, it's similar to stocking the pond with fresh baby fish... these fish will grow and produce their own offspring, which will produce their own. I'm not sure about the math, but it would take a good few generations to reach that stable point that it once was...

population ecology would be useful here...unfortunately, i never managed to fit that course into my schedules during my stay at university.

https://ospace.schol... ... 265947.pdf

this article by the ministry isn't really related to what we're talking about, but has some good info you can pick out about size limits and whatnot.
it's plain obvious though...the larger fish in heavily fished areas should NOT be removed...especially in a small confined body of water.

[frozenfire]

Another thing i learned from a study is that fish in a small body of water (ponds) that experiences heavy angling pressure (all catch and release) are smaller in mass compared to ponds with no fishing.
This had to do with the time between catching and releasing largemouth bass and when it eats again.

i didn't really get into the article... was just browsing abstracts when i saw that.... interesting.