Disco

Please read the regs and laws in Ontario pertaining to your query. It is illegal to stock any fish into any other body of water with the exception of private property. Also why would you want to put bass in a brook trout pond? The bass would wipe out the Brookies which are already a sensitive species. The fact that Brookies can survive at all in that pond is amazing as brook trout are highly sensitive to temperature and toxins. This means that small pond is a gem of health and a native species survives there.

Any fishing of Salmoniod species seems to be a learning curve for beginners. Unless you have someone very knowledgeable to teach you most of us start out as kids or teens stomping around on rivers, probably damaging reds and spooking fish. I have seen a lot of people progress from sight fishermen to fishermen who target fresh fish they can't see. Some people never progress past sight fishing and some just don't care and keep ripping fish off the beds. Ripping fish off beds is like shooting a Wild Turkey while it is still roosting in a tree, while not illegal it is un sporting and somewhat unethical depending on your ethical mind set. I do target fish in gin clear water I can see at times. A Steelhead In the fall in a gin clear pool five feet or more can be spotted, I would fish then. Steelhead in gin clear water over a gravel flat I would not fish for. These fish are in the "process" of spawning. Steelhead make several reds when they spawn not just one. A fish or several fish do sit in shallow water over gravel often with males chasing a single female. These fish may have been Redding just before you have shown up or just about to redd. Either way I find this unethical to fish for these fish in my own set of ethics but that is where my fishing has evolved to over the last 35 years of Steelhead fishing. The real question is where as a fisherman/woman do you want to evolve to in your fishing endeavours? Do you want to become a meat hunter then fine the law is on your side but many catch and release fishermen are not. Do you want to only fish artificials or fly fish only? Do you want to chuck hardware at the piers only when the fish are at their prime and nowhere near spawning? Etc.

I personally prefer to use many different methods and types of rods to enjoy all aspects of Steelheading. I keep a few fish a year for food and never strip fish for roe. I also don't stomp on reds or fish fish off gravel flats no matter what I think they are doing. I use artificials and live bait where it's permitted. I find my Ethics to be practical and reasonable as we all fine our own ethics to be. That being said I have been yelled at and frowned upon for keeping a fish for the table and called names for using live bait by others on formus like this one.

Amazing how we as people see our way as the only way even though we probably all evolved from some sort of less knowledgeable and less ethical angler. I prefer not to preach ethical standards that I have made for myself but preach education and science of fish behaviours and needs with environmental respect. I hope by doing this other will raise their awareness and possibly their ethical mind set. That mind set may never align with mine but better ethics is better indeed no matter if they are the same as mine or not.

Clean out the silt areas? Lol clean out the silt more settles. The river bank stabilization and reforestation to stop erosion is the answer to silt issues. Also planting trees helps lower river temps and hold more ground water. Spring high melts blow out built up silt but this takes us actually getting accumulated snow and bank protection to not allow the blow out high water to rip apart banks.

In addition farm land needs buffers between the rivers and the crops. Storm water needs to be managed by bigger and better storm water ponds.

The problem is huge and the answers are complicated but we have made gains in many areas.

Housing now requires storm water ponds where they did not used to. Trees are planted and some buffer zones have been created. Dams have been dismantled in some head waters. Some ponds have been taken off line of head water areas.

We just need to keep going and protect the entire river and lake environments and make restitution for our forefathers mistakes.

I am not on to stir up anything but statements that include such statements as , "I believe", "I think", "I feel" etc are not in any way hard science and therefor useless in nature.

The fact is our rivers are no where near their carrying capicity. If they were we would not have shrinking returns to our rivers. Places like the Ganny and Willy have pitiful runs compared to their giant runs they had 20 years ago. These numbers are posted on several web references. How can anyone assume the rivers carrying capacity is being met and ignore the actual return numbers of fish shrinking year after year.

In addition Harvest will happen no matter if a roe ban existed or not. Harvest in general reduces the number of fish in a river. This includeds fish for consumption. A one fish limit reduces harvest drastically on a run and would be a great solution. There have been several studies on this and the studies were posted for a time on the CRAA web site when CRAA lobbied to have harvest rates reduced.

Slitting a fish for roe is illegal and unethical not to mention disgusting. Anyone doing this is breaking the law and any roe ban would not stop any person breaking the law if they are currently breaking the law with no regard for the fish. Make many many laws and rules and those ethical will follow them. Those who are not ethical will continue to break laws to satisfy their own needs.

Do I personally care if their is a roe ban or you can use roe? No I do not because I have had no material based in science to prove or disprove the merits on either side. I have read several studies on reduced harvest rates and their impact on migratory steelhead runs. Also studies as to which fish are the most important fish to Steelhead runs.(maiden spawn ears) That is entirely another topic.

My point is the science of a river and the health of its ecosystem should establish the rules we need to protect and preserve our runs. No opinions made by guesses or what anyone was thought by our parents or grand parents matter.

Let's all be open to change when the health of a river. This should be the end goal of all fishermen with the best intention of the future of our fishery put the the forefront of our priorities. If a roe ban is best show me the studies and data and I am on board. If not then let's concentrate on things we know like pollution, run off, bank stabilization, river summer temps, fish harvest rates etc.