Kit said:
Really? I did not know that. It surely was needed in most spots. Fish surely could not get back up stream if they go down stream we somewhat fixed that problem. More so dead hanging trees over the creek dipping into the water collecting everything that came down stream, plastic bags, bed sheets (yeah messed up), cans all sorts of crap. Theres another bad spot down stream that has literally split the creek into two due to blockage. Clearing that would take a team of guys thats how much work is down there.
TroutCommander is correct Kit. I know you had the best of intentions and am also not sure that what you did altered the course of the stream in any way. Don't take this as a knock Kit, I commend you and Hamiltonangler on what you did, I would do the same. I also believe Trout Unlimited would do so and I am not sure if they need MNR approval. But it is illegal to alter the natural course of any waterway without ministry approval.
That being said, let me relate a story about the ministries wisdom.
A number of years ago I had a trailer on the headwaters of a well known Lake O trib. In front of my trailer was a set of rapids that ran down into a deep pool and I could literally catch Specks up to 1.5 lbs and Browns to 3 outside my front door all day. In the rapids I build a rock wall and dredged out a spot below this wall where I could lie down in the cold water and it would come down over the wall and run down my body. I called it my bath-tub LOL.
One day a MNR guy comes along and mentions that my "tub" not not look natural and when I admitted to my work he scolded me, but being 20 years ago they were much more lenient then. Not that my work caused any damage, as I could get up in the morning and drop a worm in my "tub" and get 2 or 3 fish every day
They seemed to like it.
It turned out that he was checking out the stream because someone wanted to do road work and alter a bridge upstream. The work was approved the following year, the waters muddied as the work progressed the whole summer. The next year things seemed fine, but the water flow was diminshed, there was less water and it was running slower. Within 3 years the Specks were gone. Not enough O2 and the slower flow caused the water to be warmer I believe. I returned there last year and what used to be a 15 ft wide pool that was 4 or 5 ft deep is now a narrow channel maybe 2 ft wide and 2 ft deep. The slower water flow is what I am sure caused the pool to become smaller and then gone because it allowed slit to accumulate and there was a bend in the river right there. We caught a few small Perch and an unusually skinny 12 inch Pike. I bush-wacked upstream for a couple of hours and did find 1 4 inch Speck.
Sad story about how an MNR approved construction caused the total destruction of a beautiful Trout stream not more than a 20 minute drive from the Golden Horseshoe.
After all that, I do have to commend the MNR on the work and fishing regs on the Upper C. I grew up in Brampton and fished the Upper C for Specks all the time. My Father and I would catch them all day when I was young. The limit at the time was 15 fish and then went to 7. We were C&R mostly unless a fish was bleeding, but over the years the Specks disappeared there too. I am happy to say they are back now that the MNR has introduced single barbless hooks to the area, and made it completely C&R. The Specks are not there like they were when I was a kid, but they are coming back.
Alfie.
