Gbcla_09-33

Jeff Green | Aug 20, 2009

Ontario Stewardship Rangers distribute  rocks in the stream.

Last Monday, a team of (rather mature!) volunteers from the Greater Bobs and Crow Lakes Association, led by Fisheries Director Gord Thompson, spent the hottest day of the year rehabilitating the Walleye spawning grounds at the mouth of McEwans creek at the north end of Bobs Lake.

The task consisted of moving rocks from a pile on the roadside, where they were left by the contractor, to the bank of the stream, then spreading them on the bottom to provide a surface for the walleye to spawn over.

Gord enlisted the help of students from the Ontario Stewardship Rangers who, under the supervision of Kathleen Pitt, looked after distributing the rocks in the stream while the GBCLA volunteers moved them from the pile. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources partially funded the project, and the GBCLA covered the remaining costs.

Photo left: GBCLA members enlist the aid of gravity to place the rocks.

This project forms part of the ongoing implementation of the GBCLA's Lake Stewardship Plan, completed in 2006, which identified the various lake fisheries as areas of high priority. This summer, as well as McEwans Creek, the association intends to rehabilitate Thompson Creek in Long Bay, and plans are now in place to do this later this month.

Gord Thompson said; “Our suspicions were confirmed last summer when the MNR's survey of Bobs Lake showed that the walleye are not reproducing sufficiently to sustain a healthy fishery. A key part of the long-term solution is for us to do all we can to ensure that the spawning grounds are kept in good condition to enable reproduction to take place. That is why we are taking a lot of trouble to rehabilitate the areas that used to be good spawning grounds and are now no longer.”

He added; “We could also use some more volunteer help – particularly from those people who enjoy the great fishing in Bobs Lake or who benefit from the fishery on the lake. We need be able to rely on more than the same few people for every project.”

By mid-afternoon, under a baking sun and with three quarters of the rocks moved and in place, the workers were starting to wilt and a jump in the lake looked more and more attractive. So Gord called a halt to the proceedings, and the project will be completed in the next few days.

Any volunteers interested in helping with the Thompson Creek rehabilitation or other fisheries projects, please call Gordon Thompson at 613-375-7359.