Ardoch Lake spawning bed renewal project

Jeff Green | Aug 30, 2017

MALLA  (Malcolm and Ardoch Lakes Landowners Association) started up a Walleye spawning bed enhancement project on the two lakes back in 2008. Enhancements took place on Malcolm Lake between 2008 and 2010 but then the program was suspended. The Junior Rangers, who had helped with the physically demanding work of loading and unloading tons of washed river stone, were no longer available after the Junior Range program was cancelled, and project funding also became harder to find. Dan Weber, who chairs the fisheries committee at MALLA, wondered if plans to enhance two spawning beds on Ardoch Lake would ever come to fruition. Then, early this year things began to fall into place. The Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) had money available.

While MALLA does not have the legal status to accept federal grants, Watersheds Canada, a Perth-based Not For Profit that is active on the Mississippi and Rideau River Watersheds, offered to administer the grant as it did for 8 other projects. They worked with the DFO and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to get the project underway. Also, and a new Junior Rangers group, based out of Minden, was available to help out, and with the help of local volunteers the project was ready to roll in mid August.

Over two days (August 15 and 16) thirty five tons of River rock were loaded onto milk crates, brought over to specially selected shoals on Ardock Lake, and unloaded in place. 18 volunteers, including MALLA members, 4 Junior Rangers, Barbara King (Executive Director) and Melissa Dakers (Lake Stewardship Co-ordinator) from Watersheds Canada, and Pat Nobbs and Lauder Smith from Conservationists of Frontenac Addington, put their muscle power to work on the first day. 19 volunteers, including many from the first day and 9 Junior Rangers, worked on day 2 to get all the rock in place. Dan Weber said that MALLA has also been involved, since 2008, in monitoring the success of the shoal enhancement program. In the early spring, as soon as the ice goes out, they check the spawning beds to see if Walleye are spawning, and they do netting in the summer to evaluate the population as well. Now that two locations have been enhanced on Ardoch, Weber thinks Ardoch and Malcolm are done with bed enhancement.

“There are a lot of other lakes that can benefit from this,” he said “we’ve had our turn.” MALLA will continue to study the lake over time to see if the fish are thriving, partly as a way of evaluating the overall health of the two lakes.” Ardoch Lake has been in the news recently as the result of a proposal to create 24 waterfront lots and 6 back lots in the vicinity of one of the enhanced Walleye spawning beds. The location of the beds is one of the factors that the Frontenac County Planning Department will take into account when evaluating the proposal.