A NOTICE TO ALL SPRING FISHERMEN:

The MNR has cancelled our spring fishing opportunities for most species, effective March 15 through the 3rd Saturday in May (i.e. the two-four weekend). This new law will do absolutely nothing to protect the spawning size females of all species; it only stops people from fishing for them for a couple months but come spring, it's open seasons on them again. As a lodge owner, this takes a big bite out of the income that is derived from late winter and early spring fishing. As a sport fisherman, it stops your enjoyment of the sport when the blackflies and mosquitoes haven't began yet. Your annual fishing license should be just that ... a license to allow you to fish ALL YEAR.

There are also major changes to the fishing zones across the province. Seasons have also changed. Slot sizes on some species have also changed. READ AND UNDERSTAND these regulations before going fishing!

Full details can be obtained in the 2010 fishing regulation booklet available from authorized license outlets (but not from the MNR offices; it's not their job offering this info any longer) or at the following site: http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envregistry/027028ex.htm . I URGE EVERYONE TO VOICE THEIR OBJECTIONS TO THIS REGULATION.

Possible alternatives could include:

• reduction in our daily limit (3 to 2 fish, for lake trout),

• slot size changes (release the spawners, all species),

• reduce the number of lines for winter fishing from 2 to 1,

• total ban on gorge style hooks (to allow for live release of some fish)

Contact (in writing) your MPP (if you are an Ontario resident) as well as the current Minister of Natural Resources. Encourage your families, co-workers and friends to submit a letter. You do not have to be a resident of Ontario to object to this regulation. The future of fishing is in everyone's hands!

UPDATE: Further information will be posted here as I receive it.

Ice fishing is still a popular winter activity at Northland Paradise Lodge. Lakes are usually frozen to a sufficient and safe thickness by mid December to allow pedestrian access on area lakes. Heated huts are then put on the lakes by Christmas. Please inquire about early season ice fishing conditions. Whitefish and ling (barbot) are in season at this time of year. With the new shorter fishing seasons effective last year, the winter seasons for lakers, northerns and walleye have been changed to February 15 through March 15. Depending on the year’s spring thaw and breakup, our baited huts are maintained through to the end of March for whitefish and ling.

Our spacious 6' X 8' insulated hut with 4 drilled 10” holes is situated approximately 100 yards/meters in front of the lodge in 20 to 25 feet of water, is propane heated and has padded seats as well as plenty of windows for natural light. Candles are supplied for night fishing. Tackle and tip-ups can be purchased in our gift shop while live bait is available next to the lodge. A smoker is available for a nominal charge to give your day’s catch “that little something extra”.

Check-in times for weekly packages are after 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and check-out times are before 11:00 a.m. on the following Saturdays. For overnight packages, the same times apply for each day. Please inquire about any variations that can be made to these time schedules.

Responsible use of alcoholic beverages is allowed on lodge property. However, we are not a licensed outlet for the sale of these beverages

Pets are always welcome.

Have you ever caught a tagged fish?

    

Occasionally, fishermen will catch a fish (usually a walleye in Temagami area lakes) that has a stainless steel jaw tag in its bottom lip. The first question that is usually asked is "Am I allowed to keep it?" That depends on the size of the fish; if it is in the slot size, then the answer is unquestionably "NO". However, if it is not a slotted fish, then you can legally keep it. Before you toss it into the live well or onto your stringer, please think of the reasons that this fish has been tagged in the first place. Whether it is a male or female walleye, it was caught in a trap net in a creek or river that is known to be used as a spawning area in the spring of the year. These nets are the property of the MNR and have been placed there by volunteers from the local Temagami and Area Fish Involvement Program (TAFIP) which collects the spawn and raises young walleye to be placed back in a number of different area lakes and to assist Nature in keeping a healthy population of fish for anglers to harvest in future years. This particular fish was stripped of some of its roe or sperm and then both the weights and measurements were recorded before being tagged and then released back into the lake. The jaw tag has a 6- or 7-digit number on it that identifies this fish and the year that it was tagged. If you do decide to keep it, please return the tag to any Ontario MNR office so they can update their data on it. It is also requested that you report the length and weight of the fish as well as the date and name of the lake on which it was caught. If you'd like to keep the tag as a souvenir, that's also allowed but please forward on the info described above as well as the tag number.

The other option would be to weigh and measure the fish, record the tag number (for the MNR) and then release it back into the lake. This will tell the MNR how much that fish has grown since it was tagged. If it is caught again at a later date (possibly years from now) and the info is recorded again, it would greatly add to the knowledge base on the health and sustainability of the species in that particular lake. At the present time, only walleye in Lake Temagami and the Cassels-Rabbit lake system have been tagged.

The odds of catching a tagged fish are about the same as winning a lottery. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of fish that use a spawning area every year. A small percentage of these are caught in the trap nets. Of these fish, even a smaller percentage are ever tagged. As a volunteer with TAFIP, I helped tag about 30 or 40 fish in both lakes in 2009. To give us a good cross-section of all the fish in the lakes, both males and females were tagged and the weights ranged from less than a pound (a male) to one female that tipped the scales at just under 7 pounds. Needless to say, we had much bigger fish in the 10 to 12 pound range that we chose not to tag. The reason that these large fish were not tagged is because we are more interested in how fast they grow and younger ones will grow a lot faster than these older fish.

So ... enjoy your fishing opportunities and perhaps you just might catch a tagged fish. Recording the info and then returning it to the lake (after all the pictures are taken) will assist in proper management plans for a sustainable fishery not just for you to enjoy but for your children and grandchildren to enjoy for years to come. As for the walleye pictured above, it was a 17 inch, 2-pound male that was tagged and released back into Lake Temagami in 2009.

Weekly Ice Fishing Report

A weekly ice fishing report will be posted here to assist our guests in their plans for one of winter's most pleasurable activities. Ice depths, slush conditions, what's biting best, favorite lures/bait rigs and anything else associated with this sport (as it is reported to me) will be listed here.

All of this information should only be viewed as a guideline and should never be misinterpreted as cold hard facts in any sense of legal obligations. Absolutely no liability will be associated with this and all users assume all responsibility and consequences resulting from their own actions taken from this information.

2009/2010 REPORT

Monday, March 29, 2010. The ice has seriously deteriorated in the past week and is now getting that dark gray color that is typical of "candled ice" just before it breaks up for the season. Shorelines are showing signs of open water in several places. Warmer temperatures in the near +20 C range are predicted towards the end of this week and if this happens and is accompanied by a few days of wind, we could easily be ice-free in a week's time. If so, it will set a new local record for open water in the Temagami region. My advise to everyone is to STAY OFF THE ICE as it isn't worth your life for that one last whitefish.

Saturday, March 20, 2010. The warm weather in the past week has really did a job on ice conditions throughout the entire Temagami area and people are now advised to stay off the ice. Shoreline conditions have deteriorated sufficiently that a couple of vehicles have gone through the ice, one of which is resting very comfortably in 35' of water. Tomorrow evening, the 21st, the MNR will close the fishing season for walleye, lakers and pike (to protect the spawning size fish of these species) with just whitefish remaining open but come the 3rd Saturday in May, it's "open seasons" on them again. As for myself and several other lodge owners in the area, we see this as nothing more than the MNR shutting down your fishing opportunities (and our related source of tourism income) and does absolutely nothing to protect spawning size fish in a long term management plan.

Sunday, March 14, 2010. Fishing has been good this week but with the warm weather in the range of +5 to +10 C temperatures, lakes are showing wet areas and slush in the few remaining pockets of snow on the ice. There is still 18 to 24" of good ice. The season closes soon, the 21st, for everything except whitefish and if you're interested in catching a few of these delicious treats, this is the time of year that they bite the best. Huts can be left on the lake until the end of March but with the warmer temperatures, lawn chairs are all that are necessary on most days.

Sunday, March 7, 2010. This has been one of the best ice fishing weekends in a long time, possibly years. Guests were getting their limits of both walleye and lake trout and were even picking and choosing the sizes of the ones they wanted to keep. A few whitefish, herring and pike were also part of their daily catches. As expected, the first couple hours of daylight (5:00 to 7:00 a.m.) and late afternoons until dark were the most productive. The jigging lure of choice was the 2" Williams hammered spoon in split gold and silver, tipped with a dace minnow. Neither copper nor chrome blue lures caught any fish at all. The morning fish were located in depths of 80 to 90 feet while the preferred depths in the afternoon were 20 to 40 feet.

Monday, March 1, 2010. It was a good weekend of fishing. Guests targeting lake trout on this lake easily caught their limits and released several smaller ones and even a few large ones while just keeping eating size fish. After talking with guys on other local lakes, they reported the same results for lakers there also. Whitefish were producing well but again, the walleye were slower than normal for this time of year. This unusual phenomenon has been reported across the area for the last few weeks. One big and pleasant surprise came from one of the neighbor kids who was out with his girlfriend yesterday evening and put seven 2-pound ling on the ice in a half hour. There's still 2 weeks remaining for ice fishing before the season closes on March 14 at midnight for everything except whitefish and ling.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010. There have been surprisingly fewer ice fishermen this year than in the past but all have reported fair to good catches of all target species. There still isn't any slush showing throughout the Temagami area and travel is fairly easy with less than a foot of snow on the lakes. We still have over a couple weeks of fishing left before March 15 when season closes for all species except whitefish. Get out of the house and enjoy one of winter's favorite activities.

Sunday, February 7, 2010. There hasn't been any customers fishing during the past week and I've been busy with other things so I haven't been out either but the locals that I've talked to have all reported fair to good results for the time they have spent in their huts. Temperatures have remained fairly constant for the past week or so at or around the -20 C range with only a minimal accumulation of snow. All lakes are frozen solid after the warm spell from two weeks ago and there isn't any slush anywhere now. Everyone is anticipating the opening of lake trout season in a week's time on the 15th.

Monday, January 25, 2010. A few walleye were taken but whitefish were the main (and plentiful) catches of the past weekend and again today. The temperature's been above freezing, it's been raining here for the past 24 hours and lakes are slushy everywhere. Light snow flurries and much colder weather is forecast for this coming week so things should be back to normal by the coming weekend.

Friday, January 22, 2010. First, my apologies for the length of time between the last posting and this one today. For the past couple weeks, I had forgotten one simple task in uploading the files and I never checked to see if it was actually posted on the web. Thanks to a regular customer who called and asked why there hasn't been any ice fishing reports, I found and corrected my mistake.

Ice fishing has been better for this past week with nice catches of whitefish. Regretfully, a couple of lakers had to be released as their season doesn't open for another 3 weeks. We have at least 15" of ice around the hut now and slush areas on the area lakes are starting to freeze up from the past week's cold weather. After chatting with a few of the locals, all were reporting these same success rates.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009. I finally found some time today to get the ice hut out on the lake in front of the lodge. There is about 7" of ice with 4 or 5" of snow on top of that. I didn't see any slush anywhere. Tomorrow, I'll start baiting the holes and if things go as planned, I just might get a bit of time to wet a line. The bait shop next door has already got a stock of minnows in for the winter.