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Rehabilitation of winter-killed lakes

5K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  Derek 
#1 ·
Last winter resulted in massive winter-kills on Whitemouth Lake and Lake St George. Are there any rehabilitation efforts planned for either of these lakes with aggressive stocking initiatives, aeration, etc? With Lake St George, water levels were low in recent years and there was talk of the need to repair the outflow dam at the Jackhead River to bring water levels back up.

Any info that could be shared would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
#4 ·
Hi Glennie,

Whitemouth Lake was stocked with 1 million fry last spring.

As far as Lake St. George - I had not heard that it winterkilled.
I will talk to the Central Region staff (all two of them) to see if they had any reports.

Derek
Lake St George definitely got it bad last winter. I talked to a cottage owner who reported thousands of dead fish there early last season. The Fisher Branch Game and Fish Derby was shut down early in June as a grand total of 3 fish were caught during the first day. Several participants reported piles of dead pike along the shore.

What makes it so sad is that the slot limits in recent years resulted in huge pike and walleye being caught. It winter-killed in 1985 or so as well, so it has a history of it happening. If there's any one thing that could be done it's to get the outflow dam on the Jackhead River repaired to raise water levels. It might involve negotiations with the Jackhead First Nation to get it done though.

If you could forward my enquiry that would be great.

Also, I want to make a pitch to have a certain lake in the Interlake designated as a high quality management lake for walleye. I'm also concerned with people I know who are harvesting there, even though the lake is outside of the designated Metis harvesting area for fishing. Would a PM suffice or would you prefer a phone call?

Thanks
 
#3 ·
we will continue to stock Whitemouth annually, especially with its' propensity to winterkill events 1-2 years of ten or so...we will be going in there this spring with the electrofishing boat to assess last years walleye fry stocking and any natural stocking and as well left over survival from the 2013/14 winterkill, mind that mioght be hard considering 'new' fish might have enterd the lake form downriver...we will report our findings...
 
#14 ·
What is the point of stocking Whitemouth with Walleye fry when winter kill occurs on a regular basis? IMO, without an aerator or other protective means, the fry have little chance to grow to any real size. I may be wrong, but over the past few decades, I can only remember a short lived, few year's span where the lake had any decent fishery.
 
#15 ·
Much like the city with the snow clearing budget if they don't use it all they don't get as much the next year.
 
#16 ·
Good Question lirwin4,

There have been years where Walleye fishing has been very good. While the past few years have not, I can remember many years where Whitemouth was really producing. Not necessarily for large size, but for nice eating size fish. For local residents, this an important fishery. They understand that we all have to work with nature gives us, and they understand that it will not always be good. We try to put fry into the lake annually so that the lake at least has a chance to produce.

We have looked into the possibility of aeration, but the there are a number of factors that make it a low probability of success. I think this option should be kept on the radar as new technologies emerge and we (collectively - not just gov staff) get a better understanding of the oxygen demands of Walleye in shallow weedy lakes.

If you want a more in depth discussion - feel free to call - 204-345-1450.

Derek
 
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