Header photos by John Anderson

August 26, 2013

Fishing Derby on Desert Lake




If you were at the Lake on August 17 you may have noticed a Fishing  Derby in progress. The DLPOA executive had been concerned about the environmental impact of this, and had sent a letter of concern to the Mayor.  You can see that letter here. On the day of the event, Peter Hodson kept an eye on it and prepared the following report.

On Saturday, August 17, I dropped in on the Fishing Derby and weigh station organized by the Land O’ Lakes Tourist Association at the dock of the Desert Lake campgrounds.  I visited at 7:00 - 8am, again at 3:30-4:00 (when the weigh-in closed), and did a 'drive-through' at about 11 am. 

Apparently, about 320 people had registered for the 5-lake tournament, meaning a maximum of 160 boats in the tournament because the rules required two fishermen per boat.  With some boats carrying more than two, there were likely fewer than 160 boats for the entire competition.  This translated to about 23-26 trucks/cars and trailers parked along the causeway on Desert Lake, with presumably the rest at the other four lakes.  The trailers completely filled the south side of the causeway, and some were parked around the corner on the east side and in front of the campground store on the west side, but overall, it was not excessively crowded or busy in the morning.  Some of the trailers may have been non-derby fisherman - i.e., on the lake for other reasons.  Some of the fisherman blew past our cottage at about 6:15 in the morning (not everyone has a Timex!), and there were a number of boats that left after 7:00 am directly from the campground.  Overall, I suspect there were about 30 of the maximum 160 boats on our lake, which is about right for an even split among 5 lakes.  From my experience, our part of the lake seemed a little busier than normal, although not excessively so.


The make-up of the boats included aluminum open outboards (some of which looked a little over-loaded with 3 or 4 fishermen) to high-speed bass boats (with some at max speed), and a few inboard-outboard boats.  One fellow I spoke to seemed typical - he was from Kingston, typically fished L. Ontario, the Rideau, Loughborough Lake, etc., and this was the first time he was fishing Desert Lake.

The winner of the tournament was a 5-pound largemouth bass caught by a young boy between 7 and 8 in the morning, and the 2nd and 3rd fish were about 4.5 and 3.8 lbs, respectively.  Only 22-23 fish were actually weighed, in part because people arriving with fish might see the current posting of the largest fish, and simply not submit their fish.  However, there was no last-minute anticipated rush at the weigh station, and the sense I had was that fishing was not very productive.  In the afternoon, when the boats returned to shore, the participants were planning on going to Sharbot Lake for the prize-giving and draws for door prizes.  As a consequence there was a bit of a line-up to use the launch ramp, but nothing dramatic - many of the boats had departed during the afternoon.

In terms of our main concerns, the most obvious issues were:

1. Fishing out the lake - don't think that would happen with this tournament, although the practice of the organizers was to dump all fish submitted off the end of the dock at the campground.  I'm not sure what this means for fish caught elsewhere on the lake.  I have not seen any information (but haven't looked that hard) on whether fish migrate back to their point of origin, or whether they encounter difficulties establishing a territory where dumped.  It is interesting to note that "in a professional tournament" (one of the Land O’ lakes organizers I spoke to), hard core derby fishermen will fish a lake 2 to 5 days in advance of a tournament to identify the best areas to fish and to ensure they can re-capture big fish.  Apparently, a fish once hooked is twice shy for several days, likely because it goes off feeding due to a sore mouth and physiological stress.

2. Invasive species. - when asked about boat cleaning to avoid transferring invasive species from lake to lake, the same Land O’ lakes organizer said that all participants had to follow OMNR guidelines (I don't think I heard the word 'rules') on actions to prevent transfers, but that it was up to the fishermen to take personal responsibility for these actions.  At this tournament, there was NO oversight, advice, suggestions, or any other form of interactions by the organizers with fishermen about invasive species.  So, it seems to be OK to organize a derby on any lake and create a risk of invasive species without being responsible for managing and minimizing that risk.  Given that the people I spoke to also fished waters such as Lake Ontario and the Rideau, the risk would be significant.

3. Causeway and on-water traffic risks.  There was no evidence of careless boat use or driving in the brief time I was at the causeway.  In the morning, there were only one or two dog-walkers, and the scene was quite quiet.  In the afternoon, however, there was a significant crowd on the beach, with at least 30 small children in the water or on the 'beach' at the edge of the road, and probably that many adults.  I watched one truck backing a trailer into the lake to retrieve a derby boat, and while the truck obstructed the roadway, there were vehicles in both directions stopped, and at least 20 adults and children within 50 feet of the vehicle.  An OPP truck and trailer were present at the 11 am drive-by, indicating they had fulfilled their promise to keep an eye on things (I was very impressed with their response to being copied the DLPOA letter to Council).  Nevertheless, there were no derby organizers on-site to direct traffic, act as a look-out for launching and retrieving  boats, or to advise drivers about the risks to swimmers (on-water) or beach users (traffic on the causeway).  Again, it seems to be OK to organize an event that creates significant risks of traffic accidents without being responsible for managing and minimizing those risks.

Overall, I thought the derby was a low-key affair, but would advise that the Association oppose any future Derbies unless there are specific actions taken to manage the ecological and safety risks.  There are benefits for sponsors, organizers and participants, but many of the potential long-lasting and significant costs are borne by the non-participants, i.e., by the property owners and casual users who value the high quality of Desert Lake.

The original letter from the DLPOA to the Council of S. Frontenac generated feedback from the CAO of S. Frontenac.  The letter was received, was part of the package at the Council meeting on the Tuesday before the derby, and was referred to staff for responses, but I have not yet received a formal reply.  I will keep you informed.

August 07, 2013

2013 Annual Meeting



The 2013 annual meeting and picnic was held at Snug Harbour on August 4

July 02, 2013

Lake Association Meeting


One of the initiatives that the executive has undertaken this year is to reach out to other Lake Associations to see if there is any interest to share concerns and to work cooperatively to preserve our lake environment.
We invited half dozen associations from neighbouring lakes to join us.  We had good response, but only three were able to join us on June 15, 2013 – Sydenham, Loughborough and Gould Lakes.
Through discussions there was agreement that the Lake Associations share the goal of preserving the environmental quality in and around the lakes.
 
In order to achieve this goal, we need to know what the current conditions are.  It would be helpful to monitor lake conditions by measuring the same things in the same way – on land and in the water.
Additionally, we need to identify the environmental threats to our lakes.


Lastly, it was agreed that we could coordinate the communication of our concerns.

We agreed to expand our contacts with other lake associations in South Frontenac and to discuss our Lake Monitoring Plan with Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority to see if they can coordinate and support our activities to monitor lake water quality.

South Frontenac has invited all Lake Associations to meet in August.  We will try to meet with the other associations before then.

Minutes of the June 15 meeting are available here.

Rik Saaltink, President DLPOA

April 05, 2013

Beavers and Us


The Stewardship Councils of eastern Ontario are hosting an all-day workshop on beavers. The poster and program for the Monday, April 22 workshop in Perth are available here. The program will be of great interest to rural landowners and all are welcome.

Solutions for beaver management will be shared, and excellent speakers are lined up, on such topics as:
Effects of Beaver Activity on Groundwater Far From the Beaver Ponds

Successful Beaver Management: Tools and Plans by Michel Leclair (of Nature of Things program: The Beaver Whisperers  www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/beaverwhisperer/

Participants need to register, for lunch only. The program is also available at www.specialplaces.ca/beaverworkshop