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.
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.
