When Joe Cosgrove from Chesley Ontario won the largest trout division in the Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular a few weeks ago with his 15. Also, I thought it's time again to share a few thoughts about lake trout with all of the readers of the SSA bulletin. It will play a key role in restoring lake trout populations in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay and inland waters such as Lake Simcoe. When completed the Chatsworth hatchery will double its present capacity of 1.3 to 3 million fish annually. With actions such as this, the future for our Lake Trout populations indeed looks rosey.
Self reproducing lakers are a precious species.
They live only in cold deep water lakes and a small number of these Lakers are genetically unique and separated for up to 100,000 years, with the majority of our Lake Trout being separated genetically by 10,000 years. Many believe that additional restrictions such as reduced creel during June, July and Aug would result in more eggs being produced. I doubt however that this summer reduction will ever happen, unless the Laker populations really plummet. One must be careful to not only look at angling pressure when making decisions about future Lake Trout populations. Present research shows that the boom and bust populations of Lake Trout show a marked relationship with global climate conditions.