Four of our OFS members are currently fishing the Parkland area of Manitoba. I've recieved two reports so far. One fellow had to beach his float-tube because the fish was too big for his net. It was over ten pounds. Today I received another email that several ten pound rainbows and browns were caught using chironomids and they are not even fishing the "trophy lakes". Trophy lakes are those lakes with limited harvest so that the fish will grow big. Ten pounds is pretty big for me!
Bob Sheedy who was one of the orignators of this amazing fishing resource told me that the Ministry had to hauled kicking and screeming into making the necessary changes in regulations to create this fishery. It is a pretty well accepted norm that civil servents don't like change. While creating these lakes with large trout through regulation changes, they also made available to the harvest type fishermen, the normal lakes where mulitiple fish could be taken. Guess what? Those fishermen are now fishing the trophy lakes. They have discovered what we all learn. It is the experience of fishing that is what makes it all worth while. They are much happier taking one large trout home then five smaller ones. Pretty soon they become converted and release all fish except those that unfortunately don't make it for one reason or another. Bob told me it was the Economic Development people who saw the various foreign licence plates at these lakes that clinched the changes.
Apparently, the aerators which make these shallow lakes survive the winter have been donated by US clubs. Manitoba set up and supplies the electricity. Yankees are willing to drive through the most celebrated trout waters in the world to come to Manitoba. At some point in the early summer, it will not be so easy to catch these large trout as the shallow water will warm up too much. Trout lakes shouldn't be fished when the surface temperature exceeds 75F (24C).
Bob Sheedy who was one of the orignators of this amazing fishing resource told me that the Ministry had to hauled kicking and screeming into making the necessary changes in regulations to create this fishery. It is a pretty well accepted norm that civil servents don't like change. While creating these lakes with large trout through regulation changes, they also made available to the harvest type fishermen, the normal lakes where mulitiple fish could be taken. Guess what? Those fishermen are now fishing the trophy lakes. They have discovered what we all learn. It is the experience of fishing that is what makes it all worth while. They are much happier taking one large trout home then five smaller ones. Pretty soon they become converted and release all fish except those that unfortunately don't make it for one reason or another. Bob told me it was the Economic Development people who saw the various foreign licence plates at these lakes that clinched the changes.
Apparently, the aerators which make these shallow lakes survive the winter have been donated by US clubs. Manitoba set up and supplies the electricity. Yankees are willing to drive through the most celebrated trout waters in the world to come to Manitoba. At some point in the early summer, it will not be so easy to catch these large trout as the shallow water will warm up too much. Trout lakes shouldn't be fished when the surface temperature exceeds 75F (24C).
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