I received this info today from the MNR and thought it would be of interest. They are doing a tracking study on lake trout in Eagle Lake over the next three years. This May they will be implanting 14 lake trout with telementry tags. These send out location signals which can be used to track the movements of these fish. While you can't see these devices, the fish will also be tagged with an external disk tag to the front of the dorsal spine. There will be 7 submersed receivers positioned in various locations on the lake which keep a log of each fish if they pass by within one kilometer. These will be below the surface of the lake...two meters (six feet), in most cases close to the shore. The MNR is strongly suggesting that these fish be released, if possible. Record the location of capture, the color of tag and number. If for any reason the fish is kept the radio transmitter should be returned to the MNR so it can be re-used.My question is who will be the first one to catch one of these fish.....and better yet, who will be the first one to snag one of the submersed radio receivers? A VBL coffee mug to the lucky angler........!
Gord...Did the MNR indicate what they intend to use the data for?
ReplyDeleteWill this be done on the VB end of the lake?
ReplyDeleteWhat will be the size of the trout that will be tagged?
What I know is last year they were asking "us" to provide locations of where on Eagle Lake the trout are being caught. They indicate in their letter that they want to know the patterns of movement for these fish. As we know the trout move around a lot, especially over the winter. Back in the day, when I guided on the East end of the lake, there were the odd trout caught early in the spring there. I know that the commercial fisherman has caught trout with nets set in the winter in the main basin. What are they going to do with this information? Who knows. Right now the documentation all says that lake trout on Eagle Lake are confined to the West Arm of the lake. It is likely that there are other populations...such as in Portage Bay, that live there year round. I guess this is good to know when you are managing the population.
ReplyDeleteSize of trout tagged? Not sure, but they will have to be big enough to transplant the device inside them. From what we caught last year though, the average trout seems to be 30 inches long anyways!