Zoey Duncan
Rainy Lake bass are a healthy breed, said local Ministry of Natural Resources biologist Darryl McLeod.
McLeod, along with MNR senior technician Linda Chepil and a number of teen Ontario Stewardship Rangers, were at the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship on Friday to measure and age 200 fish.
It’s all part of a fishery health monitoring program that’s been in place since 1995, noted McLeod.
“Rainy Lake is an extremely healthy bass fishery,” he said.
“And our information over time says it remains healthy and all the indicators are showing really well, and generally most of the indicators are above what we see in other tournaments,” McLeod added.
The data from the FFCBC is comparable to that collected from the Kenora Bass International and Atikokan Bass Classic.
Along with measuring the length of the fish, each animal had its dorsal spine clipped so it could be aged.
“The age is probably the most important variable that we get from these fish,” McLeod explained.
The MNR tracks the average age of the Rainy Lake bass, as well as mortality and age classes, though McLeod stressed this study is only representative of what the FFCBC anglers bring in.
“It’s representative of tournament anglers really, but it’s a good piece of information because within a matter of a day we can sample 200 fish,” he reasoned.
“It’s a lot less labour-intensive than if we were to go out there and do a sampling effort,” McLeod added. “It’s really cost-effective for us and it gives us good information, and again it’s comparable.
“In general, the fishery’s in really good shape,” he reiterated.
