Dear editor:
In last Wednesday’ Times, there was an article stating sturgeon are making a comeback in Rainy Lake.
I was not aware that they ever went away.
I got the first commercial gill net licence in this area in the late 1950s and took a self-imposed quota of 25 fish a year for more than a quarter of a century.
I have seen as many as 20 sturgeon spawning below Squirrel Falls at one time (Kettle Falls dam).
There is one thing Darryl McLeod can find out—why there is no reproduction as small fish are very rare. In Namakan Lake, just above Rainy Lake, there are thousands of small sturgeon.
I have two theories as to why there are no small sturgeon, and I believe both theories are wrong: 1. Bad water levels below the Squirrel Falls dam 2. Millions of smallmouth bass eating all the crayfish young sturgeon feed upon.
Darryl McLeod is a fine biologist. He does not need any American help.
Signed,
Allan Kielczewski
Fort Frances, Ont.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
