• A guest of Tumblehom Lodge caught a gigantic Crappie. They are in most other lakes in the area so it was just a matter of time before finding them in Crotch. We have started catching small ones so they are breeding.
• My buddy Dan caught a Lake Herring (Cisco). It's the first one we have seen in Crotch Lake.
• While bass fishing in Twin Island Lake we discovered freshwater Jellyfish. They are called Peach Blosson Jellyfish and are an invasive species from China. Here is a video that George Jr. from Tumblehome took - www.imarket.ca/jellyfish/jellyfish.mp4
• My buddy Dan caught a 13 pound Whitefish. It's the first one we have seen Crotch Lake.
We do not want Crotch Lake destroyed by Zebra Mussels. It's their eggs that are transported, not adult mussels. If Chinese jellyfish can get into the lake then mussels can. Their eggs can survive out of water for months and they get transported via bilge water, live wells and braded fishing line. If you have been fishing in water with Zebra Mussels please pour some bleach in your bilge and wash out your live wells with bleach. Their eggs are microscopic and can get trapped in the fibers of braded line. Please change your line or have two sets of rods; one for Zebra Mussel water and one for clean water.
The Rusty Crayfish destroys lakes and streams. They crawl along the bottom of the lake and snip off weeds at their stems; killing all the weeds thus destroying the ecosystem of the lake. They also eat fish eggs and kill native Crayfish. What's left after a couple of years of their initial introduction is a dead sterile lake or river void of life.
Native Crayfish keep their eggs attached to the underside of their tail until they hatch. Rusty Crayfish release their eggs from their tail when they reach a certain size and the eggs float to the surface to incubate in the warmer surface water. As a result the eggs are getting into bilges and live wells and then being transported. The eggs are very small and hard to see.
Rusty Crawfish are now in Lake Ontario and the Kawartha Lakes. Rice Lake so far has been the hardest hit. The Rusty Crayfish migrates up streams and rivers where they eat all the trout and salmon eggs. Creek and rivers that run into Lake Ontario will no-longer have trout or salmon runs in the near future.
My brother was down at Spencer Creek in Dundas and talked to biologist from McMaster University that were capturing Crayfish for studies. They informed my brother that native Crayfish no longer exist in Spencer Creek. It will soon be a reality with every stream and river running into Lake Ontario.
Bass populations in Crotch Lake are declining quickly. Bass fisherman are to blame. There are too many people targeting bass on their nests long before the season opens. When a bass gets caught and released they are in shock and it may take hours or even days before they return to the nest; if at all. An unguarded nest gets swarmed by sunfish/bluegill and Crayfish almost instantly and their eggs are eaten. Bass season opens the third Saturday in June. If people are caught targeting bass before the season opens they are looking huge fines. Playing stupid and pretending you did not know bass season is closed is not going to save you.
Evasive Species