FOGR eLetter
Spring 2007
Spring Update
Many of the spring activities are complete and now we have time to fish, subject to gardening, NASCAR races on TV, painting and all the rest of it. It’s June and, can you believe, some diehards are still watching hockey?
GRAND OPPORTUNITIES – BELWOOD LAKE CONSERVATION AREASo you missed it? Try again next year:
We tried a new format last year, and this year – Saturday, June 2 -- was the same – same fun day out, same good value. It’s a family event --the FOGR family and your own. Lunch was served – a steak and stuff like last year. We had games and seminars, some of them in the river. And there was a good little crowd for the women’s introductory course. Dennis Beukelman of Peterborough was the winner of the Sage rod – the expensive Z-X series one that we sell tickets for each year. We had another Sage rod, a more economical rod, a Fli model, and we sold $5 tickets just at the event. And who won it? Yes, you’re right! Dennis B got both. Congratulations, Dennis, make good use of them.
Trees: For 2007 it was the field on the north side of the river at the West Garafraxa 2 nd Line bridge. Next time you’re there, look for all the tree guards that keep rodents and rabbits from nibbling the bark. Also, as you drive across from Inverhaugh to Fergus, check out Swan Creek. It’s a great example of what can be accomplished with a helpful landowner – Mr. Brubacher on the east side. You’ll see it’s all fenced (we supplied the posts, etc. and he supplied the labour) to keep cattle out. It took about four years of spring planting to do that section of the creek.
Access & Trails: No sign of the realignment work at the Twin Bridges yet. They are going to rebuild the old iron bridge and realign the road. The road grade will be increased to reduce the chances of the road being inundated with water during the spring runoff. The council is going to include a parking lot for anglers, hikers and canoeists following our input on your behalf. We’re negotiating with municipal governments to get approvals to put in a set of stairs at the Trestle access. They’ll be much the same as the ones at Blondies & 2nd Line. The Snakey’s Trail may need a little work this year – we’ll see what we can do. The landowner there intends to sever a number of lots, and we may have to rethink access to that reach of the river.
Fish stocking: 24K again this year; also lots went into the Conestoga.
River Watch: Keep an eye out for the guys in the orange vests and khaki shirts/caps. If you find a RW leaflet on your windshield, you’ll know they’ve seen you.
Kiosk: Terry should get the credit here, and his band of helpers who put bins out and collect garbage.
Redd count: Still up in the air. We’ll see what happens later in the year.
Shows : Were you at the Forum this year? That show gets better all the time with the new venue. The Forum is always good for our sales of raffle tickets and memberships. That’s where Dennis bought his ticket. It’s expensive to take part – the booth space costs big bucks, but we do it to support another conservation club.
Web site: Thanks to Romie, it’s still working, and better than ever. And Bruce, of course, he’s the “supervisor” and Romie is the “visor”, which means she does all the work, but Bruce lends his sage advice, general wisdom and witty retorts, as well as answering e-mails that come to the web site.
Angler diaries: 2007 diaries are available, even if you start filling one in now, the data is still valuable.
Fish tag Program: PIT tags are like those magic tags inside your shopping that set off alarms when you try to leave WalMart without paying. Install one in a fish and you can “see” them with an electronic signal. PIT projects are being planned.
Large & small structure: Nothing new, but it’s a long process.
Conestoga River (CREW): Did you hear the Conestoga’s two sections produced more fish in the fly-fishing championship than the Grand’s three sections? Maybe you’re fed up with hearing about it. Well, more fish have gone in this year, 40K in all -- yearlings, fingerlings and fry. More tree planting has taken place and Archie M is working on improved accesses. This river is becoming one of fly-fishing' better-kept secrets.
Treasurer’s Report: As we said last time, contact us if you would like more details. We don’t put our financials out on the Internet.
You received this report because you are on the Friends of the Grand River’s e-mail list. If you would like to be taken off it, contact us
Larry McGratton: mcgratton.mcgratton@sympatico.ca
Ian Martin: idmartin@golden.net
John Dadds: jdadds@golden.net
