We'll head down to Mouse and do a base camp thing for a day, and we'll make a little Birch/Mink loop out of it.  He wants to do some fishing, I want to do some not-make-us-or-the-camp-smell-like-fish, but basically whatever he wants to do I'm up for.

Are we gonna do this... Yes I killed one trout between two people on a 3-day trip. Actually it was the only trout I killed in 2015. Shame to kill such a small laker? Shame to kill a big spawner, as I often hear when someone keeps a trophy? Or shame to kill a medium-sized laker, those being the ones the law protects on some highly pressured lakes for (presumably) some ecological reason? I can't debate which approach to selective harvest makes the most biological sense, I don't have enough knowledge to second-guess the regulators. I can follow the law and limit my catch. In this case I'm glad that my partner, out for her first ever trout fishing trip, got a taste of what she called the best fish she'd ever had. I think that's a big part of what makes it special to any of us.

There are no smallmouth bass in Whitebirch Lake by the way. Rock bass perhaps, but they've always been there.

I've eaten both types of trout flesh, both are delicious in their own way, and I wouldn't have known which was in Whitebirch if I didn't eat that fish.

Filleting is a pretty common way to prepare trout and most other fish. If you want to make the case against it, go ahead, but I don't see why this particular fish is your test case for everything that's wrong with how other people (or at least me) fish. Nonetheless I do sometimes cook fish whole and I pride myself in thoroughly capturing as much meat as possible when I fillet... I find a little pocket knife is better for this than a filleting knife, unless it's a big fish.

The smelt that invaded Tim Lake (and some other lakes in the park, including North Tea, through separate introductions probably) is the regular ol' rainbow smelt. And yes it probably impacted lake trout through competition. I think you're mixing up names with the blackfin cisco and the shortjaw cisco, both of which are rare, native fish in Algonquin. In fact the blackfin was considered extinct worldwide before being re-discovered in Hogan and Radiant Lakes, I believe. I am not aware of any invasive species in the Mink Creek watershed, even the smallmouth bass in the Mink Lakes are native if I'm not mistaken, though they don't go upstream of there. Whitebirch has cisco which would explain the colour of the trout flesh.

swedish pimple wrote:

shame to kill such a small laker,,,,, was it hooked deep and bleeding? nothing else to eat at camp? or what?  trout , the rarest fish to be found in these lakes, with so much pressure from coarse fish and bass, pity
  do you fish barbless? 

Troll

I've asked "Swedish" to moderate the criticism a bit. That's not to say the young folk can't learn from us old guys. It's just that when a newcomer reads one of us oldsters as a 'Troll", well maybe at times we can come across as elitist or as on a high-horse. I'm sure we all love the park and its resources.

Just catching up on some of the treads and ya I know I should treat this like all the rest but I can not let this go.
So Dan proudly catches a small Laker, posts a trip report showing off the fish and Sweede calls him on it.

BarryB wrote:

I've asked "Swedish" to moderate the criticism a bit. That's not to say the young folk can't learn from us old guys. It's just that when a newcomer reads one of us oldsters as a 'Troll", well maybe at times we can come across as elitist or as on a high-horse. I'm sure we all love the park and its resources.

I read this that Sweede was in the wrong on calling him out and that it is Ok to practice Immoral and unethical harvesting of Trout in Algonquin.

I am far from an expert or qualified in any way on fishery management and this is just my personal opinion but here goes the Rant that a few people will not like, some will laugh at and others will trip over their fingers sending Barry personal messages demanding he tell me off or ban me and delete this post………..

It is accepted fact by both those qualified and unqualified that the Algonquin fishery is in decline for multiple reasons, but the one thing we all can do to help is limit our takes to something both morally and ethically responsible. To do otherwise only harms what we say we are trying to protect.
There are rules and regulations in place to help manage these fisheries but like the building code they are the bare minimum and need to be both improved and better enforced.
The excuses that it was your friend’s first Trout fishing trip and you only killed only 1 Trout all year and she had never tasted Trout before don't cut it with me.
The chance to educate her on responsible fishing in a world recognized fishery was there and you let it go, instead showing her by example that it is OK to take a fish that obviously should have been released. But after all it was only one fish right. 
2 people on a 3 day trip, only 1 fish. The only Trout you killed all year, 
How many people do you think take a 2 or 3 day trip into Algonquin Trout waters.. Maybe 5,000... 7,500 over a year at a pure guess? Even at a conservative guess if everyone practiced this behavior that would only be what 4 or 5,000 fish a year wrongfully removed from the fishery? Can't hurt can it. After all it was only 1 fish that year.
Do you get the idea that I am sick and tired of hearing people justify their actions by saying that they are only one person. Why should I vote? I am only one person, what difference will I make.... Why should I take the time to write a letter to a Politician? I am only one person what difference will I make.... I only dropped one piece of garbage on the sidewalk and I don't do it every day….. Well you get the idea.
So she wanted to taste Trout. Don't blame her but maybe a local restaurant could have helped out, or better yet perhaps a stop at a Trout farm on the way home with a promise to take her out again and hope for a better catch.
Oh just so you know I practice what I am preaching, my first interior trip in Algonquin was 1973 or 74 and I can honestly say that in that time I have kept 1 Bass from Sec Lake and no, I do not have a problem with someone enjoying a realistic Trout dinner. 
What really surprises me is that this site has always been rather strict on the topic of fishing and to validate the keeping of that fish by chastising the one who called him on it just shocks and amazes me. 
Is this really what we want to be telling people?
No I did not think so, or at least I hope not.
Just maybe, with a little self responsibility there will still be something left for our Grandchildren to refer to as "The good old days".
It is not just the registered members that read this but also the visitors. I know when I scroll down, there are normally 1 or 2 members and normally 6 or 8 guests. In fact as I type this draft, at 3:56AM 03-12-2016 there is 1 registered user (me) and 5 guess online. A LOT of people read this forum.
This is not the message that needs to be spread people.
 
As for the troll comment, Sweede has been around here longer than most and if you look back to the first post on the old forum
http://www.network54.com/Forum/352882/thread/1096153605/last-1096332622/New+Message+Board
want to take a guess at who was the first person to post after Barry?
Just a little long to survive as a troll around here don’t you think.
 
Oh and don’t get me started on the personal message function of this forum. Needless to say I avoid it as much as I possibly can. At least the old forum gave us the option of displaying our email but that is a rant for another day.
Further to this rant I will be sending off a letter to the corporate sponsors letting them know why I am no longer able to support this forum and by extension, why I am no longer willing to support them and why I will be taking my business elsewhere.
 
In closing there is no need to ban me or send me nasty personal messages, I will not be checking them. With the direction this forum has taken, I am out of here.
 
Been a blast folks but as I said, I am outta here.
Rob

"I know neither of us are fisheries biologists, but unless anyone has a logical explanation..." 

A former APP fisheries biologist, Frank Hicks, has written a chapter in Algonquin Ecowatch's recent book on the human impact on APP and some of the text deals with overfishing (there are other issues like introductions of exotic species besides). IIRC, lakes with easy access, close to the highway and access points, like Opeongo and Smoke, are showing signs of overexploitation. Use of motorboats, downriggers and high-tech gear like depth sounders and GPS also could be contributing factors. Anyway, worth a look. 

Sure, in the past APP used to yield larger-sized trout and fishing down the largest individuals has reduced the average size caught. I have photos and text from historical sources somewhere that provides some evidence that this is true. But APP exists in southern Ontario where millions of people have relatively easy access and maybe we should be looking at bigger-picture remedies to address the degradation. The Environmental Commissioner of Ontario has made recommendations recently on what needs to be done.