PRE SIDENT’S MESSAGE

This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of the late Doug Horne, one of our Directors, who passed away January 2006.

Even with the rainy cool days we have recently had, we anticipate another wonderful summer on Loughborough Lake!

In continued hopes of expanding our membership we sent out over 400 newsletters again last year and had a favourable response, but we really would like ALL the residents on Loughborough Lake to become members of the association. This year we will send out the large mailing once again.

The articles written by our Directors will inform you about our projects over the past year. One of our directors is formatting a LLA information brochure and it should be ready for circulation at the AGM in August.

The offer of a 3-year membership for $25.00 has been very popular. We have a lifetime membership for $150.00, as well as the yearly rate of $10.00. If you haven’t joined us yet, PLEASE consider becoming a member of the Lake Association!

The Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 2 August July 2006. Please join us at 7PM IN THE OLD STORRINGTON TOWNSHIP OFFICES.

This is the ONLY general meeting of the year and it’s a chance to meet neighbours and fellow Loughborough Lake lovers!

Our guest speaker will be Monique Charrette, our MNR Biologist. She will give us some highlights on the pesky Zebra mussels and how to prevent them from doing too much damage. As well as an update on fisheries (see Karl Montgomery’s article).

The Zebra mussels have arrived with a vengeance in the West basin. They have already been in the East basin for several years.

The short business meeting will be held at 7pm and Monique will speak at 7:30. Plan to be there.

We are always in need of additional members on our Board of Directors. Please consider joining us… it is very enjoyable group, who meet 5-6 times per year.

We have again been very fortunate in having great support for our newsletter, in the form of advertising! PLEASE support these local businesses, and tell them you saw their ad in our newsletter!

A little bird told me that the Battersea Boathouse Restaurant has been sold and the new owners plan to reopen mid June!

NB – At the AGM, there will be a 15 minute presentation from 6:45 to 7 pm by Jana Johnson. She is the very enthusiastic co-ordinator of the “Docktalk Program”. There is no cost fro participation in this program. She will also be available during our break.

Docktalk will engage shoreline citizens in protecting their most valuable resource, water. This province-wide program will educate, motivate and facilitate action to improve riparian zones, and ultimately water quality through:

· onsite systems maintenance (wells, waste, and wastewater treatment systems)

· erosion and run-off control through appropriate landscaping and naturalization

· addressing the threats from invasive species

· pollution prevention (reducing the impacts of landscaping chemicals, and household chemicals)

· waste diversion from landfill (promoting waste reduction and recycling)

· wildlife habitat enhancement

Diane Seymour, President

Proposed Fishing Regulation Changes

For over forty years your Lake Association has been actively involved in maintaining and protecting a healthy sport fishery in Loughborough Lake. This year the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) had proposed a dramatic change to the laws regulating lake trout fishing in this lake. As part of a Province wide effort to update and simplify fishing regulations the MNR is proposing a year-round open season for lake trout in our lake.

While this decision has come as a surprise to those of us who have put so much effort and funds into maintaining a lake trout fishery, it was, perhaps, inevitable. The intense stocking and shoal improvement projects which we participated in as a joint venture with the MNR, the guides and local sportsmen’s groups during the 1900’s was directed at re-establishing a naturally reproducing fish population. According to ongoing shoal surveys and creel census conducted by ourselves and the MNR, the objective of developing a self sustaining lake trout population has failed. All the trout being caught are stocked fish. Loughborough has become what the MNR terms a “put and grow” fishery!

How does our situation fit in with the MNRs overall plan? Presently fishing in the lakes north of Kingston is governed by various regulations in four different fishery management zones (FMZs), 7, 9, 29, 10. The present proposal, which has already gone through the public consultation process, is to combine these four zones into one, FMZ 18. Only zone 29 of the present system allowed a winter season for lake trout and the new proposed regulations will remove that winter season. As a trade off to offer continued winter lake trout fishing for area anglers, the MNR has proposed a year round open season on Loughborough Lake!

Your association was involved in the public comment process and we registered the following summary of comments:

To whom it may concern:

As a director of the Loughborough Lake Association I have been asked by our membership to provide the following comments on the proposed regulation changes for the new FMZ18:

1. We are disappointed that Loughborough Lake has been declassified as a natural lake trout lake without our organization being consulted or considered a stakeholder. We contributed years of volunteer work and thousands of dollars to rehabilitation efforts in partnership with the MNR.

2. If the MNR's studies in fact prove that Loughborough Lake cannot support a natural LT fishery, we support the opening of the lake to year round LT fishing on a trial basis, say 1 or 2 years.

3. We are concerned that the loss of a natural fishery will result in the loss of our highly sensitive lake status, opening this already over developed lake to less strict development regulations.

4. As an association we are very concerned that a winter fishery will bring a return to the past practises of organized fishing derbies which are very destructive and wasteful of the fishery and often lead to rowdy and unlawful actions.

5. We would ask that the MNR commit extra resources to the enforcement of the fishing regulations during the proposed winter openings.

6. We are concerned for the safety of winter fishermen. With a trend to warmer winters, Loughborough is producing far less ice cover than 25 years ago when a winter LT season last attracted thousands of fishermen to the lake.

Karl Montgomery

Loughborough Lake Water Levels 2005

The last few years we have been blessed with water levels running about 10 cm (4 inches) above the historical average, which is 124.53 m above sea level. In 2005 the average level was a mere 1 cm below the historical average at 124.52 m, so while it may seem like we were way down from the prior few years, and we were, the truth is that we are just back to the average year. Incidentally the average I speak of is the average of the July 1, Aug 1 and Sept 1 readings.

We continue to take 6 samples each summer from 3 locations for phosphorus analysis, as well as water clarity readings. I don’t have the results back for 2005 yet. Although the norm for this type of sampling is one sample per year, MNR considers this a special lake and thus the extra sampling.

Zebra Mussels: I had hoped we were going to miss getting them but alas in 2004 I saw 6 all summer around my dock. This year there were hundreds, so it looks like we need to get used to coping with them. Talking to one of the guides recently, and he tells me that the pests were in the Battersea area several years earlier. With them showing up in numbers now, we must start to take steps to keep them out of our “Lower units” and water intake lines.

John McCubbin

Boat Launch Needs Help!!

The Loughborough Lake boat launch on Perth Road/Division Street is in need of some help. The wash from the numerous launches has eroded the ramp making the access difficult for most boat trailers and vehicles. The parking of some vehicles blocks access to the ramp by making a winding path to the launch and a difficult approach for our emergency vehicles if they require access to the dry hydrant located at the north end of the lot. Loughborough Lake Association has pledged funds to help repair and maintain the good condition of the ramp. A portion of these funds will be used by the Cataraqui Region Conservation authority to provide a portable toilet at the site for boaters’ convenience.

Sally & Rick Blasko

Lake Association Supports Local Firefighters: Donates $1,500

The Loughborough Lake Residents Association, at its August 2005 annual meeting once again demonstrated its support for the Storrington District, South Frontenac Fire & Rescue Department when a cheque for $1500 was presented to Deputy Chief Martin Oomen. The funds were donated in response to a need by the Department for assistance in completing the outfitting of its new Fire and Rescue Boat. The meeting was held at the former Storrington Township offices on Battersea Road.

The boat, which was manufactured by D. Martin Welding & Fabricating, a local business, has been in service for several years using an outboard motor loaned by North Country Marine with the cooperation of Mercury Marine. The time had come for the motor to be purchased and the LLA was delighted to help. The boat’s main use is to transport men and equipment to island fires, where timing and access are so important. It can bring injured people to the mainland, and has been used to rescue marooned hunters. Deputy Chief Oomen commented that the boat’s performance has been fantastic, and it can reach speeds of 60 kilometres an hour.

Although the boat is stationed in Storrington District and manned by the District team it is available to the other South Frontenac firefighters.

At the meeting recess, Deputy Chief Oomen invited the Lake Association members to view the boat, which is stored at the fire hall adjacent to the meeting room. We all listened attentively as Martin explained more about the boat’s features. We were also able to get a good look at the Department’s Mobile Command Trailer, which has made frequent appearances at fairs and events around the Township. It is primarily used for educational presentations and fire prevention demonstrations. If there is a major fire or other disaster, it is used as a mobile command center for fire fighters and other emergency personnel.

The Lake Association’s Directors showed continued support for the Fire Department when, at a May 10 Board meeting, they voted to contribute $300 toward the cost of a new thermal imaging unit. This sensitive unit is able to not only locate underground bush fires and “hot spots” but can also be used to help locate persons lost in the woods.

Gordon Marantz

Loughborough Lake’s

First Annual

“Pontoon Boat POKER RUN”

Saturday July 29, 2006

Rain Date July 30

Proceeds to Fairmount Home and the Alzheimer Society

For more Information call:

Mary Lake at Fairmount Home 613-546-4264 ext 510

or Alzheimer Society Kingston 613-544-3078

www.alzking.com

My Mouth Hurts and My Kids Are Gone: The Dilemma of a Nesting Bass

By: Kevin Esseltine

Under a drooping cedar, protected by a sparse scattering of granite boulders, a male bass stands watch. By paternal instinct, the bass relentlessly patrols his little stretch of shoreline, feverishly chasing anything away from the beat. Suddenly, a white, flashing object plunks through the waters surface, seemingly from the cedar above. The bass, blinded by his own protective instincts, rushes the intruder. In a single strike the bass is swept from his territory. Immediately, swarms of hungry sunfish converge in a feeding frenzy, stirring the pebble substrate. Seconds later, after the water clears, all that remains between the granite boulders is a shallow and empty depression. The bass angrily appears again, searching for the nest he was guarding a mere thirty-seconds before, the brood of eggs now devoured. Exhausted from fighting a pre-season angler, the bass swims silently away, his chance for successful reproduction lost for this spring.

Every year from May to the end of June, male bass construct tiny nests along the shores of lakes, usually beside large boulders or fallen trees that offer protection. The male bass courts a female to his nest where they spawn together, and the fertilized eggs are deposited for the male to "baby sit" for about a month. During this time, the male bass becomes intensely aggressive, ruthlessly protecting his eggs from would-be predators, and thus making the bass extremely easy to catch. This behaviour continues until the eggs hatch and the fry are able to swim off independently. In Ontario, the bass fishing season opens on the last Saturday in June to protect nesting bass and their young during this vulnerable time of year. But every year, many anglers accidentally (and some intentionally) continue to catch bass from spawning sites.

In general, there are a number of biological issues associated with preseason bass angling. In most other times of the year, bass are ideal candidates as a catch-and-release target species. Bass are extremely fun fish to catch, and because they can normally survive the stresses of angling and resume their usual lives. This all changes, however, in the spring when bass are nesting. Briefly, here are some of the biological problems of catch-and-release during the spawning period:

· Nesting bass recover more slowly after angling because their physiological condition is reduced at his time. When exhausted after angling, the male bass is less capable to guard the nest from predators.

· When the bass is removed from the nest, sunfish, rock bass, and perch feed on the bass' eggs and/or fry. If enough eggs are eaten while the bass is being caught and released, the bass may completely abandon the nest once he returns. The loss of this nest reduces the number of young that survive that spring and limits the genetic diversity of the bass population.

Fortunately, fisheries scientists have actually conducted studies to confirm these negative impacts of pre-season bass angling and develop strategies to help minimize these effects. Here are a few things that can help:

· If a bass is "accidentally" angled in the pre-season period, the bass should be released as quickly as possible to preserve the fish's energy. This will enable the bass to quickly return to guard the nest, recover faster and better protect his eggs and/or fry after being angled.

· Recent studies have shown ‘voluntary bass nesting sanctuaries’ to be effective in protecting bass from angling only if the sanctuary is closely monitored. If not, the sanctuary may actually attract unscrupulous anglers to nesting bass like a neon sign! Please help monitor these ‘voluntary sanctuaries’ on your lakes.

Pre-season bass angling is another unnecessary and avoidable stress that contributes to the decline of bass populations. Because it is impossible to monitor all lakes and bass spawning sites, the responsibility rests on each individual angler consider the biological impacts of pre-season angling, educate others, and practice good conservation ethics. If everyone can do their small part, we and our future generations can enjoy quality bass populations now and into the future.

Editors Note: Kevin Esseltine is currently a Fisheries Biologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources and MSc student at Queen's University. Kevin can be contacted at the Kingston MNR at (613)531-5719 or e-mail: kevin.esseltine@mnr.gov.on.ca for copies of additional reading material.