Volunteers move thousands of trout into Georgian Bay

The young fish were moving from the hatchery into the bay. It's part of a volunteer re-stocking program by the Georgian Triangle Anglers’ Association.

Georgian Bay and the rivers that flow into it are prime areas for fishermen who come here to reel in trout. Steve Drys says he's had pretty good luck with rainbows this year but catching a brown trout would be really special.

“They are really colourful at this time of year especially the males. But I haven’t seen a brown trout for years,” he says.

Brown trout are revered by fisherman because of their beauty and they are difficult to catch. And the Georgian Triangle Anglers’ Association is trying to improve the odds of reeling in an elusive brown trout by stocking thousands of them into Georgian Bay every year.

The fish are raised in a hatchery operated by a small group of volunteers. Over the past decade they have stocked millions of speckled, rainbow, and brown trout into the bay and area streams.

The goal is to improve fish stocks that are under pressure because of changing habitats, heavy fishing and predators.

This was the big day for these browns. The fish are scooped up and dropped in a tank then driven to their destination. Hatchery manager Frank Degraaf says the trout are being released at five different locations along the shoreline.

“Meaford, Thornbury, Collingwood Harbour, off Long Point Road, Browns Marina – all of the browns will be stocked today,” he says. “We will also take a load of rainbows that are ready to go.”

Howard Macdonald says all the work is done by volunteers and most spend more time working here than with fishing rods in their hands, but they are happy to give trout populations a fighting chance.

“We stocked salmon of course we stock rainbow trout very year, we are doing speckled trout now and the browns that we are doing today they are almost two years old and up to 11 or 12 inches, hopefully their survival rate will be really good for them,” he says.

The Georgian Triangle Anglers’ Association is always looking for additional members to help with the hatchery program, but also with education and stream rehabilitation projects.