FISHERIES SECTION 

 Game Fish and Hatcheries 



It is readily apparent that climatic conditions influence angling success and 

 total harvest quite frequently. Adverse weather can certainly reduce the ** umber 

 of participants and restrict their outdoor activity, but the effect on individual 

 angling success can be either good or bad. The year 1964 had its fair share of 

 unusual weather and the tourist trade and angler activity was adversely affected 

 during these periods. A large harvest of walleye is usually realized on opening 

 week end in southern Ontario, but winds of gale proportions on May 9, 1964, 

 routed anglers from their favourite haunts and spoiled an otherwise good week 

 end. The month of August was unseasonably cool and many vacationers forsook 

 the recreational areas and spent the remainder of their vacation at home or in 

 travelling. The inclement weather at this time certainly reduced the amount of 

 angler participation, but fishing success was generally better than average during 

 the cool season. From then on, good fishing weather was spotty. In areas such 

 as the Georgian Bay and tributary streams where a late fall season on rainbow 

 trout, walleye and muskie prevails, some excellent catches of these species were 

 made by hardy and persistent anglers. The year 1964 throughout Ontario had its 

 many moods and successful anglers were those that managed to adapt their 

 methods and periods of activity to the changing conditions. 



Angling success varied considerably with the area and with the species of fish 

 involved. Generally the catch records of 0.2 to 0.5 fish per rod hour constituted 

 good to excellent fishing for such species as bass, walleye, trout and pike. 

 Maskinonge are more difficult to catch and may require between fifty and one 

 hundred hours to land a fish of legal size. 



District personnel, assisted in some instances by summer students, devoted 

 considerable time to field investigations involving lake and stream surveys, fish 

 population studies and the assessment of angler success. Such studies formed a 

 major part of the field program which was directed mainly towards obtaining 

 inventory data and information on the current use of the resource relative to the 

 development of appropriate management plans. A number of special projects 

 were also undertaken in 1964 and these are outlined under separate headings. 



Although it not possible to accurately determine the number of anglers that 

 fished in Ontario in 1964, it is apparent that public interrest in fishing continued 

 at a high level. The continued increase in the amount of recreational facilities 

 available (provincial and private parks, motels, resorts, boat rental establishments, 

 and private cottages) and their expanded use, coupled with a slight increase in the 

 number of non-resident licences sold, indicates the relative increase in activity 

 and suggests, on the basis of previous records, that the total number of anglers 

 fishing in Ontario waters probably exceeded two million in 1964. 



All angling licences showed a slight increase in sales with the exception of 

 non-resident seasonal. The sale of non-resident 3-day licences jumped sharply 

 from 69,401 in 1963 to 100,121 in 1964, and this undoubtedly had some effect 

 on the number of seasonal licences sold. Although there was a slight increase of 

 $10,582 in the revenue from the total sales of angling licences in 1964, this is 

 actually the smallest increase during the past five years and is indicative of a 

 gradual levelling off in the heretofore continuous increase in revenue. 



The number and value of angling licence sales for 1964 and for the preceding 

 three years is presented in Table I. 





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