Public Fishing Areas 



In recent years, four public fishing areas have been opened at Mount 

 Pleasant, St. Williams Forestry Station, Normandale and Jackson Tract by the 

 Department of Lands and Forests. 



These ponds are stocked periodically with catchable size fish throughout the 

 fishing season. All of the areas are open to public fishing free of charge. 



The Mount Pleasant Public Fishing Area, located five miles south of Brant- 

 ford at Highway #24, was re-opened for public fishing on May 1, 1965, after a 

 year's closure for general renovations. To those who had previously fished for 

 warmwater fish at Mount Pleasant, the area was completely unfamiliar. The seven 

 ponds are now three, each larger and deeper than any of the former. Grass in 

 some locations has replaced the weeds and brush, brook trout and rainbow trout 

 from provincial fish hatcheries have replaced the warmwater species. This area 

 was particularly appealing to the elderly, the very young and those whose vacations 

 did not include a northern trip. 



Daily records indicate that during the period May 1 to September 15, 26,102 

 anglers caught 23,456 trout. During this period 85 per cent of the 27,300 trout 

 supplied were harvested by anglers. 



NET SECTION 



The Net Section, with headquarters at Maple, is responsible for the construc- 

 tion and maintenance of nets and netting gear used in fishery projects throughout 

 Ontario, excluding the western and mid- western regions. The staff consists of a 

 foreman, one truck driver and four net men who also carry out specialized netting 

 projects in the same part of the province in conjunction with district staff. 



During 1965, the Net Section staff assisted districts in their studies of walleye 

 (pickerel) via the tagging method. Such projects were conducted at Blind River 

 and Bright Lake (Sault Ste. Marie district), Georgian Bay (Parry Sound district), 

 and several lakes in the Tweed district. Assistance was also given several districts 

 in their lake survey and general fish study programmes as follows: Lake Timagami 

 (North Bay district), Lake Simcoe (Lake Simcoe district), and four lakes in the 

 Lindsay district. Some 400 adult walleye were netted in Lake Simcoe district and 

 transferred to the Lindsay district for introductory purposes and a substantial 

 collection of walleye eyed eggs was realized with the assistance of the Net Section 

 staff. They also participated in the lake trout egg collecting operations carried out 

 on Lake Simcoe, Mishibishu Lake and Manitou Lake during the fall of 1965. 

 Whitefish eggs were also taken from Manitou Lake and live fish of various species 

 were harvested for exhibition purposes at the Canadian National Exhibition and 

 the Sportsmen's Show. In addition, 38 trap nets, 12 pound nets and five hoop nets 

 were loaned to districts; and 21 trap nets, 9 gangs of gill nets, one hoop net and 

 one seine were constructed by the Net Section staff during the winter months. 



The Port Arthur Net Section, consisting of two men, participated actively in 

 fisheries projects throughout the western and mid- western regions (5 forest 

 districts). In addition to routine fish studies carried out in conjunction with district 

 staff, Net Section personnel participated in a major project of one month's duration 

 on Sturgeon Lake (Sioux Lookout district); a successful walleye tagging pro- 

 gramme (Port Arthur district); transfer of adult muskie (Sioux Lookout district) 

 and adult walleye (Port Arthur and Fort Frances districts); spawn taking projects 



92 



