By Katie Strachan
The Oshawa Express

Three years ago, Lake Ontario anglers learned fast and furious how important re-stocking fish is for the love of their sport. Because natural reproduction among fish is so low in Lake Ontario, the coho salmon all but disappeared when the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) stopped restocking the game fish in 2005.“The fishery is primarily dependent on stocked fish as very little natural reproduction occurs,” explains Jeremy Holden, Fisheries Biologist with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH).

Fortunately, local Oshawa Creek, Wilmot Creek and Lake Ontario anglers will soon welcome the popular game fish back to their waters.“We are pleased to be able to revive the coho stocking program through our involvement with Ringwood,” says Mike Reader, Executive Director of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. Ringwood is the fish culture station where the fish are hatched.“The partnership has been so successful that it has allowed us to over deliver on the expectations set out for us when we took on the hatchery,” adds Reader.

Coho salmon are known for making fast and furious sport fishing. The MNR have been collecting eggs since Nov. of last year in order to re-stock the lake. According to Holden,
the fish were raised in the Ringwood hatchery until just weeks ago when they were released back into the Credit River, where they will live over the winter months. Come spring they’ll move to the lake and continue to grow and develop for about two years before returning to Credit River where they’ll spawn and die.

Anglers are particularly excited about the re-stocking as coho salmon are schooling fish, which make them easier to catch.“Boat anglers appreciate the schooling nature making for fast and furious action when a school is located,” says Holden. They also spend much more time in the river and are more active than the Chinook salmon, which they are often compared to. People often mistake them for rainbow trout as well.“Overall coho are great salmon for the pier and stream fisherman .

They stay silver and active much longer in the same stream than Chinooks, and they are more eager to take baits while in the river,” says Glenn Anderson, President of the MEA. Coho salmon usually live for three or four years. They are typically 18 to 24 inches in length and can weigh in excess of 20 pounds. A local from Pickering set the Ontario record for the largest coho salmon caught in Pickering back in 1999. The salmon weighed 28.64 pounds.

“The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) and the Metro East Anglers (MEA) were able, thanks to the support of the MNR and private industries … to revive the stocking program,” says Holden. Ringwood has already begun collection of coho salmon eggs for next
year’s stocking.