Lake Ontario Steelhead stocking reality.
Posted on April 1st, 2017Steelheaders will be interesed to learn that in 2015/2016 less than 200,000 rainbows (steelhead strain) were stocked in all of Lake Ontario in both those years. When you consider that we have about 14-popular steelhead tributaries from St. Catharines – Cobourg, ON, that would average 7,500 steelhead stocked (fall fingerlings/spring yearlings), per year per tributary. Care to guess what the success rate would be for 1-steelhead to reach maturity? Care to guess how many of those mature steelhead die from natural causes? Angler tributary retention? Lake Ontario charters? Get the picture??
(statistics provided by Lake Ontario Fisheries Management Unit, 2015 report)
