Ganaraska Rainbow Trout
We are supplied with a number of Rainbow Trout “fingerlings” from the MNR every year. They collect many thousands of eggs from the mouth of the Ganaraska River in Port Hope Ontario. These are hatched and they raise these fish to about 2” in length, then distribute the fingerlings to community hatcheries all over Ontario. These are a robust Trout strain which does well in many various conditions.
Manitou Lake Trout
The MNR also supplies us with a number of the Manitou Lake Trout strain. Generally these are thought of as the indigenous Lake Trout strain throughout Ontario.
These fish can get huge, up to the Ontario Record of 63 pounds. We have a mounted specimen in our Hatchery, caught in Drag Lake which weighed in at over 35 pounds!
Haliburton Gold Lake Trout: Egg Collection
Sometime in October, based on water temperature, and by capturing a few fish to see if the eggs are ripe, we go to Hall’s Lake and collect Haliburton Gold Lake Trout eggs.
We follow direction from the MNR as to the number of eggs we can collect. They base the number on how many we have stocked in the local lakes in previous years, and how many they believe may still be surviving.
From a boat, using nets, we bring in a number of fish, We separate males and females, then by applying gentle stroking on the females belly she releases her eggs into a bowl. Next we repeat with the male to spread “milt” on the eggs and fertilize them. We use a large feather to stir the eggs and milt together and ensure that every eggs is exposed to the fertilization process. Then we cover them with cold lake water to harden the shells.
After we have reached our quota, we take the eggs back to the Hatchery to be hatched and raised for 18 months. After that time the fish are between 3-6 inches, and large enough to have good survival chances in the lakes. As we are raising them we clean the tanks, and feed them every day.
Then in April, 18 months after we collected the eggs, it’s time to stock the local lakes. The MNR supplies us with a list of lakes, fish type, and the number of fish for stocking into each lake.
