The Huron Explorer motored into Thornbury harbour on Wednesday morning on one of the first fish stocking missions of the season.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry pours thousands of young lake trout into Georgian Bay every year to keep the trout population strong.
“It’s one of the only native species to Canadian waters. I think it’s a good thing,” says Fisherman Austin Soars.
The native trout was nearly wiped out by sea lamprey in the early 1900s after they invaded the Upper Great Lakes through the St Lawrence Seaway.
Sea lamprey numbers are now being controlled and it’s hoped that stocking lake trout can help populations recover.
The fish being added to Georgian Bay were raised at a hatchery in Chatsworth. The fish are transported offshore before being released.
The MNRF’s goals is to re-establish lake trout as the top deep-water predator in the area.
Fishermen, however, have mixed opinions about lake trout.
“Not a tasty fish in my opinion, better to let them go, more fish that way,” says Fisherman Keegan Ackerman.
“Something to catch mid-summer,” says Fisherman Walter Campbell. “If they did put rainbow and salmon in, in those numbers, we would have a heck of a fishery.”
The ministry also stocks brook trout in local lakes and reservoirs that are popular fishing spots.
Trout fishing season opens at the end of April.
