Can you identify these ducklings?

My mother-in-law was heading to the store yesterday when she saw these little guys walking down our driveway. By the time she returned home they had made it to the lake and were happily eating bugs and swimming around. They proceeded to swim down the bay towards a very shallow area. Unfortunately we watched helplessly as a seagull swooped down to make a snack out of one of them. And so now there is only one...

We have tried to identify them without success. Both the internet and the bird books have little to say about a duck with this kind of facial marking.

There is a pair of small, shy, dark coloured ducks back in that bay but if these were their babies how did they come to be so far from home. If those are not their parents then the mystery remains: to whom do they belong? Can anyone help us figure out what kind of duckling they may be?

Fall Fire Reminder

The current fire ban imposed across our region reminds me of a disturbing and scary experience I had last year. Last fall I took my last fishing trip with my father in law into Cross Lake for late season bass. It wasn't a productive trip for bass, but I was glad I went. There were very few people on the lake, and especially in Cross. As we entered the northeast arm of Cross Lake, we passed by the first big island with a campsite on our right. The sight even from the moderate distance of the main channel of the arm caused me some concern. I stopped the boat and grabbed my camera, using my zoom lens as binoculars.

My suspicions were confirmed, it was indeed smoke I saw rising from the middle of the island, and there was no one near the source. A slightly more detailed look showed the black trail that the fire had made from a campfire along the shore into the bush behind. A scan of the area showed a blue and white houseboat leaving the campsite at the southern end of the island. I tried my VHF radio, hoping I could reach base from Cross Lake. I could not. There was simply too much distance and high ground between me and home base.

We quickly scouted the area to assess the fire condition. My experience as a volunteer firefighter gave me the knowledge of what to look for, and it took no time to see that the fire had gone underground and was in serious danger of becoming a forest fire if the conditions changed. It was also something we couldn't fight ourselves with the small pail we had. We left and caught up with the houseboat leaving the area in hopes of a higher antenna being able to reach out further. We stopped the boat and talked to the friendly folks on board. They used their radio and called back to their base at the hub of Lake Temagami, who relayed the message to the MNR about the fire.

We returned to the fire site and proceeded to put water on the areas that were starting to come to the surface around some of the trees, fire licking at their trunks. As water ran through the top layer of soil to the rocks below, you could hear the intense sizzling as water vaporized against the superheated rocks below. We did what we could, then continued fishing. As we fished in a secluded bay, the weather turned to drizzle, and a short time later we heard the faint sound of a water pump running.

We gave up on our fruitless fishing expedition and headed for home, noting the MNR boat and firefighter hosing the fire site with a portable pump and fire hose only a few hours after our first spotting the smoke and having it called in. I applaud the fast response of the MNR to the ticking timebomb of a forest fire in the making. It would have been a sad sight this year if the island, and who knows how much more of the surrounding forest, would have been nothing but cinders and blackened trees standing in the wilderness.

I don't know who was on the houseboat, but it could have been any boat, and anyone who was leaving the campsite. They had been there three days and had seen the smoke, and no one around, but had done NOTHING. They did not think it strange, they did not investigate, and they continued about their business, leaving a smoking island at the end of their stay. Please, I beg of you, DO NOT display that same ignorance when you are enjoying the Temagami wilderness this season. I am not using this story to point fingers, but to be a somber reminder that we all have a serious part to play in fire safety. With the fire ban on, the forest is tinder dry. If you see smoke, investigate. It doesn't matter if there is a fire ban on or not, if there is no one around the smoke, it deserves closer attention. If there is a fire ban on, it deserves immediate attention, even with people around. They need to be told that a fire ban is in effect and that the fire must be put out.

If you are found responsible for a forest fire, you will be liable for the cost incurred fighting the fire, and I'm sure those water bombers and helicopters aren't cheap. So be smart. Make sure that when you are able to have a campfire, that it is out and cold to the touch before you leave. Douse the fire with water, then turn your leftover wood to expose the undersides and douse it again. Continue doing so, turning and dousing with water, until it is cold. Don't be like the folks this weekend whom I watched setting off fireworks and throwing caution to the wind. Don't toss your butts to the ground without making sure they are out. One spark is all it takes. Let's all work together to make sure the Temagami wilderness is here for all to enjoy for years to come.

Prize Laker: caught and released

One of our private houseboat customers came back Monday from an exciting week of fishing. They caught this beautiful lake trout while wire lining on the bottom of Lake Temagami with a big silver spoon. It weighed in at 31.2 lbs. They spent about 45 minutes reviving the laker after his ordeal and watched him swim away to live another day. Pictured below is another nice catch by the same group of guys. All in all it seems to have been a good week of fishing!

All this week our customers have been having good luck catching lake trout. Early in the week they were catching them in as shallow as 15 feet of water but this warm weather has caused the water to warm up quickly and the trout are retreating to cooler places.

Smallmouth Bass protecting his nest

As promised, here are a few more shots of that beautiful smallmouth bass on his nest. He must have decided that it was clean enough. It seems to have met with the female's approval also. Sometime between Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning they spawned. The water has continued to warm up with the beautiful weather we've been having: it needs to be over 60F in order for smallmouth to spawn. If you look closely at the pictures you can see the tiny creamy eggs which have adhered to the rocks in the nest. He will now protect the nest until the little ones hatch and become adventurous enough to leave home. The female heads for deeper water soon after spawning, leaving the male to keep the eggs aerated and free from silt. He won't leave the nest even to eat. He will live on whatever minnows happen to stray to close to him. Depending on the water temperature the eggs will hatch in 4-12 days. It's no wonder the bass are so hungry once the little guys are gone!

Bass Nest Preparation

Got a few shots of the bass preparing a nest along our loading dock tonight. Wish I had a circular polarizer for my lens to cut the glare, but a couple shots turned out ok. This bass has been slowly working at the size of his nest all day, and scouting for females in the deeper water close to the nest. Can't wait to see how he does. I always love this time of year and watching this process of building, mating, and protecting the young as they hatch and grow to become a black cloud of free swimming baby bass. Usually by the end of June they are starting to range farther from the nest and into the protection of the docks. Hopefully this year I'll get a better photo record of the process and keep the blog posted with the results. The bass pictured below is probably about 13-15". I'm trying to keep in mind that things look bigger under water, but he is a beauty, and one I look forward to seeing every day until he is done protecting his young at the end of June. Hope I get to catch whoever he woos to the nest with the camera! From the series of shots below you can see the bass inspect the nest, then working with his powerful tail to clean the bottom of the nest to get ready for the eggs that will be laid there.

Low water on Lake Temagami

Several people have been asking about the water levels on the lake. The water is uncharacteristically low and the lack of precipitation this spring has not helped to bring it up.

We need gangplanks here at home to reach some of the boats because we can't get them close enough to the docks. And then there are some boats that we take a BIG step to get onto.

Mike measured the water levels Friday morning and says the lake is still down two feet. This will definitely create a need for careful boating this spring. We have yet to get out on the lake to see for ourselves just what this means for water travel, particularly for getting into Cross Lake.

Those of you who have favourite campsites will have to check them out carefully before trying to park your houseboat to make sure you can safely get to shore to tie up there. Those of you who are coming for the first time will have to pay extra close attention to the shoal map and give those areas marked in red a wide berth. Any time you choose to leave the main channels you will need someone on the lookout for rocks that are not marked on the maps because they were never an issue before.

We will continue to post comments on this entry as we keep an eye on the water levels and let you know how much it's come up!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

So much for the 15cm of snow they warned us Temagami would receive today. As you can see in the pictures the snow is sitting on the plants but there really isn't much on the ground. I thought the tulips looked especially cute with their little caps of snow. Thankfully the cold weather isn't supposed to last long. By Wednesday we should be enjoying more seasonable weather again.

Despite the beautiful weather we've had the whole month of April the trees have refused to show their leaves... until this week. It must have been too dry. The morning of rain we had on Wednesday changed the trees from barren branches to beautiful green overnight. It finally really looks like spring is here!

May 15: Opening day for fishing... and houseboating!

The weather network is promising warm weather for opening week with only a bit of rain - if you can trust what they say. If they're right it sounds like perfect weather for houseboating and for fishing.

Since the ice went out so early this year I was curious how warm the water is and if the pickerel would spawn early. So I checked the water temperature this cool, rainy morning. (Yes, we finally received some real rain!) The water is currently 56 degrees Fahrenheit.

That still didn't mean a whole lot to me since I've never checked the water temperature at this time of year before so I turned to the internet. Now I know you can't rely on everything you read online but I checked out a few sites. I discovered that pickerel feed the most between 55-75 degrees Fahrenheit. One site said their feeding peaks at 64 degrees. Another site said that it all depends on your latitude - how helpful...

Another said that their feeding was 'most voracious' just after spawning. So I visited the folks at TAFIP (Temagami Area Fish Improvement Program), our local fish hatchery to see whether the pickerel have finished spawning. I was told that they have finished and that the first batch of eggs will be hatching next week. I've included pictures that were taken a few years ago at TAFIP of both the eggs and the little guys just after hatching.

So the conclusion is that the pickerel fishing on Lake Temagami should be great opening week even though it is earlier than usual. Now I can't promise that there won't be snow. And I can't promise that you'll catch fish. I can only say that it looks hopeful and I wish you all the best!