Rare trout pulled from city lake means cleanup efforts working, scientist says
CBC
An angler's surprise catch may indicate a decades-long cleanup effort in Sudbury has been successful.
On February 4, Andrew Shea pulled a 3.4 kilogram mature female trout from Nepahwin Lake.
The 128-hectare body of water is wedged between Paris Street, a busy, four-lane thoroughfare, a private golf course, and a heavily-densified residential neighborhood– not prime habitat for the highly-sensitive lake trout.
But estimates from local researchers– and the sheer size of the trout– suggest she is healthy, and has been swimming the waters for quite a while.
"I suppose it took a fair amount of line from my reel and took some time to get in," Shea said. "I could tell it had some power to it when I was fighting it…so I was relieved when I got up to the hole."
"Then when the head popped up, I was elated because it was the elusive lake trout."
Although it's a favourite among anglers, the lake lrout is relatively rare. Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry says the species is only present in 1 per cent of the province's lakes.
Shea– a year-round Nepahwin resident who usually fishes for northern pike – has pulled in a few lake trout from other northern Ontario waters before, but this particular trout held a special significance for him.
"I was definitely pretty elated to catch one in Nepahwin Lake," Shea said. "Particularly an older fish like that, especially when standard surveys hadn't yielded anything."
"Historically, the lake was once called Trout Lake, so it's actually nice to see some still in the lake."
John Gunn, director of Sudbury's Living With Lakes Centre, said Nepawhin has been stocked with splake– a hybrid lake and speckled trout– but studies haven't shown any evidence of purebred lake trout.
"It's pretty neat that we're probably looking at over a 30 year old fish that has suffered through all the changes that have happened in the lake," Gunn said.
Gunn, who also works with the Nepahwin Lake Stewardship Committee, said the city has pumped millions into rehabilitating the lake over two decades.
This lake trout shows the efforts are being rewarded.
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