Until we get better access around and over Maple Hill dam, the great Saugeen fishery is dependent on much of the success of the Lake Huron Fishing Club’s Kincardine Hatchery. I’ve been around the CFIP hatchery game from the start and never witnessed another facility that can compare to this fish production factory.

From the start the man behind the facility has been Al Wilkins and trust me, he knows his stuff. One hundred thousand eggs and sperm are collected by the volunteer members of the Steelheaders and LHFC at Denny’s Dam and transported directly to the hatchery, where they are fertilized, hatched and raised for 12 months.

A hell of a lot of work and patience is involved in producing what I believe are the best steelhead smolt to be found anywhere on the Great Lakes. There’s fertilizing, picking eggs, teaching them how to feed, removing the misfits, cleaning the tanks and just straight 12 months of baby sitting.

Before they are released, every one of these 50,000 plus little guys have their adipose fins removed for later identification when caught or transferred as adults. This is cold tedious work.

At the end of the 12 months all 50,000 plus steelhead smolt have grown to larger than 8 inches and are stocked at Walkerton, Ontario 50 miles upriver from Lake Huron for perfect imprinting and maximum returns as adults back to the river and waiting anglers.

Getting a little old for this game, but believe me please, I’ve never witnessed anything over years, like I’ve seen with the success of this program. One hell of a hatchery. One hell of success story.

As a collective effort between the two clubs and working with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources an amazing success story.

D. Choronzey