|
|
 Winds gusting to 42 km / hr |
 Take-off into the wind |
 First plane load, equipment |
 Second plane load, nets and guys |
 Jerry Jefferson, Alex Stettler, Bill Beyer and Matthew Thatcher |
|
Blown in from Bewag
Alex Stettler and Matthew Thatcher are pretty lucky guys. Alex, a recent graduate from Sir Stanford Fleming College, Fish and Wildlife Program (in addition to an H.B.Sc. Biology from Lakehead) and Matthew, currently enrolled in Environmental Science at Confederation College are currently working for the Walleye Hatchery. After the madness of the spring hatch, they have new tasks to occupy their time. They are monitoring certain lakes by doing test nettings, recording information about the size and weight of the fish and taking scale samples for later analysis. So, yes, indeed, they are getting paid to go wilderness camping and fishing. So far they have been to Osinawe Lake and Bewag Lake. Coming back from Bewag, they were picked up by Atikokan Aero, which donates the service to the Atikokan Sportsmen's Conservation Club. Pilot Phil Robinson picked them up recently on a particularly blustery Saturday, when winds were gusting up to 42 km / hr. It took three flights to get all the equipment and people out to Bewag and three more to pick them all up again. The information that Alex and Matthew collect is ultimately shared with the MNR, a mutually beneficial partnership between the ASCC and the Ministry. The information is used to determine the health of the fishery and the of the descendants of the fry stocked in the lakes by the Walleye Hatchery. As President of the ASCC, Jerry Jefferson said that the Club is made up of people who want to "give something back" for the good life they have lived in the region, hunting and fishing. They do this by sharing the information that Alex and Matthew collect, by running the Walleye Hatchery and by giving two lucky young guys the opportunity to learn large amounts of fish lore from experts. This is the kind of learning you can't get from books. |