Lake Gibson and area

[snoryder]

So I fished this area this weekend, it wasn't that great. Didn't find the crappies but I noticed signs about eating the carp. Not that I want to eat the carp but why are these lakes contaminated? What happened here? Whats wrong with the soil? Is this the reason why we didn't get any panfish? Is the water poor? It looks like it can substain a decent panfish and gamefish population. Maybe I can't fish, I don't know but I wasn't impressed. I'll try later when the weather gets warmer. I don't plan on eating crappie from here, I just want to catch them.

I fished at decew and merritville, beaverdam at Kaye. I also had a look at the water commission area, across from the no trespassing area on decew. Whats this part like? These little lakes look decent and I really thought we would get into some crappies or something, well we did get a 7 lb pike OOS, so that wasn't bad.

Whats with all the canals?

[smerchly]

I believe most of the contaminants came from paper mills that flourished in this area for many years . Industry had very few rules on them like many other industries in Ontario , including the northern lakes & rivers . That's one reason why they left & now they can continue to spew toxins elsewhere in the world . A lot of cleaner water has flowed through Gibson over the years but much remains in the soft bottom which carp & big birds can stir up as well as humans . I believe the pan fish may be safe to eat in moderation but stay clear of anything large . The SCGFA used to have a yearly derby in the waterworks lake & we got some crappie , pike, bass & perch . It was cancelled years ago ....don't know the reason . They enforce tresspassing very well in there now .

[trfish]

This is something I've been interested in as well. If you have some free time, head down to the Brock university library. There's a really good MA dissertation on the fifth floor of the library from 1999 by Joanne Placko. Basically several spots both in and around the body of water had their sediments tested, even surrounding vineyards. A couple spots are real eye openers (especially in terms of temperature of water in the middle of winter and wacky pH balances). Most of the bad spots in the study seem to be concentrated by Beaverdams Rd. and the area between the 406 and Merrittville Hwy. I can't remember most of the details, but like I said, check it out if you can.

[RoeBaggin]

I am working for an environmental construction company that is taking care of the PCB contaminants in the creek surrounding the Georgia Pacific site. There are many phases to this project and rumor has it that there may be some talk about cleaning these areas as well. I doubt it will happen because serious funds are needed to dredge, contain and treat the contaminants. PCB's were used long ago to in the treatment of paper products. You can bet that there are levels of contamination in all the species that swim the Gibson/Beaverdam areas.

RoeBaggin