The Fish and Lake Improvement Program for the Parkland Region

History  Strategy   Water Quality   Fishery Improvement   Marketing  

 

History

For some years, fly fishermen, particularly from the USA, have discovered the excellent angling opportunities offered a short drive north of the border in Manitoba's Parkland.  

This influx began in the early '90's when several lakes in the region matured, regularly yielding trout in excess of 25 inches and occasionally breaking the Big 7 criteria--30 inches! These skilled fishers were and are of the catch and release school of thought, leaving their appreciation and dollars behind--along with the fish. Thus non-depleting economic resource was created almost overnight and remains, since visiting fishers feel that the trout belong to Manitobans. Their interest is in a photo, an experience, and the opportunity to return for another day in a fishery found nowhere else on the continent.

The history of the salmonid fishery is interesting. Beginning with the heavy winterkills of 1988-89-90, local fish and game groups thought that they would "try" some brown or rainbow trout in the empty lakes. Perhaps unknown to local proponents, the lakes literally swarm with some of the largest gammarus scuds found anywhere, due to the high fertility. These invertebrates act as a growth hormone to trout that avidly fed upon them.

No one anticipated what was to follow when the trout began to gain in excess of a kilogram a year during their prime growth years. Within a 4-year span many trout in excess of 27 inches were available to visiting fishers and the word spread rapidly. For a number of years following, many locals and visitors alike experienced the joy of watching leaping silvered fish breaking tackle and drawing delighted shouts of celebration.

The summer-kills of El Nino in 1998 called attention to the need to provide more feedback to Manitoba Water Stewardship to assist in their oversight when maintaining the resource. Moreover, such feedback saw replenishment levels adjusted to meet the demand and new lakes added. Manitobans, in particular, will now benefit in more ways than fiscally since the excellent fishing creates a greater opportunity for all forms of angling and a higher quality of life.

From 2000 onward, in conjunction with the concentrated effort by Manitoba Water Stewardship, FLIPPR was created to address concerns and assist in the identifying of new lakes and streams to further broaden the resource, to gain the greatest economic benefits, as well as enhancing the sport in the western portions of the province for all. 

Only two other fisheries in North America can approach the level of ours. One is the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana and the other rather scattered fishery centers generally in the Idaho-Yellowstone region. While other excellent lakes exist throughout western America, no region hosts such a collection of waters in the concentration found in the western Parkland. For a ridiculously few dollars and some annually concentrated effort we can easily top them all!

 While it is true that no one foresaw or was prepared for such a fishery, the results clearly prove that a sustainable project is easily achievable with minimal planning and maintenance. 

This is the mandate of FLIPPR.