Cathy Dobson/The Independent

With the sport fishing season just around the corner, local anglers say invasive species on Lake Huron are less of a problem. And Chinook salmon, trout and pickerel stocks are thriving.

“A balance seems to have settled in the lake,” says Dennis Mather, fish culture station tour co-ordinator with the Bluewater Anglers.

Mather has had an interest in Lake Huron fishing stocks for 50 years and has seen an ebb and flow as various invasive species impact multiple native fish, as well as non-native Chinook salmon that the anglers populate the lake with every year.

The 2025 season promises to be a banner year for sport fishing, said Mather, speaking to about 50 members of the Sarnia Lambton Golden K Kiwanis Club March 4.

“The zebra mussel problem is much better,” he said. “They are no longer clogging up the industrial vents into the river like they were 10 or 15 years ago.”

Both zebra mussels and invasive goby populations are “under control” as local water fowl, pickerel and small mouthed bass love to feed on them, said Paul Heckley, a founding member of the Bluewater Anglers.

“You’ll still catch a few on your line but nature is taking care of the invaders for the most part,” he said.
One of the more concerning threats still facing the Great Lakes is giant Asian carp infiltrating from the Mississippi River. However, underwater electric fencing has succeeded in keeping the carp out.

“So far, that is working,” Heckley said. “The balance is good right now on the Great Lakes but that would really hurt if the carp got in.”

The Bluewater Anglers are a group of about 300 fishing enthusiasts from across Sarnia-Lambton who promote fishing as a sport and operate a salmon and trout hatchery in Point Edward.

Every year, they release about 110,000 Chinook salmon and another 75,000 Rainbow and Brown trout into streams adjacent to Lake Huron, repopulating the waters for anglers.

“We are basically replacing what we catch so the next generation has local sport fish as well,” said Mather.

It’s a fascinating process that starts with harvesting and fertilizing fish eggs, then raising them to fingerlings, he said.

The hatchery is full of giant tanks where the fingerlings grow and where an outdoor pond is full of about 300 Rainbow trout. Food pellets to feed the fish are available beside the pond for 25 cents a handful and generate as much as $100 for the club on a good day.

On March 15 and 16, the final weekend of March Break, the Bluewater Anglers are hosting an open house and invite the public to their hatchery to learn about the lifecycle of the fish free-of-charge.

The annual Bluewater Anglers Salmon Derby begins May 2 for 10 days and has been attracting record numbers in recent years. About 1,200 anglers are expected to compete for $60,000 in prizes and cash this year.

The invasive alewife fish that prompted the Ministry of Natural Resources to introduce salmon into the Great Lakes in the 1980s, is dwindling in numbers too. Salmon have thrived by feeding on the herring-like alewife to the point that the alewife supply has dwindled.

That means the size of Chinook caught during the derby has dramatically reduced in recent years.

“In 2005, if you didn’t have a 20-pound salmon, you wouldn’t place in the derby’s top ten,” said Heckley.

“By 2011, the winning fish was around 10 or 11 pounds.”

However, other fish species like lake trout and pickerel are thriving by feeding on the bottom-dwelling round goby, he said.

For more information about the hatchery visit www.bluewateranglers.com.