shocker boat. I liked the idea.
At about 9 p.m., Kilgour and Associates ecosystem management technician Rob Hallett called everyone over to the shocker boat at the boat launch. He went through an orientation process of what he does and why he was there to a crowd of about 20 people. He then asked what two people were going on the first run to net fish.
Frappier had asked my good friend and fellow reporter, Bruce Heidman from The Sudbury Star, if he wanted to go on the shocker boat. Heidman went last year and he turned to me and asked if I wanted to take his spot. Like a zapped walleye, I was temporarily stunned. I didn’t know what to say because I knew how much Heidman liked this aspect of the program. He did a big feature on the work done by the club last year. He had told me for the past 12 months how amazing the experience was. While I was stunned, Heidman answered for - he said I was going.
I nodded my head. I had to put on a floatation survival suit and rubber gloves and boots. The shocker boat is grounded, but Hallett doesn’t mess around when it comes to the safety of the volunteers.
Hallett went through a long safety checklist with me and Chelmsford Fish and Game member Lizette Carlson, who was also going out to net. It was the second time Carlson was going out. She had the opportunity to try last year and loved it so much, she was doing it again this year.
Hallett went over a lot of stuff. The one thing that stood out was when he said under no circumstances put your hand in the water.
“You put your hand in the water, it’s over,” Hallett said. “If the electricity passes your heart, you will die. I will not be mean about it, but if you do it, I will shut it down and bring you back to shore and you don’t get back on the boat ever again.”
This was serious business. It certainly made me put on my game face as I got onto the boat.
I felt the mood had changed a bit. It didn’t take long for the mood to go back into a relaxed and fun state. As I got on the boat, Frappier said don’t net a sucker fish. Some people in the past have mistaken a sucker for a walleye and netted it. Frappier said if I netted a sucker, I had to bring it back to shore and have my picture taken with it as a form of fun punishment. A photo of a sucker with a sucker. Everyone had a good laugh about it.
The shocker boat is something else. It is outfitted with a generator that produces the electrical current. The net people stand at the bow and are protected by a steel rail with lights. The rail is strong enough to put all your weight into it and it doesn’t give one bit. Everything on the boat is grounded for safety. Myself and Carlson keep our feet on pedals. These pedals allow the electrical current to be passed into the water. It’s also a safety mechanism in case someone falls in. Once a foot is off a pedal, the electrical current is stopped.
We headed out into the night to a pinch-point on Ella Lake to get some fish. A safety boat followed close behind us. The safety boat is there in case of an emergency. It’s fun work, but also dangerous. The water is freezing ad falling in could result in big problems.
We made our way up Ella and to the pinch-point. The water current going through was astonishing. It was pure natural force at it’s absolute prime. The water broke into Ella Lake from the Vermillion River and hurled over rocks, producing huge waves and whitecaps.
We settled in on one side of the current and the process began. We lowered a steel arm with the tentacles on it into the water. A round of thumbs-ups from myself, Carlson and Hallett meant everyone was in position, safe and ready to work.
This was the moment Heidman was talking about. It was pitch black with the exception of a series of spotlights attached to the rails pointed down at the water. The roar of the current flooding into Ella Lake was thunderous. I kept my eyes trained on the water below. The excitement and anticipation of the first walleye was overwhelming and it was that moment I realized truly why Heidman loved his experience last year on the shocker boat.
Carlson gave me a few tips on netting stunned walleyes and the most important thing was to be fast and accurate. The fish only stay stunned for a few seconds before darting back off to deeper water.
Within a few minutes, the first walleye floated up to the surface on my side and I netted it. It was a five-pound fish and we all let out a cheer. It was on.
We stuck around in that spot for about 30 minutes. We gathered six fish in total, five males and one female. The biggest fish being about six-pounds. We headed back to the shore. Hallett said it was maybe too early to be out. The big “hens”, as everyone calls the female walleyes, don’t usually show up until later in the night. The best times are around 1 to 2 a.m. This is when the huge hens move in to do their business.
When the UWC volunteers are doing their work, they do it over a carefully planned out three or four nights. They are long nights. Most volunteers don’t get home until 4 or 5 a.m.
We got back to shore and everyone was delighted with our efforts and catch. Of course Frappier asked if I netted a sucker with a big smile on his face. I was happy to disappoint him. He gave me a pat on the back and we laughed some more about it.
The female we netted wasn’t ripe to have her eggs collected. The walleyes were put into a holding tank on shore and would be transported back to a hatchery and put in a retaining pond until she was ripe and good to go.
When the fish are ripe and ready, that is when the real work begins. Volunteers have to take eggs and milt from males and mix them in bowls with feathers. They massage the bellies of the fish to release eggs and milt. The eggs are then washed and placed in jars and brought to the hatchery to be incubated and grow. It could take between two to three weeks for the eggs to hatch and they have to be under constant observation. The hours these volunteers put in is mind-boggling. They do it without complaining because their hearts are in the right place and they want to make a difference and be a part of a meaningful conservation effort.
“It’s a way to give back to a resource I love to use,” Carlson said about volunteering her time to collect eggs.
The walleyes netted are all eventually returned to the same lake to continue their life cycle. I thanked everyone for allowing to be get a taste of the work involved to gather walleye eggs. I told Frappier about what I had learned. He was delighted to see and hear the enthusiasm in my voice and words. He said this is what it is really about.
“It’s important to educate people,” Frappier said. “It’s how conservation continues and grows and becomes better. The more people that know exactly what is going on, the better it is for the conservation effort.”
It was easy to understand why Heidman talked about his experience so much over the course of the year to me. He now will have to hear about it from me for the next year!
Column 1 May 2015
If the electricity passes your heart, you will die. I will not be mean about it, but if you do it, I will shut it down and bring you back to shore and you don’t get back on the boat ever again.
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Walleye collecting fun