Lake Development

Developing New Lakes

FLIPPR Lakes are individually assessed to determine their ability to sustain healthy trout populations and to offer an attractive angling destination. Within the context of a sustainable holistic approach, an established template of assessment protocols and criteria are used to evaluate each lake’s potential. Lake assessments quickly eliminate waters with obvious inadequacies, early in the evaluation process, before resources are allocated to lake development.

Lake Aeration

Many of the reasons why the Parkland grows huge trout include shallow lakes, high fertility and amazing invertebrate and vertebrae forage bases. Increased levels of photosynthesis from extended northern sunlight also contribute directly to growth rates. Once snow loading of ice surfaces begins in winter there is a reduction in photosynthesis and high weed proliferation ties up oxygen and introduces winter kill. This problem can be alleviated by the use of winter aeration through electro-mechanical-pneumatic means.

In addition, cycling aeration systems during the summer months can offset to a limited degree the summer loading of nutrients as well as reducing the stress on fish populations. Intelligent, sporadic summer aeration helps to improve the environment in the lakes, by breaking up stratification of anaerobic layers in the relatively small acreage of these proposed aquatic ecosystems.

Within the FLIPPR proposal, a budget has been identified that would be used for the maintenance and utility costs generated from the annual operation of aeration systems. In addition, funding for capital installation of the systems will be sought from a variety of public and private partners.

Shoreline Enhancement

To fully capitalize on the opportunity available to the region, our lakes sometimes require shoreline enhancement. Access, maintenance, and appearance are all crucial to ensuring anglers have a positive experience. This is vital to attracting and keeping the angling enthusiast returning. Shoreline development, including improved roadways and boat launching areas, fencing to control angler movements and treed buffers to reduce nutrient loads, are all critical physical enhancements that we look to develop on many lakes. Each body of water will have specific requirements and thus the extent and type of shoreline enhancement will vary. The sampling criteria proposed by FLIPPR, as well as the budget, takes into consideration these differences.

Sustainability

When our lakes’ trout population is threatened by native species, we undertake when possible the transferring of non-trout species to other water bodies with the same species. And at times, when the drastic measure of turning an aerator off to re-establish trout waters, extensive attempts are made trout population is first relocated to an existing, healthy, trophy trout fishery.