Muir Lake Project Article

Muir Lake - “If you build it, take a Number” by Duane Radford

In the shadow of Ottawa’s Peace Tower, Tim Doskoch - past president of the Edmonton Trout Fishing Club - was granted a national recreational fishing award on May 7, 2007 for masterminding and spearheading the creation of a unique trout fishery at Muir Lake, east of Edmonton.

The recreational fisheries awards program was created in 1989 by Fisheries and Oceans Canada to honour individuals and organizations that have contributed  to the conservation, restoration or enhancement of Canada's recreational fisheries and fish habitat through activities such as community leadership, restoring and enhancing fisheries and fish habitat, and the promotion of conservation and sustainable recreational fishing.

Rewind the tape to May 14, 2004 when the vision of a new trout fishery for Edmonton area anglers was enthusiastically capped off at an official opening ceremony at Muir Lake - for years a dead lake. It was a warm spring day, and anglers were lined up to go fishing.   

Previously stocked rainbows were slurping Chironomids and other aquatic goodies as the ribbon cutting took place – it was just short of a year to the day since they had been stocked in the formerly barren waters. Notwithstanding all of the fanfare rightfully part and parcel of such ceremonies, it was truly a proud moment for several Edmonton trout fishing clubs: the Edmonton Trout Fishing Club, Edmonton Chapter - Trout Unlimited Canada, Edmonton Oldtimers Fishing Club and Northern Lights Fly Tyers & Fly Fishers.

The Edmonton Trout Fishing Club - in conjunction with its partners - marked its 50th anniversary by re-establishing a trout fishery at Muir Lake in 2004.

Members of these clubs deserved all the credit for the new fishery according to Stephen Spencer, local fisheries biologist, whose role had been to facilitate this project for the clubs involved. “I have to give the guys a lot of credit,” said Spencer. “They’ve done all the fund raising, and produced the signs. I’ve been mostly on the sidelines – to get the stocking requests through, to get the regulations [in place] to produce larger fish.”    

The Honourable Stan Woloshyn, then Alberta government Seniors Minister and local MLA for the Stony Plain constituency, extended congratulations to all those who had been party to the re-juvenation of Muir Lake. Other dignitaries were also present: Elsie Kinsey, the mayor of Parkland Country; Tim Doskoch – then Edmonton Trout Fishing Club president and his counterpart, Michael Dell, president of the Edmonton Trout Unlimited Chapter.

Several members of the media swirled through the crowd – video cameras rolled, shutters snapped, tape recorders whirled. It was a big, newsworthy event and for many good reasons.

Muir Lake is one of only a few lakes in Alberta with special regulations for trout fishing where, for the most part, stocked waters are managed with a limit of five trout daily, no size limits and no closed seasons. The Muir Lake open season runs from May 1 - October 31; it’s closed over winter. The trout limit is one over 50 cm; there’s a bait ban to reduce hooking mortality. This project taught me a few lessons - that trout fishing is more than just about accurate casting and such. It’s about a lot of behind the scene activities: planning and organization, fund raising, work parties, and the camaraderie that flows from club activities before anyone wets a line.

During a fund raising auction for the Muir Lake project at Edmonton on May 10, 2003, the dye was cast that the $72,000 project would proceed. “It’s really been a collective effort in developing the Muir Lake project. The community really supported it, the local businesses… Local anglers came out for work crews,” said Doskoch, following the opening ceremony. “We’re looking at putting in an artificial spawning channel, to add to the education program, and a casting platform for fly fishing instruction.”

Out of the fund raising revenue, $17,000 was put towards the purchase and installation of two aerators, necessary to prevent winterkill in this shallow pothole. About $30,000 was spent on construction and installation of a sign which welcomes the public to Muir Lake and provides directions; “Walk of Fame” signage hounouring several Albertans who have enriched angling in Alberta; an “Education Centre” - an interpretive area - that connects anglers, trout and simple life forms on which trout depend for their subsistence. Both the “Walk of Fame” and “Education Centre” are firsts for Alberta.

 “It all started a few years ago when we were talking about remembering people,” said Michael Dell during an interview. “That gave us the impetus to go ahead and develop the ‘Walk of Fame’ at Muir Lake. We were [also] looking at developing a quality fishery – not a trophy fishery – where you could catch a larger than average size fish.” Dell actually caught a fish on his first cast, a spunky rainbow, just prior to the opening ceremony. He caught another one a little later on, that was a little bit bigger…He foresaw Muir Lake becoming a premier fishery for trout over time.

Barry Mitchell stood proudly beside a sign hounouring George and Joan Mitchell (his parents) prior to the opening ceremony. It was also a moving experience for Carole Paetz - and many members of her family - as they gathered around a sign in hounour of her husband, Dr. Martin Paetz, co-author of The Fishes of Alberta with Dr. Joseph Nelson, and dean of fisheries management in Alberta. Another sign commemorates the good work of the late Lloyd Shea, a staunch advocate of trout fishing in Alberta, and hard-working volunteer for many years.  

Another unique aspect of the Muir Lake fishery is the involvement of staff from Golder Associates Ltd. who voluntarily set up a program to monitor the limnology of Muir Lake and made periodic stock assessments to fine tune the stocking program.

The lake was initially stocked with 14,300 rainbow trout averaging 9 cm in length on May 29, 2003. Sam Livingtson Fish Hatchery Technician, John Bilas, supervised that plant. A healthy 9.5 mg/l dissolved oxygen was present at the time of the inaugural planting.

Government officials planned to decrease the stocking rate to keep the density of trout low, and promote growth. According to Spencer, for the second and subsequent years, the stocking rate had been reduced by a third.

The Muir Lake Committee subsequently reorganized itself as a registered, non-profit charity, called the Fisheries Enhancement Society of Alberta (FESA) – another first for Alberta.“The new organization will assume responsibility for managing the aeration, the education centre and walk of fame at Muir Lake. It will also promote public appreciation of, and protection for Alberta’s sports fisheries and fish habitat. In addition, FESA will promote, support, and assist in expanding the range and quality of sports fisheries in the province by focusing on the creation of additional fisheries based upon the Beaver and Muir Lake models. [Beaver Lake is a special regulation fishery near Rocky Mountain House, also aerated.] The organization plans to develop these additional fisheries on its own, with partner groups, or by supporting people or organizations in Alberta that would like to create an enhanced fishery in their area,” as outlined in a statement issued by Doskoch, FESA President. Directors and officers of the new organization are appointed to the FESA board by the four fishing clubs that founded the Muir Lake Committee: The Edmonton Trout Fishing Club, Trout Unlimited Canada (Edmonton Chapter), Northern Lights Fly Tyers and Fly Fishers, Edmonton Old Timers Fishing Club.

The future for trout fishing near Edmonton has taken a turn for the better with the Muir Lake project; also, because of the Muir Lake project, FESA will be an important catalyst for the creation of additional new opportunities for trout fishing elsewhere in Alberta.

Hats off to Tim Doskoch for making this dream a reality!