Our Organization:

The (Trailsmen Rod and Gun Club) began in 1966 and was incorporated in 1977, The Junior Trailsmen Rod and Gun Club started in, 1974. We teach conservation of Wild life, Forest, Water, fish and ethical hunting.  At this time we have 80 members.

Our Community Also Includes:

Children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

Our programs are as follows:

  1. Fundraising:  This year we will hold our annual banquet on April 2 2005 and our bowling fund raising event on Jan 31. If you wish to attend either of these events please contact Rolland Frappier at 897-2478 or Sylvie Trepannier at 969-0695
     
  1. Trailsmen Rod& Gun Club Environmental Award: Each year we award a $500.00 bursary to a second year student enrolled in an outdoor/ environmental program. For the past five years we have given a bursary to Cambrian College and this year we added College Boreal.
      
  1. Canada Pitch-in program: Each spring we are involved with the clean up of our environment in the Valley East area of the Greater City of Sudbury.  The Club has partnered with the TD Friends of the Environment, Brita Canada Corporation and the Greater City of Sudbury to conduct a clean up of the landings at Pigeon, Green and Whitson Lakes as well as the banks of the Rapid River and also Nelson and Pigeon Lake road sides.

4.   Hatchery 2004: We started our hatchery in 2000 to date we have hatched approximately 240,000 walleye fry. Again this year we hope to use an electro fishing boat From DFO for the collection of our walleye culture. Last year we collected fish from the Vermillion River at Centennial Park in Walden.  We where able to collect an estimated 950,000 eggs from 9 females and used the milk from 28 male walleye to fertilize the eggs. We where able to hatch out an estimated 650,000 fry for a 68% hatch rate.  These fry where distributed as follows.

1.        Centennial Park        28,000

2.        Tyron lake 44             125,000

3.        Lake land Lodge                   33,000

4.        South Creek Whitson          39,000

5.        Trailsmen walleye ponds    70,000

6.        Ministic Lake                         30,000

7.        Withson Lake                        325,00

A total of 30 people participated in the collection of walleye culture and work in the hatchery plus 1 student on placement from Centennial Height School . 

Total Hrs: 1,412    

  1. Archery Program: A three-D archery range, constructed in the year 2000, has been well received by the many archers in the Sudbury and surrounding areas.  Men, women, and children of all ages including a limited numbers of disabled people are currently using the facilities.  The range consists of 10 Three-D targets set up on a one-kilometer course. This facility also includes a target area consisting of six round target butts. We are always looking for volunteers to help out with this program.
      
  1. Junior Club: In 1970's the junior Trailsmen Rod and Gun Club was created in an effort to teach young children the joys of hunting, fishing and the conservation of nature.  Through the years it has been one of the most successful junior clubs in all of Ontario. The Junior Club has won many shooting competitions, and has participated in planting thousands of seedlings through out the Sudbury region.
      
  1. Air Rifle Range: The air rifle range was created in 2001 for girls and boys aged 8 to 12 years old.  This program was created in order to teach gun safety and integrate young children into the pleasures of hunting.  In the year 2005, we hope to have young people with disabilities integrated in to the air rifle program.
      
  1. Take a kid-fishing program: This program has been in place since 1985. This program consists of taking 10 children, from single parent families, out fishing for the day... The event includes breakfast, lunch and dinner. Each participating child also receives a fishing rod and tackle box filled with tackle that they get to keep.
      
  1. Annual FAMILY DAY: In August we have our annual family day, this is for the members and their families to come out and enjoy a day without working. We play games and have competitions.  It consists of archery tournament, fishing in our trout pond, air rifle tournament and Texas horse shoes. All the events, prizes and food are provided at no cost to all club members and their families, as an appreciation for all their hard work during the year.
     
  1. Contributions: We also contribute to the elk restoration program and the turkey transplant program in Noelville.  Our club has been active in the tree planting programs in the Sudbury Region.  To date we have planted 75,000 trees and that number is still climbing.  We have also built numerous wildlife-nesting structures on various ponds in the Sudbury district.
     
  1. Walleye Spawning Bed Enhancement Program:  We completed a new walleye spawning bed on Whitson Lake .  This project will required 7-8 tandem loads of river rock placed strategically in a 40-foot radius in front of the big culvert off of LakeShore Drive in Val Caron.
         
REARING PONDS

    
 We have been raising walleye in our walleye rearing ponds for the past 15 years and have stocked hundred of thousands walleye fingerlings in 15 deferent water bodies in the Sudbury district.  Last year there were 70,000 fry distributed in our ponds #2, 3, 4. On July 6 to 11 we began pumping the ponds and on July11, 2003 we began to collect the walleye fingerlings from ponds #2, & 3 from our new pumping station. On July 13 we collected the fingerlings from pond #4. A total of 45,000 fingerling where collected for a 64% success rate.  The fingerlings were distributed as follows

1.        Ironside Lake         9,000

2.        Long Lake              6,000

3.        Green Lake             5,000

4.        Norman Beach            5,000

5.        Whitson Lake        20,000

A total of 32 people participated in the collection of walleye fingerlings they were from the T.R & G. C., Ironside Campers Association and Sudbury Game & Fish Conservation Club. The Total Hrs for feeding of the ponds and removal and stocking of the walleye fingerlings is: Total 975Hrs

We hope to do as well in 2005 as we did in 2004 and add more new lakes to our  walleye-stocking program
  
TROUT POND

   
 In 2001 we began our People with Disabilities Trout Pond and it is by far our most rewarding program to date. We built a deck onto this pond so that people with disabilities could access the trout pond. In 2004 the group ICAN (Independence Centre and Network) participated in this program 10 times. We supply the fishing gear and provide them with a barbeque lunch; this program is of no cost to the participants. The MNR staff Brenda Harrow and Keith Scott provided the splake for this program (“People with Disabilities Trout Pond)”.  Approximately 170 trout where caught by the ICAN group. Also many of the member’s children and grand children and senior’s enjoyed trout fishing.   The total volunteer hours by club members was

Total 155 Hrs

                The total hrs worked to date on walleye projects and trout pond projects are.

                                                                                Total Hrs 3013.

Reaching out to members of our community:

Our organization reaches out to members of the community that are isolated and traditionally not involved in our activities by encouraging these members to join us as we collect eggs on the shores of Whitson Lake, which is easily accessible by people with disabilities.  Schools and the general public are also invited to visit the hatchery and witness, for the first time the hatching, rearing, and restocking of area lakes.  The viable fishery that our organization has created within the Greater City of Sudbury has provided easy access to fishing for the elderly and the disabled.

We are also going to Create a new committee made up of people with disabilities to help us understand their needs within our organization. In doing so our property will be more accessible for people with physical disabilities so they are able to participate in all of our programs.

  We work with the following groups:

1.       The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters

2.       Sudbury Fish and Game Protective Association

3.       Azilda Rearing ponds Club

4.       Chelmsford Fish and Game Association

5.       ICAN (Independence Centre and Network)

6.       Ironside Lake Campers Association

7.       Whitson Campers Association

8.       Ministry of Natural Resources

9.       Elk Restoration Foundation

10.     Turkey Restoration Group

11.     TD Friends of the Environment

12.     Brita Canada Corporation

13.     Greater City of Sudbury

14.     Laurention University

15.     Boy Scouts

16.     NOFCC

Mailing Address

1615 Olivia Street

Val Caron, Ontario

P3N 1L5

Rolland Frappier                   

Phone 897-2478                 

Email: (walleye@sympatico.ca)

President of the Trailsmen Rod & Gun Club

  

A 14 pound walleye that Rolly caught during one of his fishing trips.
 
 

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