The Regional Fisheries Manager for Eastern Manitoba says the coming weeks will be critical for the fish population in shallow bodies of water like Whitemouth Lake. Derek Kroeker says heavy snow cover and prolonged cold can pose problems with the oxygen supply for fish. He explains these conditions limit the amount of sunlight that gets to the underwater plants that provide oxygen for the fish, so the plants begin to decay, depleting oxygen in the process.

"We haven't had a chance to go to Whitemouth ourselves to check the dissolved oxygen content this year. Anecdotally, just hearing from a few anglers, some people have been out there and caught some fish earlier this winter. But I haven't heard too much recently. This is the time of winter where oxygen levels do get lower on those lakes and the next few weeks will be critical to determine whether there will be enough oxygen for the fish to survive the rest of the winter."

Overall, Kroeker says it has been a winter of mixed results for anglers.

"For the most part, people who are fishing in The Whiteshell are being relatively successful for the fish species that they are after, be it Walleye or Cisco, let's say on Big Whiteshell, or even Black Crappie. I know on Lake Winnipeg and the Red River, which are probably the biggest draw, fishing has been spotty. Some days it has been very good but other days it has been very poor so it's not as consistent as it has been."

Meanwhile, Kroeker says the higher amount of snow this winter has an upside because it will mean more runoff water this spring.

"When there is a high amount of flow, a good spring freshet, that generally means that there are higher waters in the tributaries where a lot of fish like to spawn. And when there's more water, there is typically a better potential for spawn. It doesn't always go that way, but it definitely trends better towards a good spawning season when there is a good, consistent spring runoff."