Charleston Lake Association

06/08/2026

Broad scale Monitoring (BsM) will be taking place this week on Charleston Lake by MNR science field crews in multiple boats. They will be setting gill nets to collect info on fish species. Nets are checked and moved to a new location daily. Please do not lift the nets or buoys and avoid recreational activity between and around the buoys. The crews are also taking water samples and checking for invasive species.

MNR collects data to report on the state of aquatic resources and determine stressors affecting fisheries in Ontario, including:

•trends in fish populations, such as species abundance (number of each species), species richness (number of different species in an area), and size

•habitat features, lake characteristics, and indicators of aquatic resource conditions, such as temperature, dissolved oxygen levels, water clarity and water chemistry

•links between natural and human-caused stresses, such as climate change, angling effort, and invasive species

Fish netting results are available at Fish ON-Line
http://www.ontario.ca/page/how-use-fish-line

06/05/2026

A friendly reminder that bass season remains closed until Saturday June 20th. There is no fish sanctuary this season. Bass are currently on their nests on Charleston Lake with a mix of eggs and egg sac fry. The male bass will guard the eggs and fry fiercely even attacking pike spoons, so please avoid casting near the shoreline or on rocky shoals where the bass are nesting. Even if you catch and release a bass, those few minutes the male guardian bass is away from his nest, the sunfish are quick to recognize this opportunity and will swarm the nest to vacuum up the eggs or fry. When the baby bass are born, they are poor swimmers and are unable to evade predators. When the eggs hatch the male may move the fry to a nearby w**d bed for cover. There is a misconception that once bass are “off their nests” then it’s fine to target them – that is false. The male bass will continue to guard those fry for several weeks.

• The Egg Stage: The male fiercely guards the nest for 3 to 10 days while the eggs develop.
• The Fry (Swim-up) Stage: Once the eggs hatch, the fry stay in a "cloud" or school near the male for another 2 to 4 weeks until the babies are about 1 inch long and can recognize predators.
• Once the fry are large enough to be independent, the male leaves them and heads to deeper water to resume active feeding

If you have renters or guests at your cottage, please remind them of the fishing regulations and protect our fishery for generations to come.

Report illegal fishing to 1-877-TIPS-MNR

05/29/2026

Hope to see you there !

05/27/2026

Loon Cams are back!
Watch weekly updates from four different loon nests in the lake posted to the CLA Website. Or follow the Nesting Cycle through Joshua Burch's YouTube Channel - link below.
We already have eggs on two of the rafts!

Well it's been a busy week with temperatures heating up and loon behaviour too !Nest 1 has remained well kept with the adults keeping the eggs incubated and ...

05/25/2026

This 23 inch stocked lake trout, caught on the weekend, had its right pectoral (RP) fin clipped. Stocking ended in 2011 on Charleston, so this fish hatched likely in 2009 and was released here in 2011, making it approx 15 years old! Very slow growth for this non-native laker ! If you are going to keep a lake trout to eat, best to keep a stocked one over a native one FYI. Check for clipped fins when you catch lakers.

05/24/2026

Yesterday was opening of Lake Trout season. The research team from Carleton University was out tagging lakers and inserting transmitters in their bellies. This will provide valuable data on our fishery!

05/17/2026

The CLA Information Center is open for the season !
Weekends until end of June from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
July & August: Thursday to Monday from 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
You can pick up the Official CLA Boating Safety Map for just $5, Eco-friendly cleaning products and general info about the lake.

05/15/2026

The AED unit at the North end of the lake is located in the fish cleaning station at Lakeline Lodge. Thank you for supporting your community!

05/15/2026

The AED at the South end of the lake is located inside the fish cleaning hut, central to the property at Gray's Whispering Pines. Thank you for supporting your community!

05/15/2026

NEW ON THE LAKE!
The CLA has a paid for and installed 2 new Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), one at each end of the lake. They will be available from the beginning of May until end of October. Photos with the exact location in the following posts. These state-of-the-art AED units provide verbal instructions that make it very easy for anyone, even without training, to use them.
Many thanks to CLA Board member, Brent McNamee, for leading this important initiative for our lake, and to Lakeline Lodge and Whispering Pines for hosting the units on their property.