Lake Scugog

Lake Scugog is an

The name "Scugog" may be an Ojibwe word meaning "marshy waters". However, according to Place Names of Ontario by Alan Rayburn, Scugog is a Mississauga word meaning 'waves leap over a canoe' in reference, perhaps, to the flooding of the river valley, or, more likely, the quickness that waves can be whipped up in winds, owing to its shallowness.^[2]

Geography

With 68 km² with an average depth of 1.4 metres, Lake Scugog is amongst the largest five lakes of the Kawarthas by

A 2.58 km² (1.00 sq mi) Mississaugian Indian Reserve of about 50 residents exists on Scugog Island,^[4] and includes the Great Blue Heron Casino, amongst the many seasonal cottagers on the island and around the lake.

Hydrology

It is a hard-water marl-producing lake, and the lake bottom consists of deep deposits of it. This gives the lake a murky appearance in warm weather, especially during the summer. The lake is reportedly filling in with this marl by about 1 millimetre per year.^{[citation needed]}

In dry summer weather, the Scugog River ceases to flow out of the lake, and its tributary streams of Mariposa Brook and East Cross Creek flow backward into the lake via the river to offset the high evaporative losses off the lake and marsh surfaces.

History

The lake has had a history of water level changes. Originally, it was essentially two lakes connected via a broad channel flowing through a

The original body of water consisted of the upper sections of the current lake and was more ideally a shallow marsh than an actual lake.[8]

The marshes of the lake prior to flooding were filled with wild rice stands and cranberries harvested by the native Mississaugas. The flooding of the lakes contributed greatly to their destruction.

It is surrounded by swamps and marshes which provide ideal habitat for waterfowl and other wildlife.

Lake Scugog has an array of fish, including an abundant supply of largemouth bass, walleye, crappie, musky, perch, carp, catfish, rock bass, smallmouth bass and minnows. Due to a dwindling walleye population, there is no season to catch or keep walleye. It is a renowned fishing location in southern Ontario.^[9]

Economy

Like many of the lakes of southern Ontario, Scugog served for a time as a vessel for transporting logs downstream to

Today, the lake is a tourist area, forming the southern boundary to "Cottage Country". The towns of Port Perry and Lindsay benefit from the recreational boating through the Trent-Severn Waterway by vacationers in the summer. Fishing is also a major attraction of the lake, as its shallow weed-filled bed is host to an abundance of species.

Watershed

A list of rivers feeding to and from the lake:

• Nonquon River - flows from the southwest (near Utica) towards Seagrave. The river empties into Lake Scugog southeast of Seagrave.
• Cawkers Creek - flow from southwest end of Port Perry southwards for 16 km
• Mariposa Brook - also known as Big Creek, Black Creek, Davidson's Creek, and West Cross Creek begins in swamps near Manilla then flows northeast to then south past Little Britain and then east to empty into the Scugog River at Ops
• Blackstock Creek - found southeast of Lake Scugog between the Lake Scugog and East Cross Creek
• Scugog River

Osler Marsh

The marsh on the lake along the Port Perry Causeway south of