Harps

Alot of political pressure from the city... and it has rained in Calgary and areas north. I don't think many people realize that it can rain in Calgary and not in the Pass. Of course, will SRD- forestry get a better budget next year if the south burns again ?? Hopefully it will snow all weekend, but the forcast calls for high temps... high temps in the day and low night temps will encourage some folks to start a fire... just a small one to keep warm while they drink beer. Of course with the heat... Nothing like a clean cool dip in the secluded N. Sask River... Yes thats at least a dozen vehicles parked IN the river.

North of Hwy 3 is open, complete fire ban still. I don't know if the campgounds are open yet, or just access along the FTR. South of Hwy 3 is CLOSED. I can smell the smoke already...

http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=652588 I think they'd work downtown Calgary... Cheers,

I think the fish take a bit of time to adapt to the changed condtions, but they still have to eat. Try a dark nymph (the outline is easier to see), bigger can work too. Fish the edges where the water is slower (up on where the bank normally is) or the shallows because fish won't worry so much about lack of cover (can't see them anyways). Also a streamer that pushes water will get the fishes attention. Of course there are much better dirty water anglers on the site that will have good advise, hopefully Toolman or Dave steps up to the plate here (the rivers down south are always clean and clear compared to the Bow ) Always fish when you have a chance...

There is a list of Canadian Lakes with federal boating restrictions here: http://www.tc.gc.ca/acts-regulations/GENER...s_on_Navigation You have to dig through it to find the Alberta Lakes. I'm not sure if it includes Provincial or Local restrictions though. Your best bet (if you don't see it on the list) is to call the local F&W office.

Escapee from Alison Hatchery. I think they are becoming established.

Arts and Crafts... Nobody steals an old lady's costume feathers...

I'll look for some pictures... but they're not always obvious. If you wade across the river (knee deepish water) and look back, sometimes you can see where you've stepped and stirred up the gravel. Often it is a lighter colour, or appears less "hazy" as you've just kicked up the fine sediments that have settled there over the season. Redds are like that. Sometimes you can't see your footprints. Sometimes redds are hard to pick out. *Edit* No time to find and upload pictures... This site shows some obvious redds: http://wdfw.wa.gov/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=7167 Cheers, */edit*

Check out this Report on 4 native Alberta Fish Species found on the Foothills Model Forest Site here. Good summary of Bull Trout info as one of the four spp they look at.

Like monger said... Bulls will spawn in any appropriate spots (flow, small cobble and gravel, close to cover- depth, woody debris). Depths approximately from 0.1m to 0.8, often in riffle-run type habitat. Often they spawn in areas that look good to cross on, like the tail-out of a pool (where it starts to pick up speed) or riffle. Watch for clean spots on the bottom and avoid shallow gravel areas where large trout seem to be holding (different from the bulls in the bottom of pools and the ones that race out to slam cutts from the logpiles). They will start moving to spawn now, and depending on where they are, and will spawn from the end of August through October in Alberta. Bulls turning red are mature bulls that can spawn. Play nice with them, they have less energy to fight as more of it is going to egg/ milt production and territorial behaviours. Cheers,

Hey RickR, Guiness it is. Good post, I have extreme personal views (okay, not to extreme), but I act in moderation.... I have to for what I do. Strides have been taken in the right direction... I'd have hoped that there would be less accidents rather than more. Castuserraticus, I won't even start on Ag... that'd have Clive coming down on my head. In my job, everyday I see streambed disturbance by O&G. Portable steel bridges are the rare form of crossing that I dream of as the norm. More often it is temp culverts, logfills, and icefills. Your access is in winter only for a good reason, even if you don't see it. Caribou and elk winter- there are other uses for the area besides O&G. I'm not going to comment on the consultations. Reclimation of sites... well we'll have to disagree on that. There are extensive regulations, applied a little like patchwork, but I agree, there should be better standards across the board. As for procedures... I don't know how often you apply or talk to regulatory agencies, not people you hire. Like you mentioned, I'm not clear on what you do, and you also don't know what I do. I have worked in the O&G field, most of it with regulations. This is my perspective though, from my personal Albertan (and Alaskan) experiences. I've grown up here and as an Albertan, and like most in this province, I have been exposed to the political, economic, social and environmental atmospheres that impact resource development (whether it is oil and gas, agriculture or even recreational activities- I think most know my opinion of jet boating…). Plus these arguments represent what I like to do in my spare time... Hopefully we'll get a chance to wet a line together, I may be short on the casting contest, but I find a good civil conversation about differing views, an excellent way to pass the time. Cheers,

If we’re going to debate this, let’s start on the same ground… (friendly debate, different perspectives and backgrounds). Here would be my rebuttal… Better to cut off the caribou migration runs, plow over their caving grounds, cover spawning areas and sensitive stream reaches, and disturb traditional hunting areas. Nothing to do with the ease of access, across muskeg in the winter vs the summer. Besides the cost differences, who cares if we were to rut up the landscape, and destroy drainage patterns across the whole distance. Besides, in the winter we can just walk away from the logfill crossings we’ve thrown in and let the spring thaw take it out. Who cares about the stream destruction caused and the spawning migration barriers left behind. Its fair that we pay for our own access I guess… the gov’t won’t fix my front step when its broken, and I had to apply for a permit to build it. Plus all the temporary crossings are destroyed and end up choking the stream somewhere else. Or the water cuts a new path around the crossing, depositing all that sediment into the creek. I think that’s fair considering how most of them live up there (off the land) and the affect we could have on their lives. Or we can cut corners here and nobody goes into the back-forty to see… It appears that you are using simple economics to describe a complex system (probably for the benefit of my simple mind). But the way I figure it, if the oil and gas industry is so damn risky maybe you and I should think about investing somewhere else. Even before you described the economic risk associated with O&G exploration and development, I knew I would never invest my 100k in the industry; I prefer industries with less community, environmental, and economic risks (my own pocket)! Yeah, I meant Ft Chip: Cancer rate in Fort Chipewyan cause for alarm: medical examiner And it looks like the Alberta gov’t covered it fairly… Local doctor doubts report on Fort Chipewyan cancer rates And it was further looked at by the National Review of Medicine: Health Canada muzzles oilsands whistleblower: AB physician sounded cancer alarm, slapped with College complaint Yeah, it’s all natural Uranium… nothing to do with the moonscape being created upstream. With the cost of living increase and the past cuts to the gov’t regulators, the bureaucracy is going to keep costing industry (in time and money) because of all the empty desks in the offices. There are only a few expectations the public has on the government (besides Klein Bucks). First the public wants to feel assured that the government is providing quality public services (even though some are provided by the private sector). This means enforcing our environmental standards, health standards, and regulating things like insurance and energy costs. Second the public expects governments to facilitate the ability of folks/companies/communities to achieve desired results. The lack of regulatory personnel hampers this (without facilitation there will be no F&W officers to stop poaching, no compliance folks to look at crossings, and no biologists to review the projects). Lastly, the gov’t needs to develop and provide structure (including physical and social infrastructure such as roads, legislation, regulations, organizations, etc). Legislation provides a clear path for oil companies to follow when proposing a drill… with all the drilling that has gone on, you’d think that companies would know the procedure by now. To get back on topic, we are debating the environmental hazards associated with O&G and industrial expansion, and this has less to do with risks associated with investments and everything to do with ensuring due diligence on the part of the resource taker. The onus should be on the person/company capitalizing on the resource extraction (even if it is only 6%) to ensure that their actions are not jeopardizing the rights of other resource users and the resource itself– and here enters government regulatory agencies. I think there is still no excuse for the spills (or the 100's not reported). Cheers

I love mornings... crisp air, birds, excellent lighting... but I'm not a morning person. Evening fishing it is.

That guy is amazing!! I spent last weekend with Paul Arden and some of the FFF Certified Master Casting Instructors from Sexyloops and they are just like that. If you get a chance, go see a seminar and watch this in real life. Your self-esteem will drop when you realize you can't cast worth S#!t, but you get over, knowing that you can cast that way with practice. And watching them fish... it is very usefull!!

Not a rambly post, a good perspective. The growth is related to the O&G boom... Stability is a good goal, but not something that our gov't seems to be working towards. More royalties should be sought and there should be a stricter requirment to follow existing environmental regulations... and a better clean-up program. The cost of safety should be paramount... Lives would be ruined by recession (yes was tounge in cheek ) but lives are ruined by unsafe work... as well as environmental damage (look at the cancer rate of the reserves near Ft. MacKay... extremely high since O&G moved in). I found that people here aren't as friendly as it once was... a function of the increased rush. Time is money, whether the time it take to do a project (corners are cut) or the time it takes to commute to work. I think people want (need now in Alberta) more money than time. There are worst places... but that doesn't mean we should accept lower standards of niceness (is that even a word??). As it stands, the environment (fish, air, WATER, etc) is under-valued due to narrow-minded economics. Once it is destroyed, we will be lost, wishing instead that we were just in a recession. Cheers,

45 blow outs and more than 100 MORE spills than 2005... never said how many spills in 2005. If you want to blame it on inexperienced workers.... well to me that is a problem of unsustainable (too fast) development.

O&G is required for us to maintain our standards of western society. I know that and never posted anything different. To think its the price we have to pay in Alberta is delusional. We are out of control and need to slow down before its too late. The oil isn't going anywhere. You've made your choice and that's fine. I see lost fisheries every day, and I'm not tickled pink about it, I'll tell you that. Especially when what is lost could have been avoided by better planning, a little common sense, and a touch more of that money that (instead) is going into short term gains and pockets rather than a sustainable way of developing. Seems to me that the standard of living has gone down, housing prices up, crime way up, crowds up, traffic up, pollution up, noise up, etc. Yeah, a rich province is great... that's why there is a movement into Saskatchewan for the first time. Give me lower wages but no crowding, less crime, friendly faces, and houses that cost what they should. Is the recession here yet?? I like Newfoundland and pretty much everybody I've met from there. I'm not sure what your issue here is, but it stinks of Redneck superiority. And this is why they will keep increasing. The first thought from somebody who enjoys the outdoors should be "With the profit being made, why can't more of these spills be prevented??" And, there are less wells being drilled in Alberta this year, 2 years of decline. The problem is that nobody cares about what they can't see. It'll be too late soon now anyways. Windmills kill bats, don't ya know??

And to top it off, enjoy swimming in Wabamun in the heat?!? Have a good day...

Calgary Herald 2007.08.06 Makes you feel secure in our ability to sustainably and cleanly extract Natural Resorces in Alberta... The environment will definately be there for our children to use and enjoy.

Thanks guys. I think RegDunlop's shot of that bow is just amazing! IMHO, The best shots are action or unique angle shots. I can flip you a bigger pict if you want when I get back to my other computer. PM and let me know. I have a closeup of just the side that I use on my desktop. Chars,

Just great, eh. Look where our Province has gone... not only will agriculture Never get that water back in times of drought, it won't be in the river for the aquatic environment. And than to top it off... they pipe the irrigation canals, which means no water for ducks, deer, muskrats, etc (and fish in canals). Plus with less leakage, the wetlands around the canals dry up even further eliminating wet habitats. Hope they didn't like duck hunting. WTF were those WID members thinking!?! Idiots

I too wish SRD would do something, but its tough as it has to come from a higher level... plus there would be alot of vocies against any closures. Fisheries and Oceans has no say over how the province manages the fishery... nor do I think they would do anything either. Best now is to voluntarily stop fishing, fish only in the early morning, keep the fish in the water and keep the fight time down, and pay attention to the temperature and fish conditions. If it gets hard to revive the fish, go have a beer and enjoy the scenery. This is where the removal of streamside vegetation and water taking really hurts the most. And the WID recently voted to let the horse track have some of their water... Why in the F***in' hell is a horse racing entertainment centre more important than our environment. As a taxpayer that really pisses me off!! I want that water left in the river if its not going to food production or nessessary human use. F***in' horse races, how stupid is that!?!

Alot of great picts so far!! These are a few of my fav's I'll figue out how to post them from here: http://picasaweb.google.com/pharps/Fish somehow... its easier for me to use than photobucket, and I've got better pictures. Chars,

Thanks Adam!! It'd be nice if Alberta Environment tracked water temps and updated them with the flow data: http://www3.gov.ab.ca/env/water/basins/Bas...rm.cfm?Basins=8 And Environment Canada data is tough to get: http://www.wsc.ec.gc.ca/products/main_e.cf...=products_e.cfm (just find a gauge with temps working...) Tough month on the fish, and all of August is left.

You can ask your wife if her sister can join... and survive the day.