DonAndersen

Enough is enough. Mussels have now be found upstream of Canyon Ferry dam at Townsend which is upstream of the FF hotbed of Craig, MT So, are we going to continue boat traffic from Montana into Alberta? Or angler traffic for that matter. We don't need another invasive. Don

Fish tech, WD was in the Madison about 30 years ago. Wiped out <>90% of the trout and today the Madison is back to 80% of pre-80's levels. There is a price to pay for Govts sitting on their asses. Don

John.... Make sure you have a large 12v battery in each hand. Decent sized weights keep you in the SW. Those w/o batteries are stacked up along the Sask. Border. Light breeze up this way. Don

Hi, Beaver was still open Saturday and depending on the over night lows, the boat launch may have the ice in it. If the boat launch ice is too thick, pack your boat to the point. The lake was 20% frozen mid-week and completely clear Saturday. Caroline has several motels. The restruants are OK. Fishing is not stellar but there are still some caught each day. Mitchell was 20% ice today. Cleared by the time I left. Fishing was crappy. Hopefully weather holds the rest of the week. I'm not done yet. Don

Bron, l'll always recall Dick Vincent, the biologist that discovered WD in the Madison, telling the WD conference in Calgary how excited Angler's were catching all the big trout in the Madison during the same time when the disease was ravaging the small trout. Sounds like a parallel to what is happening on the Bow. Don

And Clive says " A side note that will stir the pot. Casual observation leads me to think that triploids are probably not the answer in Alberta's cooler lakes (cooler then BC). Since BH went triploid we no longer see the numbers of fish near the shore lines and catch rates from shore and boats are down over 4 or 5 years back. We also saw that at Whitetail Lake (BC). It seemed that when stocking switched from diploid Pennasks to triplod Pennasks they no longer used the north end flats and stayed in deeper water. Seems so. Who knows? " Don's comment!!?! A lot or most of the shallow water catches were of sexually mature fish wanting to spawn somewhere. Seems like "fair chase" to me!! Tis most interesting how many times the Alberta Govt has encouraged targeting spawners. Must be something in the water. Don

Fish tech is right on. The ranchers in Alberta control 5,000,000 acres of public land in grazing leases where access is near impossible. By the way, they pay the Govt a princely $ 0.70/acre for the lease. About 1/25 of what it should cost them. Welfare at it's best. And of course, they get the oil revenue as well. We are getting robbed. Don

Angler, I skinned them too. But fillet a 6" fish. Tough to do. Why don't you and a couple of thousand others give Crimson, Cow, Twin, Phyllis, Tay + another 25 lakes in the province a go. Eat them all. Don

Spark plug, Do the bottle thing already. Great idea in the perch thing but we're two years too late. Max size is now maybe 6". Tough to fillet sardines. Mind you - a thousand feet of mist net would work and we could hype perch as the greatest thing to put into gardens as fertilizer. Maybe sell the perch for pig/chicken feed. Lots of possibilities. By the way, perch were illegally stocked in Phyllis lake about 40 years ago. Too date, nothing has been done. Govt at it's best. Don

Something to consider. Whirling disease reduced the fly shops in West Yellowstone from near a dozen to 3 barely hanging on. Better now but was ugly for some years. Removing all the postings of fish caught from the Crow, Bow, Oldman and Tribs. Will give you some understanding of the potential effect. Fly shops and dinasouras may share the same fate. Don

Uber, This is typically called " recreational cow herding" and is practiced by Cowboys from coast to coast. Comes right up there with "recreational cultivation". Experienced it in the south years ago on Racehorse when 1\2 dozen riders pushed 10 cows down the ACME logging road and across the creek. Don

But shouldn't the limit be a pickup box load and you can't leave till it is FULL ! Don

Last summer I headed to Crimson Lake to whack a bunch of illegally stocked perch. Did well and had 15 on a stringer when arriving at the shore. Looking down on me were 1/2 dozen Fish Cops and Park Officers who had been on a training course. Well, one headed over and asked how I had done. Got 15 I said. Well, he counted them twice to make sure I hadn't exceeded my limit. I asked him " why am I allowed to benefit from an illegal act? If I was keeping a stolen car what would your reaction be? Check the tires. Things went downhill from there. So, should we be allowed to benefit from others illegal acts? Don

Every now and then one is hooked bad enough to bleed to death, They get eaten where retention is legal. Been three over the past 10 years or so. Two were from Beaver lake 5 or 6 years ago. God awful tasting things. Kill illegally stocked perch regularly. Don

Al, Gotta be a reason. Cost is generally the driver. Don

About a minute/pound for most trout. Don

Al, While I have sympathy for both your concern and the river, Alberta ranchers have been driving their cows through water courses for 150 years. Nothing will stop them. It is ingrained in the culture. They can do no wrong. Don

Folks, My thanks for your support. Am shocked that a basement manufacturer of rods even made the list. Great to see the support for a Canadian manufacturer. Regards, Don

Hero shots build credibility leading you into reading the accompanying text thereby increasing readership and therefore profitability. Follow the money! Don

Weeds are worse on every lake I fished in Alberta this year. Some are aerated. Don

Gaiters for sale. Call... Don

Burn.... If you see a fine being handed out, please feel free to let us know. Don

See, somewhere in the real world things get done. Curious that the only place the quads & campers are fined is in the Rocky Mtn. House area. Lots of yipping and hollering elsewhere but f.....all gets done. Gets some balls boys and get after them.

Guys, I attended the first WD conference in Alberta. The Montana Biologist reported that he knew the fish in the Madison were in trouble for some years before he detected infected fish. While he was concerned about the fish, FF types were rejoicing in the number of larger fish they were catching. He also described the bug this way. " if an eagle ate a diseased fish, *hit on a river bank where the *hit dried out and 25 years later the *hit washed into the river, the disease bug would still be alive. Browns are not effected as bad as rainbows. They grew up with the disease in their native lands. Don

Wonder how it got to Johnstone Lake?