DonAndersen

http://www.ibtimes.com/when-otters-attack-4-foot-otter-viciously-attacks-swimming-8-year-old-boy-his-grandmother-1647416 A four-foot river otter attacked an 8-year-old boy and his grandmother swimming in a Washington state river, nearly costing the boy his life. Bryce Moser, 8, and Lelani Grove were swimming in a shallow part of the Pilchuck River Thursday when the animal jumped on the boy, witnesses told the KOMO-TV, Seattle. “[The otter] had him by the back of his head and it was holding him down,” said Dean Springer, the boy’s great-uncle. “Just the whole body was wrapped around him.” The adults in the area reportedly sprang into action at the sound of Bryce’s screaming, which was only interrupted by his struggle to stay above the river’s surface. Grove was the first to respond, prying the otter off and triggering an attack on herself. “It immediately went to the same position on the top of her head and had hands on her eyes and was biting the back of her head,” Moser’s mother told reporters. “As I’m hitting it with an umbrella and trying to get it off of her, it’s just getting more and more mad.” Area swimming areas were closed through the end of the week, with Department of Agriculture officials putting up warning signs and unsuccessfully trying to trap the animal. While river otters do have sharp teeth adapted for a diet of crayfish, crabs and frogs, they normally present no threat to humans. http://www.kaj18.com/news/otters-injure-boy-at-lake-of-the-woods-east-of-kalispell/ Boy hurt by otters at Lake of the Woods near Kalispell KALISPELL - State wildlife officials report that a pair of adult otters attacked and hurt a young boy on Sunday at Lake of the Woods near Echo Lake - east of Kalispell. The attack was reported to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks by 911 dispatchers. The otters attacked the boy when he was swimming in the lake, and he was bitten several times on his legs. Otter attacks on humans are extremely rare, with wildlife officials saying that when they do happen it's often because the animals feel trapped or feel like they need to defend their young. FWP warns of aggressive otters after woman attacked BOZEMAN - A woman was attacked by an otter in the Hebgen Basin, prompting Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials to warn people to use caution around the animals. The attack happened Tuesday night near the Madison River Bridge at mile marker 4 on U.S. Highway 191, and the woman suffered significant bites to her hand. There is also an unconfirmed report of a male angler being attacked as well later in the evening. "While otter attacks are extremely rare, these are wild animals and they can be aggressive making it especially important for people to keep a safe distance from adults and their pups," a news release from FWP states. Wildlife officials are posting signs in the area warning of the danger. Now I've only seen 4 this year so far. Down from previous highs 'cause I spend a lot of time this summer outta province looking for decent sized fish. Happy munching, Don

Bet these guys could raise the building http://www.mccannsbldgmovers.com

There are anglers amoungst us that have a clue of what fishing is all about. Erest Schwiebert wrote in Remembrances of Rivers Past. Published by The Macmillan Company of his many memorable stream side meals on rivers around the world. If I recall correctly the meals centred on quality wines and cheeses. Beats the cheese sandwich and apple I pack. Happy munching, Don

Fly fishing is a journey. Been at it for over 55 years and am still learning. I started w/o books or any other info and learned for the first 10 years by what the trout taught me. If you are looking for a decent book A.J. McLean's " the Practical Angler" book written <> 40 years ago contains nearly all the things required to be a compenet angler. For the beginner, Clive's book by an Alberta writer is about the best there is. Catch Clive at http://clives.shawwebspace. Certainly buying experience works as does the internet. Be aware however that Fly Fishing is a technical activity and you can get bogged down in stuff that matters little. This site, amoungst others, is capable of doing exactly that. Lower your expectations and have fun. Knowledge comes slowly. Enjoy the journey. Don

Cast... The Bassno Dam on the Bow was nearly full of silt 50 years ago. It is still there so the irrigators get their fix of water. Electrical Dams will go, irrigation - not a chance. Don

Cast.... The same thing happened in the Red Deer below the dam. All that is left is cobble. The Livingstone within the "gorge" section has little small gravel left due to flood velocities. Where it can, both rivers have straighter sections with higher velocity flows leading to extensive tailouts. The tailouts change to channels to the next pool/run. This behaviour existed in the Oldman above the dam after the flood of '95. I think your concern about fines is bang on. What will rebuild the banks leading to decent habitat? Don

Peter, Alcohol pens work great for touch ups. Acetone will lessen colour for blending. Various dyes available from Lee Valley Tools are also an option. Many of them are water soluble making blending into existing colour easy. Lots of options. Don

So what was the result. Just got back from a week of southern AB cutthroat fishing. Only resorted to a nymph for several hours to determine effectiveness. Did get one decent one of 20" + several others of decent size. With the flood a lot of bugs were absent. Didn't see any stones or drakes. Some very small mayflies + black flies seemed to be the only food sources. Still there were rising fish and a Usual or a CFF would get at least a refusal. The "blue water" produced less well than riffles. There will be a huge caddis hatch over the next while on the Livingstone if the billions of caddis cases attached to the rocks can be believed. This must be a multi-year hatch as this years new channels were also extensively used. Over the week fishing the West Castle, South Castle, Dutch, Oldman & Livingstone few fish were landed over 18", a lot @ 13" and some @ 4". Many days were slow with the best days having catches <>15. To sum up, dries worked in spite of the lack of bugs. Catch ya' Don

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/23/mayfly-hatch-wisconsin-photos-radar_n_5614449.html?1406148856&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

Now all you purists. The Turk's T, cutthroat candy or Club Sandwichs can hardly be called dainty dry flies but catch cuts they do. Mind you occasionally I resort to size 20 H&L variant or a Commander Whitehead. Regards, Don

Monger, I hearty agree. Cutthroat were designed for FFing. They were both eager and stupid + they live in some of the pretty places. Things have changed, cuts now are not quite so gullible and nymphs are occasionally required. As far as pretty places. See the quad trails. Don

Smitty, Certainly the CFF I fish a lot. It got it's name after the same fly landing 115 cuts. It would have even caught more but was stolen by a cut.and not returned. Just 'cause I use it doesn't reflect the choices of others which prompted the question. Got the nymphs done and off to the dries this afternoon. Cool in the basement. Catch ya' Don

What are the top 10 cutthroat flies? Don

Ah but Winston - my wife says I can't solve the world's problems one shot at a time. Damn Liberal anyway!

The fresh water flow into Police Outpost Lake comes in from the west. Two things could occur. 1) the fresh water flow could be effected - and yes it happens. Goldeye Lake camp dropped the lake 4' before they were forced to get a none lake source. By the way, there goes that shoals. 2) the sewage outflow would likely proceed downhill to the lake. Blue green algea is not good. And as recreation increases on the lake, the 12 km/h speed limit will be ignored ever more till jet skis are the order of the day. As a family who owns a recreational property south of Rocky, we travel to Police Outpost Lake regularly to get away from fireworks, quads, constant shooting, mud bogs and generally idiotic behaviour. So the question is: what part of Alberta can we go now? By the way, we are considering selling the place. The area comes with delivered drinkee poos, golf cart races, recreational firearm discharges, fireworks invitations, midnight quad tune-ups and vehicle dodge ball with drunks. As all our neighbours are from Calgary, feel free to apply. Don

Not joining the parade to Rio. Been there and got lousy performance. I got a WF where the running line was too thin and tangled regularly. Gave the line to a guy who only fishes bobbers and rarely casts over 30'. I returned to the Cortland 444 DT for bobber fishing. For long leader presentations, I replaced my worn out Sharkskin with the new Sci. angler Sharkwave. Since spooling it this spring, I've got 45 days on it in all kind of conditions. It remains supple when in cold water, doesn't have a lot of memory and casts quite well w/o the annoying scream and whistle of the original Sharkskin. There is still some line noise when casting but it is not an issue at least for me. The line has a rough coating but is not finger burning on larger fish like the original Sharkskin was. Regards, Don

Doc, Would you mind if the tips section was expanded to a tips section that others may add to? Don

The concept of not stocking fish into streams had some interesting effects in Alberta. 1) the streams around Rocky didn't get stocked any more although they didn't ever support recruitment. 2) the concept was ignored in several places. These stockings included the Cardinal, Blackstone, Wabiabi, Bighorn and perhaps others. Many of these stockings were placed on top of per existing native populations. It should be noted that in some cases the fishermen won a new species in the river or a stocking of barren water and in some cases he lost a fishing opportunity. All is not simple in biology. Don

Conor, Great idea on water rights. The proposal is called the Hankinson project. Don

This article deals with the decision to stop stocking wild trout into native trout reproducting populations. It is a great read and the decision effected North America trout stockings. I meet Dick Vincent a number of years ago when he was in Alberta trying to educate the Govt and stakeholders about Whirling Disease. Vincent is everything a biologist should be! Don http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/2004/DickVincent.htm

The best chance of derailing the proposal is the Development Permit stage. After talking to the Planning Officer, the Open House is of critical importance apparently. The Proponent has to record who attended and their concerns and has to submit these to the Planning Department. I urge you to attend the meeting and record your concerns. Ther open house is on June 23/14 from 4>8 pm at the Butte Community Hall which is located north of Caroline and within a mile or 2 of the Buck for Wildlife parking Lot on Stauffer Creek. Letters in opposition to the proposal is also one way the public gets counted at this point. But be forwarned, multiple letters all addressing the same thing hold the weight of a single letter according to the Development Officer. Do not get discounraged with the letter writing though, address the issues as your see fit and forward them along. However, if the proposal gets approved, the next stage is the appeals board where the public can make presentations. The appeals process must be started within 2 weeks of the Development Permit Approval. Other Govt agencies get involved. ESRD Water Resources branch will deal with water issues. From my experience with the gravel pits at the mouth of the Medicine, the Alberta Govt bureaucrats duck and run and will not get in the way of any development. The proposed pit is a reopening of a previous pit but with a significant difference. This pit will require dewatering as there will be a lot a water inflow from the aquifer the feeds Stauffer Creek. I was told the pit was abandoned due to water infiltration. The proposal shows a water retention pond that will hold the water pumped from the proposed new pit. How this will hold water is beyond me with the water table as close to the surface as it is. The water table in this area is from 4>6' below the surface with a fine example provided by the County of Clearwater when they rebuilt the east/west road on the north side of the proposed development. The removal of dirt from the ditch created a spring flow along the north side of the road that flowed <>200 yards to Stauffer Creek. Brook Trout utilized this spring to spawn in for 2 years till the grasses etc. stopped their movement into the spring area. The 1/4 section directly to the east is owned by a number of folks. The north side of Stauffer has two owners, the banks and shorelines on the stream are held under an ecological lease by the County of Clearwater, the south bank landowners are held jointly by the Alberta Conservation Association, Trout Unlimited Canada and Alberta Fish and Game Association. I hope you find the info complete and useful. If you have any questions, feel to send email. regards, Don

Folks, There is a gravel pit proposed for an area just west of the Stainbrooks Springs Property that is the source of much of the water for Stauffer Creek. What concerns me is the very real chance of upsetting the spring flows to Stauffer. Some years ago Petro-Can did a ground radar study of the underground flows in the Stauffer Valley. The study revealed a lot of the underground flow would be directly in the path of the proposed gravel extracton effort. I would suggest that those that care, reflect your care somehow. Dept of Environment is a great place to start followed by Dept of Fisheries and Oceans, and of course CC both your MLA and MP the letter you send. The information meeting date/place is below. There is really no public venue to express your concerns other than writing letters. The most important letter you can wirte is to the: Clearwater County, Attention Planning Dept. Regarding Associated Aggregates Inc. Application P.O. Box 550 4340 -47 Avenue Rocky Mountain House, AB | T4T 1A4 Office: 403.845.4444 | Fax: 403.845.7330 Note: the letters are time sensitive. My understanding is the development board will meet in August. Your letters must be in to them by mid-July in order to be part of the package going to the develipment board. For those that care to understand and wish to respond to the proposal, I have copies of the covering letter and supporting documents that I'll be pleased to send you. donandersen@bamboorods.ca regards, Don

Barely enough to get by. <> 2500 when in the lake vest and a further 1500+ in the flowing water vest + the back up boxes at camp and I've gotta tie this morning. Got fish yesterday on a fly that needs further "adjustment". The weighting is not quite right. Don

Outcast build decent boats. Available at Fishin' Hole or Wholesale. I'd suggest the 9IR @$899.95 Please don't buy Costco or CDN boats. They are poorly constructed. If you had told us what you spending limit may be, the choices are simple. Figure on $ 800+ for a decent boat. Add a further $100 for anchors, dry boxes. Add another $150 for Mustang suspender style of life jacket. Add a further $20 for your required safety gear pack. Need waders, add $150>800. Fins are needed for lakes. Add another $150. See what $2,000 gets ya. Don

Uber.. Choked up they were. They thought that they were going to be controlled. The whining and bellyaching was loud and continuous. As yet, I'm not yet clear on just what will happen in the planning document but according to the rabble, the sky fell in. Don