DonAndersen

Folks, Here is how to be involved. https://landuse.alberta.ca/Newsroom/Pages/PublicConsultations.aspx Meetings all over Alberta plus workbooks for those unable to attend meetings. Unlike other regional plans, this region is closest to the major populations. It should be noted that the Southern Sask plan choked up a number of quadders/random campers with the recommendations. Regards Don

Get a kick outta the debate. It is typical. The sides called do nothin and the side of do something. As they talk & talk the issue gets worse and worse till the Govt finally does the obvious and throws up it 's hands and does nothing. This all yields a new norm that is accepted by one and all. Keep talking........ Fact is folks if we didn't like what was going on, we'd fix it. Till we get motivated, the problems will continue, Don

A blow up doll for pit stops. The one I found on the Livingstone is still looking for her sugar Daddy. Don

Really too bad that the Govt thinks running livestock up and down trout streams is a good thing. Curiously, the video showcases very little of Alberta's landscapes - lots of mountain and more mountains followed by ever more mountains. The mountains occupy a tiny strip along the western edge of Alberta in some places less than 30 miles wide. Too bad that more than 80% doesn't make us "breathe". Pretty video though. Don

Dave, Being as I've already done a lot of the work doing hardness, P & M alkalinity, water analysis, I'm pleased that you finally came around. Been looking at these issues for sometime with funding from Edmonton TU. Curiously, neither the govt or anyone else exhibited any interest although I've made the offer many times. As far as the biomass it is the same now as it was in 2005 with an the numbers of trout falling and an increase larger browns was due to the partial C&R regulations. If you are interested in being about what has been done, I could send you all the data. Seems like my hissy fit may finally get some govt action but after 30 years of doing diddly, I expect the govt will again snooze along. I'll be busy for a while doing this and that but if you send along an email address, I'll get you up to speed. Don

Now I've seen otters in the S. Raven, Beaver lake (both singles and family groups) Mitchell Lake, Ironside Pond, Cow Lake & Pairies Creek. Friends have seen them on the N.Ram, Cow Creek, Mud Creek, several family groups of up to 5 along Prarie Creek. Contemporary trappers have seen them along the Brazeau & Nordegg rivers. Guess it is a wide ranging rodent. And Dave is bang on right. The Boreal Forest, from the otter hides traded @ Ft. Edmonton was a prevalent species. As related several times previously, there was ONE otter pelt traded at Rocky Mountain House. Any otters that were traded@ Rocky were certainly not an important income producing animal. Otters are a fur producing animal and are trapped and sold as such. They may be cute but for the trappers/furriers out there, they are a income. As far as where they came from - gotta be from the north or south. They have been seen in large numbers in southern Alberta as well on the Elk although they were not native there. As far as studying Stauffer, I would not only welcome, encourage but raise money to figure out why Stauffer is now producing 30% of the fish fit did in 1985. To date, govt has done 3 population runs and made it C&R. The population still is @ 30%. I've been waiting for 30 years for the motivation to happen to Govt. Hasn't happened through the last 2 leaderships and from the emails of #3, I expect nothing will be done. So Dave, if you have some magic pill to inject life into Govt, please feel free to do so. Give us a week or so to build viewing stands for the large crowd of anglers who would love to witness the resurrection. And with that, we've chewed this thing to death. The otters will stay due to Farley Mowatt, Walt Disney and Govt lack of management plan. And I'm going fishing. Don

Vag.... First otters I saw were on the Gibbon River in the early 1970's. Several years later I saw a female and kit on the Firehole River which are all located in Yellowstone Natioal Park. The female and kit were preying on trout that had sought cooler water in a tributary. The Yellowstone National Park is world reknowned as a trout fishery. Never saw an otter in Southern or Central Alberta till 5 years ago. I fish 110>130 days on open water each year. Have seen over 15 in the past 5 years and "0" in the preceding 50 years. And this article about sums up info on Otters. http://www.vox.com/2014/4/24/5640890/9-questions-about-otters-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask Don

Dave 38 years and still doing nothing about Illegal perch stocking And 30 years the population has diminished in Stauffer and nothing. That ain't slow, that's comatose! Don

Wyoming, Being as you are from Wyoming, you may not know that Alberta didn't have raccoons, ravens, dew worms, whitetail deer, very few pelicans or cormorants or cows and on and on. Mind you we lost most of our buffalo, most of our frogs, prairie chicken, sage grouse, sharptail grouse but the big gain was people. And Yupe I'm having fun. Even time I mention otters, the kiddies come outta the woodwork. Mind you,betcha none of the kiddies have ever seen an otter. But staunch defenders of otters they are. Damned if I know why. But it's the same bunch of kiddies every time making me wonder just who they might be. After all, Dave and I seem to have the only real names. The rest could be related to the otter stockers. Who knows. But don't you have to wonder the incredible logic applied to justify stocking of otters. After all, SRD has little money or time for fisheries enforcement and them goes about stocking another uncontrolled fish gobbler. Don

Hi ya cube, In the 150 years of trapping records from the Rocky Mountain Historic site there is one mention of otters. There was ONE traded to the site. The trading post served the tribes who lived along the eastern slopes. Lots of otters traded into Edmonton. And if the natives were tough enough to trade grizzly and wolverine hides, they should have found otters easy. And just for you, the site closed in 1876 which is give or take 50 years before brown trout showed up. But, you stories are good. Don

And just so ya know, otters are now carriers of human pathogens. No evidence YET that the pathogens have mutated and jumped to man. Remember AIDs, bird flu, swine flu. Can otter flu be far behind? See: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/jason-tetro/otters-and-human-health_b_5182913.html Don't drink the water - otters swim & crap in it. Don

Gee Dave, I've been involved with fisheries and water issues for over 40 years. I've also worked for private industry. If private industry employee operated at the speed of ESRD, they would be canned. Like a previous manager of mine pointed out, there are two types of people - self starters and kick starters. Which pile would ESRD employees be placed. Taking 38+ years and still no response to illegal perch stockings is criminal. And just where did you get the info on otter stocking. My sources say they were stocked in Chambers Creek and Elk creek + a pile of them SW of Sundre. Again. The only proof is the Freedom of Information request. Queries about otters gets silence or lies. Don

Gee, thank God I posted the stuff about otters after the shack nasties disappeared. In answer to Smitty's question. I'd expect that there are many things that effect stream more than otters. Dams, spills, irrigation demands, land use, cows, quads. Chose your poison. For my take, otters are just one more addition to the downward trend. But you and others can chose to sit on your butts while the fish gobbling goes on. For my part, I'd whack 'me if legal. But like all predators, ESRD loves 'em so I expect that in keeping with their ESRD's present speed of dealing with issues, sometime in 2050 or so seems a good guess as to when the Biologist finds Otter *hit. For those that are wondering why anyone would look for Otter *hit, it seems like this is the accepted method of determing what Otters eat. My belief is you see them on Priarie Creek, they are eating fish. And Dave - how do you know how many otters were stocked. The Freedom of Indormation query doesn't reflect any numbers. Further, when I asked, the Regional biologist either didn't know it the stocking had happened or lied to me. To date, my impression is that ESRD is still looking for Otter *hit. From the information I've heard, there were Otters stocked up and down the eastern Slopes. But I've no proof. Dave says two and offers no proof. So I guess it's somewhere between ?>? When the last fisheries presentation was done in Rocky, I asked the biologist in that meeting if anyone in the local office had ever seen an Otter. She said that someone may have seen one 30+ years previously. In that same meeting were at least 3 employees of ESRD who just sat there. Do they know - hell every one that worked for ESRD knew. But sit they did. Enough on Otters. Anyone try to eat one? Are they greasy like Beaver? Don

Guys/Gals, After the lady was bitten bad by an otter last summer in BC I've been watching otter antics all over the net. They are not all the cute little critters that most of us believe. See: http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/...2956/story.html Otters are now quite commonly seen on our trout waters. I have been chased by otters at two different lakes while in my pontoon boat. Got a email from another guy who was chased off of the Crow. There have been people fatalities in otter encounters in Florida. Just be aware, these are not little cute animals. A good sized otter may exceed 30 lbs. regards, Don

Blink... Your error may be caused by your information source. Both other responders used the Alberta Govt Regulations whereas you we using an "Internet" source. Be very careful with internet sourcing. Errors will exist. Don

Came back from BC today and crossed a number of streams and rivers. Here is a rundown: Bow River @ Cochrane – clear Dog Pound Creek – off-color Little Red Deer – dirty c/w ice jams Bearberry Creek – dirty James River – very dirty South Raven River – off-color Clearwater River @ Highway #54/22 junction – clear Mud Creek – off-color Prairie Creek – ice covered. Clearwater River @ Highway #752 bridge – ice covered. Note: lots of fresh snow will increase run-offs dramatically. Streams that are clean today may not be clean for very long if the weather reports are right! And if you decide to come up our way, gas prices are $0.10/liter cheaper than Calgary. Whooppee!!!

Guys, The Fallen Timber, Jame and Little Red got blasted in the last drought. Lost <>80% of thier fish and there wasn't a lot there to start with. Between floods and drought, life is tough in these streams. Don

Feather... Follow the link to the 5 books written about Alberta trout fishing. Of the bunch, Barry Mitchell's book takes in a larger area although he does cover the Province. The other books are mostly related to southern Alberta. http://www.braggcreekrecreation.com/fishing-guidebooks.html Regards, Don

Fish... I make bamboo rods and occasionally collect some. I've cut the stable down to more workable 30 or so. Am adding two this year. Both 8' - both will have two tips. One rod will be a 2 & 3 tipper whereas the other will be a 1 & 2 tipper. Now to find a one weight line - preferably used. Regards, Don

Fishinlivn, Got one once for an Orvis rod. Don't really need anymore rods. The stable at that point was over 50 so Orvis allowed me to purchase $1,000 of goods from their catalogue. Took days to figure our what I needed. Good fun. Shimano builds quality spin reels. Got some and they work very well. Enjoy the experience, Don

Over the years I've been forced to drive 3 Fords. * One I bought - '53 sedan - neat car - doors flew open w/o cause, truck opened once, motor cratered & cost $10.00 for a replacement. Sold it for what it cost. * # 2 was a company truck that was equipped with a heater which occasionally kept the windows clear. Every now and then I took an axe to the ice on the floor. And it's finest habit was puddles. Every time I drove through one, it stopped. The cure, wipe out the distributor. * # 3 is my wife's car. And for that I keep quiet. I didn't get a vote so there's no point complaining. Don

Terry, That's exactly what I thought when I saw the picture. But these's a sad story. The "Office" is now retired after serving for near a thousand trips. She's leaking out both tubes. I am fishing outta an Outcast now which I don't think paint will stick to. I guess then I'll be absorbed into the masses and forever lose what individuality I used to have. Damn, so it's off to lemming land. Whoops, just read that lemmings don!t commit mass suicide regularly. That fable was brought to us by Walt Disney. However, they do migrate in large numbers leading to mass drownings Don

Ya, but the Feds were bright enough to figure out a decent boat. Don

Folks, Note the civil war uniform. Pontoon Boats are not a "new" thing.