bcubed

Pretty surprised by the amount of deepening the river has had. It's promising for the future, and hopefully it will provide some new wintering holes and fill in some old ones. Make us work a little more to go find fish when they stack up again. Looks like the plug at the Mallard Point Back Channel (Poplar Island) was washed out, and enough of the bank was chewed out so that the river is not going into the channel at 90 degrees anymore. This *should* keep a good amount of flow running down that channel, which will be awesome for fish spawning and rearing(now only need protection for the spawners in that channel....that's another topic). Hopefully it will continue to flow. Downstream of policemens, it's very evident what happens to a river when the riparian zones have been wiped out. Anywhere that a cottonwood was on the bank held its ground considerably better then those without. Time to start pushing land owners for more responsible riparian zone management, as well as getting out and wrapping the cottonwoods to keep the beavers off. We should have a lot of cottonwoods this year, just need to protect them (seems like a good project for TU to get on)... Word on the "street" is that carseland will likely be out of the game for boat launches until late august or september (if at all) this year. Need to push TU to work on their leased land at Legacy Island to get that launch open. Time to put some of those fundraising dollars and large volunteer call-outs to work. Craziest change IMO - the new channel about 1.5 km downstream of policemens on the north bank, the one that comes out upstream from the gravel highbank. That thing is insane!

other then the parking lot (or lack there of), the "launch" is probably designed better now then it was. A lot easier to get out of the flow and into that big back eddy..

Well... I parked my boat where I used to eat lunch

They must have been getting annoyed at all the river shots for Hell on wheels. I can see it now.."..drift boat!". Was pretty cool floating under one of their big cranes as they were doing the landscape shots with. Neat to be able to figure out which shot it was in the show as well! I am pretty sure on one of the last shots on the last season you can see a boat parked across from the highwood confluence and people sitting on the bank..

Hell on Wheels (AMC)

pm incoming.

That drive (minus the Mcbride to Fraser Lake) is one of the coolest drives around.

It's probably in Saskatchewan now... It was a few clicks upstream from the Highwood, across the river from the end of buffalo jump island. I don't think the tree survived the flood

Hope it's cheaper than the air Canada route, but doubt it

Sounds like only Mack is open, and is currently very, very soft. Guys with 4X4 getting stuck, etc.

Police is usable, just don't park on the gravel and block people. It has near zero parking.. Mac is not wiped out, it's open and operational.

Come on now Rick!

Surprised no one has mentioned that stoneflies aren't a hatch and die species... Even if you missed the 'hatch' (they migrate to shore, not really hatching..) they can live 1-4 weeks on shore before their egg laying runs. And for stoneflies, that's what you want to be around for....flip some rocks, and you'll be suprised how many are left.

If you do use police, please dont park on the gravel. Drive back out to the road. There's not enough room for multiple boat trailers and trucks there

This'll get you guys out fishing http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2013/07/11/calgary-peter-lougheed-provincial-park-reopens-w.html

Lots of reports of very healthy fish getting caught on the Bow, with no lack of fish. If anything, this will add spawning territory. The amount of gravel that has been rearranged is insane... We'll be fine, once we get out there.

right, the great 'bow you don't [care to] know'...

Jay, getting your trailer around locked gates is a bit of an issue...

Your average person also does not simply know enough about defensive driving, etc, yet we allow them on Deerfoot without batting an eye. Stupidity is not cured by hand-holding Wonder how you would feel about it if you didnt have Fortress to fall back on....

I did water testing at Southland park a few years ago upstream and downstream of the dog park, and every sample was well above the recreational limits (note that there are signs posted at both the Southland Dog Park and Stanley Park on the Elbow that explicitly say that the water is likely not going to meet recreational guidelines). E. Coli will hold onto sediments, and settle out of the flow. The increase in velocity would have increased the amount of e. coli that was actually in the flow of the water. Personally, I would not worry about this in the least. The water was absolutely cranking when they were having issues at Bonnybrook. I feel for Medicine hat, but this won't effect our fishing..

Didn't know that fire crews were adequately trained in hydrology and geology to assess bank structure. They can't keep the recreational anglers off, but they will keep the launches shut. Not good.

Not sure why its closed...emailed ESRD, will inform when i know

Vagabond, that's the old channel that it's running through. We'll see if it last when the river gets to 200... I think we'll also all be in a shock for what is waiting for us in the slow flat above Policemens Flats..drove by there yesterday, and by the way the water is stacking, it's apparent that there is now some sort of island or gravel bar forming in the middle of the (previously) slower slack water....going to be a very interesting river. I also have to say that there is pretty well no feasible way to launch a boat from a trailer at policemens, especially if it keeps dropping. You could maybe tow one through the dead water to the east of the former road, however there has been a berm of crap building up in that little slough that will take some serious effort to get around., and once the water drops any more that won't be feasible. The road at Police looks like it failed due to a poorly sized culvert not allowing enough flow through. The grid seemed to have lasted, however the water ate through the gravel underneath. Not looking promising. Does anyone know who actually owns the launch at Police?

Hope they enjoyed the walk up, as i believe the gate at mackinnons is still locked at the top..

the Bow and Elbow is always over the drinking water parameters for e. coli, and typically over the recreational. We're downstream of a heck of a lot of cattle farms, had a hell of a lot of overland flooding, and had a waste water system that was not working correctly... I guess this will effect how often i drink from the bottom of my boat, but not the fishing itself.. this won't effect the fishing...don't lick your fingers