orvisonly

Real fly fishers use one. Those that use three may as well switch to a wedding ring.

Gee - reminds me of kids sports now - all about charity and just having fun. If it is just about charity, brown why not just go fishing like any other day and then write a check? Nothing wrong with competition - unless of course you're on the publicly funded Canadian Olympic team. How many golf tourneys you been in lately where there weren't a mix of people that were competetive and in it to win and those that were just having fun - no trouble with having both. So just make sure you have some prizes for "kindest most gentlemanly politically correct liberal" and the "baddest ass fisherman". (I'll PM you with the spelling of my name if you want to get the engraving for the latter done before we head out). As for the former, based on comments I've seen on the board - competition will be stiff (or is that limp?)

If that is the case - they put the river in a good spot, being so close to a large source of supply. Could it be that Alberta backs up what they say about promoting fishing in the province, unlike BC who issues policy statements saying they will promote fishing, then deliberatley antagonizes the largest market? A foreign concept to someone from BC, but could it be that the government doesn't feel the need to grab even more money from Canadian citizrns, just because they can? I love that you live in Abbots - a mere 10 hours from the Elk but feel fine lecturing to someone who lives 1/2 hour away. 100% agree with you on this (the last part). The point many on here are making - is that this is not benefiting any but a few select citizens.

Come on man, if it was about protecting the fisheries - they would have made them Class I or at the very least applied the Class II rules equally to locals, who have always had at least 50% of the traffic on the river. Its clear by the way that this was rammed in, without even consulting the city councils of Kimberly and Cranbrook - even though the St Mary's runs between them, that this was the case of some local guides who were bummed that their clients weren't happy with seeing recreational fisherman on the river. There was no science presented - nor has there ever been. As for the Classified Water regs leading to river improvement - we both know that it was a different change - where angling license revenue which used to go directly to BC general revenues, started instead being used directly for fisheries management. They both happened around the same time. It was the latter that has led to the improvements you refer to. If people want to know what 30,000 BC Wildlife Federation Members pledged in 2005: How about, To Non-Residents: This province has world-class angling and some of the most beautiful scenery to offer today’s discerning travelers. The promotion of BC’s fishing opportunities to outdoor enthusiasts from the rest of Canada and around the world is very important to our economy. The fiscal benefits derived from angling tourism are often to smaller more rural communities that would not see such revenue without visiting anglers and provide jobs in areas where often unemployment runs higher. and Decreasing License Sales: As unpleasant a truth as it may be, the fact remains that freshwater and tidal license sales have been dropping for more than a decade and less people are fishing. Dropping license sales coupled with the further challenge of less young people being recruited to the sport of fishing during that same time frame, results in an aging angler demographic. This reality could spell a future tumble in participation and a steep decline in revenue (to all support sectors including government).

If everyone had to pay $20/day I would fully support this. If the bulk of the pressure was from Albertans then the bulk of the revenue would come from Albertans. The Vedder river, close to Vancouver "is always crowded. If you want to fish the best runs, you had better plan on arriving well before first light. The locals joke that you need to bring your own rock to stand on." I think they need to implement this as a Class II river. And to respond to cgyguy about "BCer don't fish in Alberta". What reason would BCers have for not fishing in Alberta. They pay the exact sames fees as someone from Alberta would. Reciprocity is all anyone is asking for here.

Hey rehsifylf, I have no problem with you posting as much info as you want. It won’t bother me because I don’t ever plan on hiking in. I know guys who have and ran into bears on the way in and the way out. They also almost died crossing the Chaba – and when they got to the lake, the fishing was not good. No thanks.

Thanks for that. Hope you weren't planning on being there alone next time you go.