troutfriend

How to become a fishing guide in Alberta: Step 1: get boat Done.

Harvesting a fish dramically reduces its ability to make new fish. (Probably somewhat accurate)

A sad day indeed for the Mitchell family, the fishing community and maybe more so, the entire conservation community. Regrets to his family, especially Matt who has lost his father and the best fishing buddy anyone could ever ask for. I thank you for your generosity and passion for the resource. peace. bm

Thanks Barry for all you have done for our provinces fisheries; imparting your knowledge, dedicating your time and sahring your passion. It is truely appreciated. You will be missed. Thank you.

Every waterbody is different, and has unique characteristics that sustain that fishery. This would lend them to ideally having unique regulations governing each fishery. During the provincial fishery roundtable meetings there is always conversation and a desire for simplified regulations by some anglers. Therefore the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Check out the presentation on the roundtable meeting from last April. Hope that helps. There is likely a presentation on there discussing the science of slot limits vs. Length mins. From a few years ago.

note: check out the FlyFishCalgary sub forum "Trout Unlimited Canada" (at the bottom of the main page) and their "Stewardship License Project"....

The road was damaged following the flooding in various locations, but the industry was required to maintain access the Moose Mountain area to maintain their operations and for the ongoing logging sites. this way they do not run logging truck through Bragg Creek (a concession they made to the community which they have not 100% abided by). Because the road was repaired by industry, and not the province, it is still officially closed to public access. After they are done working on site industry will either remove their bridges and let the province make permanent repairs, or the province will have to make agreements to compensate them for their repairs.

It is hard to make a stand towards stopping the SLS train when the conductor is also the regulator. Who is really driving this process? Alberta Forestry or SLS?

Rivers move and migrate naturally. They always will. Once a community, bridge or house is constructed in the floodplain it then becomes something that governments are obliged to protect, and the easiest and cheapest way to do this is with riprap. Communities, bridges and houses have advocates, a voice and a well defined value. Rivers become an inconvenience and will sadly loose out in every case. This happens around the world... Flooding claimed lives in Kansas, Colorado and the Sudan over the weekend. Is it the weather that needs to take the blame? or should there be more emphasis put on how we develop communities and infrastructure in areas where water has a potential to impact communities? Where rivers have migrated and developed a new channel and now circumvent bridges (Turner Valley, Black Diamond etc...) should we be moving the rivers back under these structures and channelizing the rivers with riprap? or should we be building longer bridges? Rivers need to drop horsepower and one way they accomplish this is through the natural creation of bends. If we remove a bend to straighten a river and make it flow under a structure or through a community, where is that energy going that you have added to the river? Channelizing and riprapping the rivers just transfers the problem downstream. The river will find a way to reduce the horsepower, the bridge will be safe for now, but someone downstream will be impacted. Dredging or scalping a river is an interesting option, but experts agree there is a long list of metrics that need to be collected to assess potential feasibility and these need to be evaluated. how much of that is being proposed and where will this information be available for the ongoing work in High River? If they did this "evaluation" work prior to the flood is the information even relevant anymore? Note: Councillor Tim Whitford proposed scalping the Highwood River for a while now - the recent event makes it convenient. http://www.highrivertimes.com/2013/05/09/town-could-nab-federal-funding-for-flood-project I drove through Canmore this weekend and saw that they have nearly returned Cougar Creek to its pre-flood status. Now I do not know how much engineering they have done to mitigate future events, but I do know that that community is developed on an alluvial fan - these areas function to naturally absorb and dissipate energy as spring flows increase. Channelizing this system again only concentrates the energy downstream towards the highway and railway at the bottom which are restricted by culverts. I must admit I did not glace at the culverts this past weekend, but if there was ever an example of the impact of undersized culverts those previously installed would be the poster children! If the decision makers (Alberta Infrastructure and the Railway) decided to replace the culverts in this area with the same size and design of culvert, and the engineers attempted to rebuild the creek to the previous standards, I hope the residents are not surprised when the river has the same response in the next large event. I personally hope that communities do not go and clean up the materials in the riparian area including garbage, log jams in the trees and other materials left over from this event. These area very good reminders of what these amazing rivers can do, and just how high waters got during this event. Everyone need to remember this and not make the same mistakes again and again.

I was just attempting to suggest for those others intereseted who may have some time to help, I know TUC is also supporting Paul and the Fish and Wildlife staff on the orgainzation side for some of the fish rescue efforts as they develop. Peace.

TUC is taking names and is helping organize rescue efforts with fish and wildlife. Try contacting them!

Well said Smitty.

Or Prussian Carp. They are in there too.

Interesting topic. I would suggest that there were a few different issues leading the increased issues around Saprolegnia last fall. Lower than average flows in the Bow River starting in late August – mapped by Alberta Environment. An abnormal runoff last year (not abnormally high volume) that was laden in silt – ie. Higher dissolved solids- moulds connect to these solids to and are transported more readily. Increased ambient air temperatures- according to Environment Canada, - lead to increased water temps - (hypothetically but I have no facts to back this up - not monitored). Increased angler effort due to nice weather. Increased issues with Dissolved Oxygen as there is increased Didymo and other river plants known to be in this system – increased temps in river = increased production of didymo and aquatic plants = increased dead and decaying didymo and aquatic plants = decreased Dissolved Oxygen as this process occurs at night in the rivers = increased stress on fish during high stressful time of the year spawning in the shallows and high requirements for oxygen due to higher metabolism at this time of year. Fish interacting more than normal during spawning and transferring this mould via contact. As it is a secondary infection this is an issue for battle scared fish and handled fish that may be infected. This has happened in the past according to longer in the tooth staff of AESRD. Not reported to the same extent then. Why? Now there are more anglers on the rivers, we all have cameras, we all have access to the internet, we are all are looking for solutions to protect their beloved resources. What to do? Close the river? – well this is a potential solution that may work to reduce handling related stress but is in reality a small part of the puzzle as this does not address the other larger scale issues of flow and temperature. Yes, The Bow River is ultimately controlled by power generators upstream who help us light and heat our houses and is also regulated by irrigators downstream who make us food. BUT, I actually think we can address these issues. This river looks a lot different now than it has in the past (check out some of the awesome images at the Glenbow) as it continues to down cut, widen and shallow – all benefitting higher temps, lower water levels, didymo and Saprolegnia. I am not advocating reverting the river and the city to what they looked like in 1920, but there are some steps that could be taken to work with the river rather than work against it. What reduces didymo and Saprolegnia? Flooding, ice cover and scouring, and education. Floods and ice cover are often correctly feared by those who have invested in floodplains. So this is a hard sell; Hell the city has an entire department that exists to avoid this eventuality! Is this a trade-off? There will be other 2005 and 2007 floods in the future (maybe starting today?) and these have long term benefits for these natural river systems. These events will scour the river bottom and continually re shape the river. People love to engage the river, but they hate it when it engages them!

Well here is the meat of the agenda topics... minus the introductions and housekeeping type items... Hear from participants about upcoming projects and initiatives being undertaken by their organizations Provide information about Fisheries Branch key initiatives and undertakings (policy development, commercial fishery management, grayling status assessment, barbless hooks, 2014 regs, ACA/ESRD MOU, Fisheries Act, ESRD re-org) Update from Licensing Review Committee – review recommendations and identify next steps provided Presentation and sharing ideas regarding needs and opportunities aimed at reducing the number of angling regulations for Alberta - presented by Darryl Smith Provide information about fisheries management trends and challenges and discuss issues - presented by Mike Sullivan Presentation and exchange of ideas on the enhancement of trout fisheries in flowing waters - Note: This never took place as the presenter was not available.

Took place in Red Deer on April 13th. Minutes do not seen to have been added to the site? http://srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/FisheriesManagement/AlbertaFisheriesManagementRoundtable.aspx

According to a report competed by a masters student about 10 years ago the majority of rainbows (about 75%) living in the Bow River between Carseland and Bearspaw were spawned in the Highwood /Sheep drainage. they tend to spawn in side channels, but that does not mean that practice is not damaging to the ecosystems it touches. peace.

The blue rafts that use that access point are "RiverWatch" http://www.riverwatch.ab.ca They do have special access privileges as an endorsed education program.

Hello, I can assure you that this issue did come up multiple times over the course of the 4+ year planning process for the Harvie Passage project. The Calgary Parks Foundation would likely have notes to this effect. I do recall a meeting where the fire department was invited and they discussed their concerns with increased usage of this launch (A. by rafters, B. by kayakers and C. and the accurately foreseen increased use by the fire department themselves) and how they currently have a hard time at this access site to launch their craft (they require blocking the sidewalk so they can safely turn around). I left the meeting with the distinct impression that they had the ability to close access to the site if they felt that increased access would impact their ability to easily and quickly access the river. I understand that the condo development may be experiencing some money or legal issues ("goatman" may find out more about that) which would likely complicate the agreements made a few years ago to retain current access to this site. there was a plan to re-route access to the launch after the development was completed, but as you can see that development has been stalled for a while now. The bigger issue is that these access sites are being lost and not replaced. Most people do not realize how close we came to permanently loosing access at Policeman's... Policeman's has not yet been formally handed over to parks as was the plan as there are many complicating factors. Access cost and maintenance is a huge issue for these sites, so when looking for new or additional sites this must be considered. Maybe there is an opportunity to create a new site and find sufficient funding to ensure it remains operational- in or around a currently utilized park? Somewhere with safe river access, adequate parking potential, near a regularly maintained park.. maybe there is a way to make this happen at Inglewood golf course? under Ogden RD? St. Patrick's Island redevelopment? maybe there is some thinking outside the box needed to get this done. I can also tell you that there are members of the paddling community going through a process to identify and spec out new access sites in the city.

Rainbows typically (but not always) spawn off the main channel of the Bow River, so watch side channels especially and the tributaries. When scoping out redds watch for: A. A uniform clearing / cleaning of algae and plant material from river bottom in a tear drop or oval shape, B. A obvious excavation to expose lager sized materials, and C. An associated deposition of finer materials downstream. At this time of the year it can be cool to watch trout on redds! Check out the Elbow River to see if they are moving up yet. Temperatures should be getting close soon... Rock Snot is an issue in so much as it competes or limits the total area where trout (especially for broadcast spawners like mountain whitefish) can successfully spawn. It is important to not that Rock Snot is not invasive to Alberta, but it appears to be growing and expanding its range in part due to lack of ice scour, ice presence, transmission by river users and balanced flows due to highly regulated flows.

Anyone interested in this can go see them in action tagging fish and discussing the project tomorrow Friday the 26th at Bonnybrook Treatment plant at 8:30 am with shocking to occur at 9:00ish! All questions can be answered there.

Grinr, From personal conversations with the government officials on both ends it appears that there was a procedural issue that was overlooked in the process to bring the barbless hooks regulation into place initially. Apparently these regulations were put in place by government without proper public consultation. Therefore the proper process was not followed and so the changes were reversed in Alberta. This is now in the hands of the lawyers as they try to work reinstate the barbless regulations, but this as you can expect will take time. If other provinces have gone through the proper procedures and completed their public consultation process, then this change will not be challenged.

Arrived today... Great News! Lifetime Membership Cost Increase Delayed Until March 15, 2013 Due to rising costs the cost of a Lifetime Membership with Trout Unlimited Canada was scheduled to increase from $1000 to $1500 effective March 1, 2013. However due to an overwhelming response we have decided to delay the Lifetime Membership cost increase until Friday March 15, 2013 A lifetime membership with Trout Unlimited Canada continues to offer excellent value, including membership that never needs renewing! In addition to the benefits of regular membership, Life Time members are provided with a choice of a premium Winston or Orvis fly rod or a TFO signature rod partnered with TFO Mark I or Mark II reel. The value of the Winston or Orvis rod or the TFO rod and reel combo alone almost equals the cost of the Life Time membership. If you are currently enjoying the benefits of an annual Trout Unlimited Canada membership and are considering the purchase of a new fly rod or rod and reel combo why not upgrade to Lifetime status? Becoming a Life Time member is a perfect way to support Trout Unlimited Canada's continuing conservation efforts while obtaining that fly rod of your dreams. Take advantage of this delay and become a lifetime member today. If you are already a lifetime member perhaps a friend or college may be interested? For additional membership information or to renew your TUC membership or to become a new member please click here. To donate to TUC online please click here Thank you for your support of Trout Unlimited Canada Or call their office???

Is this what you are looking for? http://www.environment.alberta.ca/apps/basins/DisplayData.aspx?Type=Figure&BasinID=8&DataType=1&StationID=RBOWCALG