monger

It was a fun couple of days. Too bad Cutts don't fight at all and just kind of roll around...but they sure eat dries nice and live in beautiful country

But being so easy to catch, how long do you think it would be until the population crashed again....one or two summers? There are a lot of people in this area that would love to bonk one. I'm not sure what the population numbers of mature fish heading up the S-D is, but I think it plateaued below 3000 fish. I remember when we netted the lake for a week in the late 80's...all we got was 3 bull trout and hundreds of suckers . It was decided by the government to protect the bulls soon after that. The population then slowly started its recovery. I don't believe the population continued to climb though. There seemed to be a definite plateau established. I have a feeling that available spawning habitat may be a big issue. Fish spawning on top of other redds causes a problem. It is true that there are very few fish over 28", but perhaps the productivity of the lake is an issue limiting growth rather than population numbers. I'd rather have quite a few 24-28" fish over rarely seeing one. From what I have observed from a number of anglers is that few folks catch more than 5 bull trout in a day. People can do well where fish are temporarily grouped up for some reason, but there is a ton of water that is fishless. Jay, do you think the government should have an open season or a tag draw to reduce the Bull population in Lower Kan? How many fish are you willing to see removed? Do all your fishing buddies catch too many when you go there...is the fishing too easy? Interested to hear your thoughts.

Sounds like a great trip. Spring comes late up high, those fish are still sporting their spawning colors. Interesting to see how big the spots are on them. Thanks for the pics

There has been lots of pressure to have a limited kill on Lower Kan for years now. I'm surprised Jim never caved in....he loves eating fish. Hopefully Jenny never gives up the good fight.

Bob, you can only use a nymph hook if the barb is in the position of the hook I posted.....on the outside of the bend. Otherwise the Cutty police say it is appropriate to use a dry fly

You guys are all confused about these wily Cutts....its not the fly type that is important...it is the secret, unique hook that gets them:

I find if you are using barbless hooks vs crimped barbed hooks (with a bump remaining) there is a difference in landing rate

This is helpful: http://mywildalberta.com/Hunting/HuntersHarvest.aspx and this http://mywildalberta.com/Hunting/HuntingDraws/HuntingDrawsReports/DrawsSummaryReport/documents/HuntingArchives/2013/Hunting-AntleredMoose-DrawCode33-2013.pdf

P10 no good for 304? I saw a bunch of swamp donkeys last year...nothing big, just good eaters. Not quite sure where to go. Big giant ones tend not to taste good I'm told. Seems like a lot of meat not to enjoy it. My young son says not to worry because he will pull the trigger for me...darn kids. Wait all this time and he wants all the glory. I might have to wait until I'm on the geezer team next time around to get my first bull moose. Jared I'm looking forward to seeing the buck you get...should be a wallhanger if you are patient enough. Learn how to do the gutless method for removing meat, it is the only way to go.

I feel like such a purist after watching my bobber disappear so many times last night from my tube. Maybe if I used a cane rod and a bobber I could feel more like I was fly fishing. Catching fish is still fun no matter how you do it

I'm still waiting...next year moose time (P10) with my Tikka

People use NYMPHS for Cutts???????....don't that make you feel dirty. They were designed to be fooled on top. Just kidding....well maybe

They used to pay their slave labour $5.50/hr years ago...now they want them for free. Our government is very interested in investing in wildlife

Awesome Jeff. Sweet to get a 50lber. Bullshead won't seem as exciting now:) What was your guide's name?

I wonder how many holes over 10ft there are below Calgary

What is the advantage of a 24ft sink tip rather than a 10-15ft tip in a river situation?

Always WAY too many! Last lake I went to I had about 9 boxes of flies with me. I used 1 fly. But there are days when a guy needs to look in a number of different boxes to try and improve the odds.

Now they are Pine coulee Reservoir. Someone said they saw one caught in the Bow by Fish Creek Park. Bugs are going to be in trouble

I just use a floating, aqualux and type 6 or 7. You could have 2 floating lines, one for dry flies with 12ft leader, one for indicator fishing with 25ft leader.