Sparkplug

Whoops, let me finish that above: Legs: sililegs, yellow/brown/black Shellback: tan foam, marked with brown and black Sharpie marker

Slayed 'em this fall with the following pattern: Hook: Tiemco 2499 SPBL #16 Bead: amber/brown glass bead Body: gold crystal chenille Legs:

I like the net idea, a lot less work than catching them one at a time. Clearly waiting for/expecting the gov't only to do something is Waiting for Godot. Years ago I helped out on a volunteer effort to remove suckers from a creek in which they spawned that flowed into Beauvais Lake. The suckers were put into drums and sent off to some animal food processing destination. Probably wouldn't have much trouble finding takers for the perch, whether they be for fertilizer, animal feed or otherwise. I wonder if a perch netting/removal pilot or demonstration at one of these lakes is something that various interests could get behind (TU? ACA? Yes, even AEP?). Can't see it being harmful, and could at least generate some publicity and awareness on this issue.

If I go and pick bottles and cans from a ditch where people have littered, and then cash my pickings in at the local bottle depot, should I feel guilty about benefiting from someone else's illegal act? I like the thought of the "pickup box full" limit on such waters, on the illegally introduced species. I seem to recall the Brookie removal project on the Elbow system being relatively effective. But to build on Don's original Crimson Lake adventure, why don't we organize a perch fishing derby at one (or more) of these lakes some time? Get as many people out as we can, to pull as many perch out of such lake in one day as we can (of course, working within the 15 fish limit). Or - even better - maybe we could get a waiver on the limit for this one-time event? Could be a great awareness building thing, especially if you got a whole slew of people out on the lake on a given day, all bonking perch. Volunteer filleters, donate the fillets to a food bank or something.

Nice. I think you'll find that color combo will be very effective. I've had good results with the same pattern, but with brown hackle (still the black tail). I echo FHD's comment above on the tail length. On stillwaters in particular, I have had many similar experiences with short strikes on flies with long marabou tails. As I continue to evolve my balanced leech ties, I find that they are getting shorter and shorter on the tail (and with overall fly length), with an attendant improvement in hookups. You can pinch off marabou to give you the desired tail length, on flies already tied. It doesn't seem to me that the trout notice any difference between full-fibre marabou and marabou that has been pinched off. You can always taper the pinching off as well, if you want a particular shape to the tail.

I've often wondered about the potential effectiveness of small windmill-driven aeration (like the kind you see on farmers' dugouts). Not a lot of horsepower there, but enough to drive a small air compressor that could bubble some air into the lake when the wind is blowing, to prop up O2 concentrations? Maybe small air volumes would be enough to keep dissolved O2 concentrations high enough over the winter, but not adversely affect ice conditions? For larger bodies of water, a number of such aerators?

I like the idea of everyone having to have a licence. The cost of having one for children or seniors could be either negligible or zero; we're not talking about a revenue issue here. The real question is how do you get ALL fisherpersons, young, old(er) and in-between, to be aware of the regulations and "bought-in", i.e., clear understanding that the regs apply to them, period, not to mention starting to develop some sort of a conservation awareness/ethos. I like the thought of having to pass a short test in order to get your licence. The licence candidate would at least have had to read the regulations in order to pass the test. Could be available on-line. I'm not talking about a university entrance exam here; just a short test to require someone to basically prove that they have at least read the regulations and have a basic understanding. And maybe for anyone under 16, a parent/guardian has to pass the test too, in addition to the <16 person, in order for the <16 person to get a licence (even if free for them).

Try double-bunnies, with at least one rabbit strip in white.

Elbow - lots of them, but generally small

Don't know about spots on the Red Deer, but when I used to live in Edmonton, on the NSR, a grasshopper pattern on the surface did the trick nicely. The goldeye seemed to like the fly even if (preferably?) dragging/on the swing.

Andy, I used to fish in Bowness when I lived in NW Calgary and found that around the Stoney Trail bridge as well as the tailwater behind the islands upstream from here there is some good water for decent Rainbows. I had the best fishing late evening/into the night as bigger fish seemed to be willing to rise at that time. Also had some good streamer fishing on the swing here too.

Some other possibilities in this regard: - Sibbald Lake - perhaps with aeration, the true potential of this seemingly bio-rich lake could be realized? - Aeration at Sparrows Egg to possibly address the winterkill risk? - Has Marl Lake in Kananaskis (with aeration?) ever been considered as a fishery - seems to have similar biological characteristics to Sparrows Egg? I don't know much about the state-of-the-art of aeration technology, but is wind-driven aeration a possibility so as to eliminate the need for electricity supply?