Gary

No

Background: The issue of guide licensing was brought to the Provincial Round Table in our fall session last year by Keith Rae. There did not seem to be much desire to deal with the issue by both the participants and fisheries people. The issue came close to dying during our spring sitting until I urged the members to at least come to grips with the issue by setting some direction. The group agreed to establish a sub committee to investigate the matter and bring back recommendations to the round table. A number of individuals agreed to sit on the committee and our first get together was a conference call back in May to establish how we would proceed. The following is the outcome of that conference call. 1. Fisheries Management Branch agreed to: a. Assemble and circulate Department of Transport information pertaining to the regulatory requirements for the operation of boats hired for charter b. Acquire and circulate information of Government of Alberta requirements for licensing businesses c. Acquire and circulate information of Tourism Parks and Recreation licence requirements for running a commercial enterprise within areas under the management authority of TPR d. Retain the services of a facilitator to run a one day workshop in early September to frame out a discussion document for the October Alberta Fisheries Management Round Table. e. Compile a list of guides and/or businesses with an interest in the subject of Licensing of Recreational Fish Guides for the purposes of including them in discussions and workshop invite. 2. Task Group members requested to: a. Compilation of interested guides / businesses 3. Next Steps a. FMB will make arrangements to retain a facilitator b. Task Group members can expect to be contacted in advance for input into workshop material. c. Likely date for workshop is September 12th – Edmonton Now life being what it is with everyone dealing with what they have to and the goverment apparently moving away from their committment to the Provincial Round Table much of the above didn't happen. Fortunately Keith has a passion for the issue and with help, I believe, from the northern Walleye trail people has pushed the issue forward by setting up the meeting being talked about here. Below is the agenda for this meeting. 1:00 a.m. 1. Introductions - Opening Remarks – Keith Rae – Ken Crutchfield 2. Participant Feedback on Expectations for Meeting Outcomes 3. Review and prioritization of Issues 4. Sequential discussion of issues (intent is to conclude an outcome which sets out direction ) 5. Closing remarks PROPOSED Process for Review and prioritization of recreational fishing guide licensing issues: 1. Participants will be provided a handout of issues compiled feedback with various recreational sport fish guides and stakeholders. 2. Participants to review, expand, modify the list under agenda item #3 3. Participants will separate items into 3 categories. Those categories are: • To be addressed by fish managers • To be addressed by task group composed of recreational fishing guides and fish managers • To be addressed exclusively by a task group composed of recreational fishing guides. 4. Items will be prioritized within each category by participants who will then determine the order of items to be discussed. 5. Notes will be compiled of direction / action arising from discussion. Notes will be distributed to all the invited participants Everyone here should be able to see now that this is the very beginning of the process. Should this move forward you can expect to see more people in the industry and other stakeholders participating in the proceess. There will be government representation at this meeting. I am going but I am unsure as to how many others will be in attendance. In my understanding this is a group looking to be successful in convincing fisheries that fishing guides in Alberta should be licensed. One minor problem I see so far is the optimism shown in the agenda that fishing guides will all be on side with this. Just as oil companies should not be the group that decides what royalties they will pay the province, guides alone should not be deciding on whether or not they are licensed or regulated. As far as my opinion on whether guides should be licensed. Absolutely.

Damn good story...best reading on here for a long time

you can take the rod to a loomis dealer. they will get a return authorization and send it in. It will cost you $70 and you will get a new rod not just the tip

Hey good for you. Nice chrome. You're not telling us you caught it on your first cast are you? If so Fantastice job. Fantastic no matter how many casts!!

Hmm, I voted no in this pole mailnly for reasons I have stated in the past. Seeing the response I am being swayed by the result. Maybe it is time we set up a similiar sytem here in Alberta. I think it time we set up a some Classified Waters. I know for sure the waters here close to my home would deserve such consideration. I propose that all waters within a 60 kilometre radius of the Crowsnest Pass be considered special and would require a special license costing $20 per day for all those not living within that aforementioned boundary.

I had said there was the possibility of trout getting over the falls as I had witnessed one (brown) get to within a foot or so of the top of the falls. If a trout can get that far it is possible for trout to get over. The brood trout station at Allison had a loss of fish around 84 or 85. They lost browns and brookies. A number of them were caught by students in 86. A subsequent project in 87 caught none. It seems strange that this year there are a number of 5" browns being caught upstream of Coleman. Are browns spawning? Or did they get there in some other fashion? Last summer I got a 12" brown under the railway bridge just above the falls. This winter one of my buddies caught one about 14" in the Burmis area.

Dr. Sara's place...it is very likely they own the only privately held streambed rights in Western Canada. I am not sure if this has been settled in court yet but it is prudent to assume they do. The agreement at issue has been grandfathered and signed previous to the last century. The smart thing to do is not go there and be thankful this is the (unlike the U.S.) the only place in around here that this is happening. I haven't fished the stretch for a couple of decades. Don't look for problems. Don't go there without permission. That includes inside the highwater mark.

Wow! Good on ya. Having as much fun? Not a chance, been down south on a shopping trip with the wife. Hell, even if I was here there is no way I could be having as much fun as you guys had! Well maybe could of had as much fun as long I was satisfied catching much smaller fish.

Nice fish..guess I should really go there again.....its been a couple of years. Haven't caught a brookie though.

That had to be fun................think of the stories you have to tell for the rest of time

Funny, I have always found Calgary drivers to be the most courteous in Canada.

Nice ties Silver. Yeah you gotta be old I have only been using wets since the 70's. Don't use them as much I used to though. Maybe time to get back into them....thanks for the pic and patterns

shots are pretty good...nice fish

Love the shot of the wife's spey cast....hope the bear wasn't hooked

Because of the roundtable this weekend a friend and I decided to spend the weekend in Edmonton and do some fishing. These are a couple of the fish caught. Can't imagine why anyone would come fish down south.

Was good meeting you as well Chris. I guess aside from what Chris filled you in on. The big news would be, finally, a study on the Crow. It has been long overdue and has been asked for again and again. The ACA will be starting what could be a 4 year study. Also continuing studies on the Oldman and Castle. Hidden Creek will be closed to fishing from the end of August to protect spawning bull trout. Studies apparently have shown most of the bulls that inhabit the Oldman sytem spawn in Hidden. The guiding licence issue was raised last round table. SRD's response was to ask the guiding industry and found the industry had no desire to be licenced, so put the idea on the table. It will come back again for further discussion. There has been discussions centered around "invasive species" for quite some time now. Whether it be illegal stocking of perch in trout lakes or introduced brookies that have a detrimental effect on native species, such as bulls. Wisely SRD has increased the limit for brook trout in many northern waters were they are competing with naturals. Fishermen that like to eat a couple get the chance and provide a conservation service as well. Of course SRD had the other option that some would prefer...to do nothing.

congratulations Weedy...best post ever!

Hey Gary, sorry to hear. It is tough to lose your dad. It is tough to lose a fishing partner. Losing both at one time is too much. My condolences. Remember how good it was to have a father that you shared passions with.

Glad you like it Dry Fly...it is what is going to be known as a "Kirbyism"

Max in the first post is contact info. All you have to do to insure you are welcome is to call the number or send the email to give them your contact info and confirm your attendance

My fishing partner has a saying "Bragging about catching fish on the Michel is like paying a hooker and then bragging you got laid"

I do attend as a bono fide southerner and did suggest that the freedom loving mountain people of the beautiful Crowsnest Pass would be more than happy to host this spring's roundtable. The suggestion was made after some one (Don, I believe) bemoaned the fact that no Calgarians were present at the sessions. The reasoning was given that since those city guys like fishing in the Pass so much, they might like coming down here to talk fishing. Now, quite truthfully, it doesn't really matter if we get people from Calgary, specifically, at these roundtables. What is important though is getting people that care and are passionate about fishery management in east slopes (mainly trout streams), particularly ES1. East slopes 1 has the second highest number of angler days in the province, coming in just behind Prairie Parkland 2. Anyone can probably guess, though, what fish management zone takes up 99.9% of the discussion. Some how PP2 problems are provincial in scope while ES1 problems are of a regional nature and not deserving of much consideration. That reminder has been given more than once. "We have to think globally, not locally". The province is way behind in what is their mandate for responsible fish management down here. A side from creel surveys on the oldman drainage a couple of years ago and one study on the castle done this past year (no results tabulated yet) nothing has happened studywise in well over a decade (the Bow notwithstanding). Now remember the province did promise no "net loss" of fish habitat and opportunity due to the loss of the lower part of the 3 major rivers here in the south west. Course they can never be held to that promise if they don't do proper fish counts. We have to push for those studies. Our profile has to be raised and only numbers can accomplish that, so it is hoped that more guys with an interest in our trout streams do show up. Whether they are from Calgary, Cowley, or even Longview.

Don't get caught up in it's Sage or nothing. There are some real good rods on the market and you should be looking for something that compliments or enhances your casting style. You should also examine closely what you expect of the rod in terms of where and how you fish. Matter of fact you should also look at your temperment or personality. It appears you have been fishing for a while at least and of course with the improvement in your fishing you want your equipment to reflect that. What I am going to suggest is to stay away from fast action rods and maybe even consider a slow action like the Loomis Whisper Creek. Fast action rods are not the best for fighting fish and protecting light tippets. Rods that give down into the butt section do a much better job. Fast action rods are not the best for people that have a slow methodical approach to their fishing or other aspects of their life. Slower action rods are more forgiving in that timing is not as critical in getting a decent cast as fast rods are. Us less than perfect casters do get better casts out of slower action rods than with fast because of that forgiveness. The whisper creek is a bit pricey ($600 or more) but is a beautiful casting slow action rod. If that is bit too much and you are looking at a good all round general purpose rod that is going to see the lion's share of your fishing the medium, fast Loomis East fork fits in that under $500 range. I am sure you will find the rod will handle anything you expect out of a decent tool. Whether you are throwing size 18 PMD's one minute and large weighted nymphs or streamers the next the rod won't let you down. Then again if you are a fast paced guy maybe that fast action is best for you.

If your rubbers leak you are not expected to pay the price for the next 20 years