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McLeod

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Posts posted by McLeod

  1. Hey Troutlover,

     

    Good on ya for wanting to get out! At 16 you should be able to get started with this kind of stuff but just taking off randomly into the bush might not be the way to start off.

     

    i) You should consider starting with a short couple-nighter at somewhere like Elbow Lake. You could hike in on a friday night and do a couple day hikes from there and hike out on Sunday night. You could combine this with regular check-ins with the SPOT device.

     

    i) You should have a SPOT Device if you're considering this. link -> http://www.findmespot.ca/en/index.php?cid=102

     

    Anyone in the backcountry or fishing alone should consider carrying one. I had a dream last night that something bad happened to me while skiing and I was glad I had one in my dream!

     

    Anyways, just a couple thoughts. Good luck!

     

    I may have to invest in one of these.. especially if one decides to change his plans when he is the middle of no where like i was last year a couple of times by myself.. It would be nice if one could order a pizza and some cold beer with this device.

     

     

  2. I'm not missing the point. I get the point and have done the math and there are over 300 put and take lakes in Alberta and only a handful of "quality lakes." I get it. I'm all for more quality lakes whether they be strictly C&R or limit harvest to one. In fact, I think every lake that is aerated in Alberta should have more strict regulations in place.

     

    But we do have some C&R lakes with rainbows; Fiesta, as I mentioned, is a C&R lake and is literally just down the road. Not sure how the local rednecks will like 2 C&R's so close to each other. That's all I'm saying.

     

     

     

    My error..If that is what Fiesta then one under 45 cm would be appropriate.

     

    Let's be very clear on one thing.. It's not just BAIT chuckers that eat fish. There are MANY flyfisherman who legally harvest fish as well.

     

     

  3. It's a compromise.... still family friendly and you can keep one for the pan if you'd like, but still potential for big fish. I think there is a mentality outside of the flyfishing realm that don't like C&R and feel like it's a bunch of snobby elitist old men in million dollar waders trying to make catching big fish easier. I don't agree with this but have had extensive discussions with those that do. What I am suggesting would hopefully appease some of these people, allow a family friendly place to fish, and still allow us elitist, snobby fishermen to still have an opportunity to catch a big fish.

     

    Would I prefer C&R? Yup. But I also realize there are those out there that don't, and the last thing I want is for those people to start writing to Ken Bodden for Beaver to be turned back to keeping 5 and using bait because Quality Fisheries obviously didn't work there. So I'm open to compromise, if it means I still have the opportunity to catch big fish... which clearly, currently at Beaver, we don't.

     

    Cheers.

     

    Yes you are right but you are missing the point as many others have over the years.

    We don't have ANY C and R Stillwater for RAINBOWS in Alberta. There are other places you can keep fish.

    Can we not see on one lake how C and R may work and see what it produces ?

     

  4. I fully agree and would be fine if they went totally C&R, but I'm not convinced they will with Fiesta just down the road and possibly local pressure to keep some fish. However, I believe that a retention of 1 under 45cm (or 40 or 50cm) would also meet the goals of a quality fishery and be a good compromise as well. Manitoba Parkland is doing this model with exceptional success and I think we should too. It's proven to work. The balancing act that would have to occur is making sure you stock enough small fish that would survive to be 45cm without saturating the lake with so many fish that there is too much competition to get fish bigger than 45cm. Get it right and it would be golden.

     

    I would still support, but do not entirely agree with the idea of keeping 1 over 50cm (or 40, or 45cm). With the pressure that Beaver gets, I can't see a fish making it very long after it reaches the "magical" mark. You'd end up with a lot of fish right under the length, but very few over it. I'm guessing if they go this route, we will still have similar results to what we have now, except possibly with a larger average size, but with less than 5% of fish over 50cm.

     

    Cheers.

     

    Yes you could have 1 fish under 40 ..I don't get the point of it if your trying to create a trophy fishery.

    If you want to eat fish get them from elsewhere.

  5.  

    I am not opposed to keeping fish to eat but in this situation..

     

    Based on it's location and the amount of use the only way you are going to get and continue with a quality lake is..

     

    1. Reduce the stocking and adjust accordingly.

    2.Catch and Release.

     

    These can be said for several of the so called quality lakes that have been established.

    It aint Rocket science.

  6. Folks,

     

    Looks like there is a number of solutions/ideas put forward to explain cutthroat population reduction.

     

    1] Dewatering

    2] Disease

    3] Other Invasive Fish [ brook trout]

    4] Enforcement or lack there of or excess of

    5] Too many otters

    6] Professionals should be the ones looking after things

    7] Spend money on land protection

     

    I'm sure that they may be other causes.

     

    Anybody got other ideas?

     

    Don

     

     

     

    My first move would be to stock pure strains cutties from other sources on those waters wecutties no longer exsist or are in low numbers. Remove as many undesireables first if necessary.

     

    What has to be remembered is not every lake or stream in watershed that historically had a certain type of native fish necessarily had those native fish. What i mean by that is take Athabasca Rainbows for example,They were not found in every lake and stream in the upper Athabasca watershed. I don't have a problem adding them but when I hear people say that rainbows or cutties have been wiped out of certain waters I ask the question..Where those fish ever there in the first place ?

     

     

  7. You make the claim that cutty fishing better than it has been in yrs, I'm saying there's less or even no cutthroat left in those particular streams and I know there was at least some cutts 30 yrs ago. I probably could triple the size of that list given time and the inclination.

     

    So why not send the Biologist a solution to have those streams restored to what they were in the past.

    You may know those waters better than they do.

  8.  

    Yes thus the conundrum in fighting the " War on Brook Trout "

    Not sure if your going to discuss this more Saturday or outline more streams that are going have similar regs as Quirk ? But if we are going to get serious about removing Brook trout and other exotics from flowing waters were

    Native Cutties and Rainbows should thrive then isn't it time to make a REAL effort to eliminate the Brookies.

    Maybe 20 fish limits.. A target list for anglers to go after these fish in listed waters.

    It just seems to me the approach that is being used is not agressive enough. Maybe that is about to change ?

  9. Compared to what? 4 yrs ago? 9? 15? I know one thing for sure, there are fewer cutthroat streams and cutthroat now than there was when I started to fish for them 47 yrs ago.

     

     

     

    Can't disagree with you more. The fishing for Cutthroat in the province as a whole is far better now than it was in the 70's and eighties. The Highwood and it's tribs are a great example of that.

  10. No jokes. See the MIA signature below? Thats how many brook trout I killed one stream in 5 trips this summer and early fall, last time in I was specifically targeting spawning brook trout for maximum impact. Why? Brook trout have completely expatriated the bull trout from this particular stream and very damn few cutthroats are left. The Quirk Creek approach works as far as I'm concerned. And no I ain't poachin'.

     

    http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?...c=15376&hl=

     

    As long as you are following the rules. And yes I am aware of the Quirk Creek Project and there will be others.

  11. Project aims to restore Hidden Lake

     

    Project aims to restore Hidden Lake

    By Larissa Barlow

    Posted 1 day ago

    In a small glacial lake in the Skoki Valley, a big problem has been brewing.

     

    A non-native fish, the brook trout, have taken over Hidden Lake and the upper reaches of Hidden Creek and Corral Creek. They've pushed out the fish that's historically occupied the waters, the westslope cutthroat trout, and that native fish is at risk.

     

    No one is quite sure how this has happened. While Banff National Park had stocked certain lakes in the 1960s with brook trout to populate them for anglers, stocking records from the time show only cutthroat trout were added to Hidden Lake. But sometime in the 60s, brook trout were introduced to the lake, likely by accident, and today they're the dominant trout. That is, until this summer.

     

    Much like the lengthy Devon Lakes project, that saw Parks Canada crews and aquatic specialists combing the water with nets and electrofishing devices used to remove invading trout, Parks Canada is about to embark on another very similar project.

     

    An environmental assessment is underway for a plan to remove brook trout from the 9.3 hectares of lake and the associated creeks, while replacing them with westslope cutthroat trout that will be well suited to survive in their historic habitat. The plan, should it receive approval at the assessment stage, is to take cutthroat trout already thriving at lower parts of the creeks and relocate them to Hidden Lake after the brook trout have been removed. Parks staff plan to work with geneticist from the University of Calgary to choose the best trout with the highest chance of survival.

     

    The project could take anywhere from three to five years to complete, but at the end will add a restored lake to the park.

     

    "If we don't do something, things are just going to get worse," said Shelley Humphries, an aquatics specialist for Banff, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks.

     

    "Even though we stopped stocking a long time ago, the brook trout are still spreading.

     

    "We need to do some interventions."

     

    Humphries said they'll be using the work done at the remote Devon Lakes as a template because both projects are so similar, with similar sized lakes and methods being used. One of the big differences making this project much easier, though, is it's far more accessible than Devon Lakes. While that project saw crews setting up a work camp and living at the site, with helicopters having to bring in supplies, workers at Hidden Lake will be able to hike in and work, or put off travelling to the lake on days when poor weather prevents any progress being made.

     

    That accessibility also leaves the door open for greater involvement from a visitor experience angle. Humphries said as the project gets underway, there could be opportunities for people to learn about fish restoration in national parks.

     

     

    "Because it's relatively accessible and it's on a major trail network, I think we'll have an opportunity to involve and educate residents and visitors more than we have been with other projects," she said. "As this project unfolds over the next few years people should look out for that because we're definitely going to be working with our visitor experience department on that."

     

    Humphries said if all goes well, the project could begin this summer, though as of last Friday, Hidden Lake was still half frozen, so there's no rush to begin right away.

     

    Gill netting and angling will likely be used in the lake itself, while electrofishing will be done in streams.

     

    "Hopefully when we complete this project we'll have added a secure lake and four kilometres of secure habitat," Humphries said.

     

    "We will never be able to have cutthroat trout occupying the waters of the Bow River out to Calgary like they did historically, but with projects like this, we can put more conservation eggs in our basket."

     

    Once the environmental assessment is complete, it will be open to public comment before any project approvals are granted.

     

    Larissa@thecrag.ca

     

     

     

    While I have some questions concerning costs , this is a project I would support. It is not just a lets " kill all the Brookies "but a plan that in the end has trout living in our mountain lakes.

    I will give Parks two thumps up on this one !

     

     

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