fisher26

Sweet! That setup is practically the cutting edge of fly-fishing technologies (I can’t think of a better combo). I'm sure you'll love the outfit. Please review it after you've had it for a while!

BBB nice tie! It's got a real "fishy" look about it.

UPDATE: Recieved this response, I'll see what you think... Thank you for writing to Canadian Pacific about our tracks in the Crowsnest area. As track safety is of primary importance to our company, the senior manager in this region responsible for track inspection and maintenance did undertake an immediate and thorough inspection of the track conditions along this corridor, and determined that the track meets all federal regulations for operation and is safe for use. For your information, the photos taken reveal some minor, what we refer to as, rail head spalling and head checking, which is confined to the rail surface and does not penetrate the core of the rail. The rail " gap " shown in the one photo is located at a rail joint (the joint bars and bolts are visible in the photo) . Although the rail ends have some spalling which reveals some surface steel , it is not in a state that would make it unsafe for operations. It is a condition that is reviewed as part of our extensive track maintenance and inspection protocols that will be adjusted in our regular maintenance program. Across our system, there are twice - weekly track inspections by our track maintenance personnel that include visual inspections of rail, tie conditions, and fastenings. In addition , and more specifically, the Crowsnest Subdivision undergoes at minimum two rail joint inspections per year, a Sperry test (rail flaw detection) 4 - 5 times per year (5 scheduled for 2007), along with bi-annual rail grinding. The Track Evaluation Car, which evaluates, among other parameters, the cross tie and fastening integrity, is also run 3 - 4 times per year, most recently at the end of October, 2007. These inspection practices meet or exceed all federally regulated standards. CP is intensely focused on safety and accident prevention in all aspects of our operations. The safe transportation of goods across the rail network, and the safety of the public and employees are CP’s top priorities. We value the input of interested citizens, and again thank you for contacting us regarding this matter. Should you have any further concerns, please contact CP at the Community Connect desk. Could be BS but at least they pretend to care. Thanks again for the numerous concerned responses. I'd love to see similar topics where people band together to deal with fisheries/environmental concerns!

Wow that was awsome! Thanks for taking the time, this site is great

UPDATE: I received the same e-mail and a phone call. The lady was very respectful and seemed concerned. I sent them the pics you see in my original post plus the absolute location of the problem. I also sent a picture of the exact google earth location. They will send in a person to check the tracks out. If you wish to respond (not absolutely necessary) e-mail these locations: Latitude: 49°33'16.32"N Longitude: 114°18'25.43"W. I'm sorry for not telling you about the trespassing thing. I put in my complaint that I was walking "near" the tracks etc. The railway companies must call it trespassing or else if there's an accident where someone is walking along the tracks they’re legally responsible (something to that degree). Thanks to everyone who took the time to send in a complaint. With the amount of voices they heard they will hopefully quickly respond to the problem. The CP rail seems to be a responsible company, and at the very least they do pretend to care Again thanks for all the help this board is really supportive!

LOL

Great, thanks so much. I really hope that CP will respond if they don't I will send something to the Transportation Safety Board and hopefully they will deal with it. The scary thing about this is that I walked maybe less than a km of tracks so it's more than probable that other sections of railway along the crow are in bad shape. I will keep you all updated on what’s what and whether CP responds etc. Thanks for all the help

Here is how to contact them quickly by leaving a comment. PLEASE send a quick note about the problem and hopefully they will fix it! http://www8.cpr.ca/cms/English/General+Pub...cts/default.htm

bhurt I was out on Saturday so I guess it wasn’t me. I was wearing a blue ski jacket a toque though... esleech that would be great if you could show this to your friend. Also, if anyone could even send off a quick e-mail that would be great. I just couldn’t stand it if that river got ruined; it's such a gem. Plus CP rail has been making cuts left right and center and there profits have been doing well too. They need to here from someone other then me so they just don’t think I'm some winy little environmentalist. I know it’s time consuming but they need to get the message across because the consequences would be catastrophic.

Ok here I go again. By now a few of you know that I'm quite concerned about our fisheries. Blah, blah, blah. Well this site is my way of informing fellow fishermen about serious problems involving our fisheries and their ecosystems. This weekend like many of you I enjoyed fishing the crow. I typically use those wonderful scenic railroad tracks that parallel the river for many miles. They are a great way to get back to the car quick. Well this weekend I noticed something very disturbing. Those picturesque tracks are in dangerous condition. Firstly I know very little about locomotives but I'm no idiot. The tracks are in appalling condition. And obviously this means that a spill (oil, anti freeze, chemicals etc.) is more then possible maybe even probable in these current conditions. If a spill occurred this famous trout fishery would be devastated and since the tracks are seldom out of site from the river a spill would most likely go directly into the river. The trees, valley, OM dam and tail water would all be destroyed. Spills occur frequently in the U.S and it seems that there's almost always something about a river that's been ruined by a railway spill in fly-fishing print. So I ask you all PLEASE take a step and help prevent this disaster. Please e-mail or write (or whatever!) the CP rail! Or mark my word there will be a crash:

I think the province should funnel some more money into education. I know a few kids in the Calgary school system and there are really high class sizes and low recourses. Better health care, national parks and sustainable industry development would also be good.

I'd maybe recommend policeman’s or Highwood. Both of these spots usually produce the most conservatively for me (probably because I fish them most) and I understand if you only get 1 chance make it worthwhile.

I also agree that Calgary’s economy needs to slow down. Holy cow at this rate we'll be two million in 20 years, not to mention the disgusting sprawl that has sprung up in the last few years, those cookie cutter houses are taking over the county side. Albertans have been ripped off from oil royalties since the beginning. It would be nice to take some of that royalty money and put it into a decent education program, healthcare and affordable inner city housing. I doubt that a Royalty increase will mean everything collapse, maybe just those oil executives in their hummers will have a little less cash to frivol away. After all oil companies are making record profits and it's not like this province has record services, schools and hospitals.

There will come a point where the Bow is no longer able to support the massively growing numbers of out city. Unfortunately there is very little the city will do to treat storm sewer water or to reduce the amount of pesticides we use. The bow is a spectacular fishery largely by chance... I hope it stays intact.

Wow amazing report and good to here the river is indeed healthy! Those fall colours are breathtaking.

I'm not a fan of the ping pong sized corkies on small mountain streams as it splashes a lot and spooks fish, especially on fertile slow moving creeks. How would you fish a nymph effectively through a deep run say 25m away? I think indicators are essential; it's just what type you use that determines you success. However there are occasional circumstances where you don't need them (pocket water stonefly fishing).

How many of you use yarn indicators? I have tried using them as apparently they cast nicely, respond well to strikes and don't spook trout. For the Bow I always use corkies as I almost always have lots of weight on but for small streams I like the idea of yarn indicators. The problem is they always end up sinking or becoming severely waterlogged after a few casts, even with one small micro split shot and a tiny nymph. So my question is are yarn indicators the best for low water spooky trout conditions? And how do you keep them a float?

That's a deadly looking fly...

I'm a experienced fly fisher (relatively 6 years, so not all that long). I also bought a sage combo from Russels with line and leader, keep in mind I'm a cheapo so this rod and reel combo is like luxury to me (not kidding; but it's the fishermen not the fishing equipment that catches the fish). What made you infer that the line was junk? I don't know maybe it is but it seems to cast well to me (relatively again I've never cast a line over $30 ) Does anyone else own that line/know about it for if it's truly a bad line maybe I’ve been casting crap lines since I’ve fly fished and compromised my experience!

I read from Barry Mitchell’s book that all trout streams in Alberta have the bug populations to support way more trout (practically). If bug populations have declined in the last few years wouldn’t the crow still have plenty of bugs to feed trout? I see your point though! Kind of weird most of us associate good fishing with clean clear pristine water but that in fact is not true. Are they actually building a new treatment plant on the bow??? That's what I heard.

Sweet pics!

Great thanks for that thorough and enlightening post that answers all my questions but one. Have silt levels increased over the years? That picture of 1994 is crazy, I have fished that exact spot a few times (great pocket water, usually have lots of luck with hoppers in that water and the nice pool below it) and it's hard to believe it can get that low. I guess I'm underestimating the hardiness of those crowsnest river bows! (I really appreciate your river reports on crowfly, there very helpful, especially in the spring when the water clarity is unpredictable)

Thought it would be cool to have a thread with everyone’s winter fishing pictures on it. To bad it's that time of the year again where we're looking at another 5 - 6 moths before next season kick's off again (Nooo summers over!!). O well winter fishing is great and can be lots of fun, unfortunately it's not quite as nice as summer, but on the bright side fishing pressures down! Currentley I'm having computer problems so I can't post photos yet

Sweet Toyotas are great cars. They have the highest reliability ratings of all automotive manufacturers (American cars are the least reliable). Have fun out there!

So this season I really fished the crow a lot (especially in the early season) and I concluded that it is a spectacular trout stream with some great fishing. While fishing it I also noticed a few things, I was wondering if anyone who is a veteran on the crow and has seen the river evolve could give me some info. I am especially interested in the crow is its very similar to the bow below Calgary for many reasons. First it gets a steady supply of nutrients from the municipality’s wastewater. Second it grows more fish due to the bug populations. And third it's near a population (although currently small) and is fished very heavily. While I haven't fished the crow many times before this year I have been through the pass lots and have noticed a huge increase in development. There are many large homes springing up and new subdivisions in a few places. It's oblivious that the amount of development is way up and that passes natural beauty is affected. Gravel pits and dirt clearings aren’t pretty to look at. Another is the low flows in the fall, as I said before I fished it most in March through early July so I saw good to high flows all the time. Going back later in the summer and autumn revealed that the river levels where LOW so low that all those fish I saw and caught earlier probably had no place to go but in the deep pools where they would get hammered by a barrage of fishers. It's one thing on the bow when there are lots of people, as the river is really big but in the autumn the crow is tiny. High temps, angling pressure, and low flows must be affecting the river and it's fish. My question is has the river always gotten this low in the fall? The winter snow pack was really good so I can't imagine what it would be like on a low snow/rain year. Is it just me or is the snow pack lasting less and less and melting faster? (No I do not believe in man made GW people on FFA converted me! ) Another question is about the salmonfly populations in the river. Although I found lots of these big bugs in the river I never encountered the epic proportions I have read so much about. Even screening a rifley bottom showed fairly good levels of salmonflies but nothing amazing. Has the prolific hatch of salmonflies (and amount of nymphs) slowed down in recent years? I know bug populations vary on cycles but have you fishers with lots of experience noticed a declining amount of salmonflies? Another concern I have is the high silt levels in the lower river. While wading I got stuck a few times in the inordinate amounts of silt. This cannot be good for the fish + it could harbor a devastating population of the invasive species Whirling Disease (reduced rainbow populations by 90% in Montana). This brings me to my next question. Has the crow ever been checked for Whirling disease? Obviously the rainbow populations have been doing well so it is unlikely that the river has WD, but with all the Americans from popular Southern rivers coming up it seems only a matter of time before the river is infected. All this rambling is not in frustration at the crow, quite the opposite it is a charming (and technically difficult) river that has lots of pluses. Something about the crow is likable although the numbers and size of fish aren’t out of this world (beginners beware! Some crowsnest river rainbows feed with paranoid caution!). I would greatly appreciate if one of you veterans could answer any of these questions or fill me in on the historical point of view of this river. I am considering at some point (couple years) doing some sort of conservation around the river with one of the groups. P.S. I am particularly interested in historical water levels. Thanks for taking your time reading this rambling post!