BurningChrome

You realize you contradicted yourself in those two sentences right? Plus there's only a single year of data for the Bow, so you can't infer anything from it as there aren't other years to compare to as part of a trend. Many guides are finished in October or doing a lot fewer trips. There's no reason they couldn't just continue to float Police to Mac during a fall closure anyhow.

Don't think so. Once you own the days I think they're yours until you sell them to someone else. Kind of like taxi plates. There may be annual fees associated with them though. I seem to recall one outfitter buying out another just to get the rod days they owned, not for the business itself.

Absolutely correct and not all fish spawn every year either. I think it can show things like streambed health in areas - if there were lots of redds in a certain area one year but none the next, did something change at that spot like lower flows made it unusable? Drastic changes from a baseline number of redds would also likely indicate something was up. Either way, numbers and locations don't tell a full story which is why you'd need to do some additional research.

I think it might be premature to say anything since we don't have any comparative data for the Bow yet. There's no way to say that an increase in redds in the Elbow didn't coincide with a decline on the Bow because we're missing data prior to 2015. It's good to see that there was an increase from 2014 to 2015 on the Elbow, but it's also interesting that there was a decrease from 2013 - count would've been after the floods - to 2014. Is there an associated report to go with their data that offers insight? I'm looking forward to comparing the 2015 and 2016 Bow river counts, but until there are at least a few years of data for it I don't think we can claim any trends.

Google maps imagery is free to use for non-commercial projects. The issue is the GIS software used to map the redds on the imagery doesn't have access to Google maps imagery for free (if at all). The most current and up to date map imagery is not vital to this project though - even the geolocation used for redd location was not the most accurate. Come out for the 2016 survey and you can get a better idea of how the sausage is made.

If you have free access to more current imagery TU can always use more volunteers to help with these things.

Really happy to see this report and very nice presentation of the data. Glad to have been a part of this and looking forward to doing it again this year so we can get some comparative data.

Today is the last day for Mac.

Keep testing and educating. Need to know the extent of spread and hammering on people to clean their gear between water bodies to slow/halt the spread. Right now all the hatcheries should be shut down and stocking halted. Between four confirmed cases in hatcheries so far it does seem to indicate they're going to point to the origin, like a common source of broodstock or something similar.

Honestly, I feel this is a bad idea. What will it accomplish? At the least, a bunch of people will post their outrage and we're no further than we were before. At worst, someone will see the truck parked somewhere and decide to vandalize it or confront the owner and things will degenerate from there.

May have been here for several years.

Since it's public land I'd start with AEP. If you email them tell them you have video but don't attach it to the email since their mail server might reject it. http://aep.alberta.ca/about-us/contact-us/fish-and-wildlife-area-office-contacts.aspx Blairmore would probably be the office to contact if you phone. Edit: Just had another thought. Maybe try contacting TU Oldman chapter or Oldman Watershed Council. One of those groups more than likely has some direct contacts they could put you in touch with or contact on your behalf.

Picture of you holding your fish, often with arms extended towards the camera to make the fish appear larger than it actually is.

Actually I think it's perfectly valid to discuss. One of the definitions of forum is "an assembly, meeting place, television program, etc., for the discussion of questions of public interest" and I'd say this is a question of public interest. I didn't get any feeling from his post that it was an attack, rant, or axe to grind. Bringing it up on this forum can call attention to it and maybe then more people can express their concern. I've seen Dave post on this forum before so this can also give him an opportunity to explain to everyone here who may feel the same way. If someone is legally keeping a fish then I'm not worried about it, but if it's a protected species then I agree with Bron that it's troubling. I'm not saying that this is or will be the case, but if just one person says something they can easily be dismissed as a single malcontent. If you get a large group of people who are part of your customer base saying the same thing then it's definitely time to sit up and take note and either make a change or explain the reasoning.

I haven't tried overhead casting it. The Indicator line actually works pretty good if you want to overhead cast a streamer with polyleaders. I only use two tips with the OPST though - a 10' full sinking light MOW and a 10' intermediate light iMOW. Anything much more than that and the head just won't turn it over well.

I have a 9'6" 7wt single hand rod with two reels. One has an OPST Commando head on it for swinging streamers using single hand spey casts and the other reel has a Rio Indicator line. I just bring the rod and both reels with me and switch the reel based on the situation. Hardly ever use my switch on the Bow any more.

I honestly don't remember exactly where that one was taken, but it was main stem and not a side channel. It was last November and I wasn't using a camera with GPS.

That would be the same area where I saw the redds get trampled last year.

Missed this. A biologist like bcube will be able to give you better info than me, but I'll try to mention a few points. Some people might wonder why there's so much attention to the browns spawning in the fall but not much about the rainbows in the spring. The browns tend to spawn in the Bow itself and while some rainbows do as well, the majority go up tribs like the Highwood to knock boots (fins?). The Bow isn't closed to angling in the fall but the tribs are closed in the spring for cutthroat that spawn at the same time as rainbows, which is why you get cuttbows. Since the Bow is open while the browns are spawning usually people will start posting reminders because in some areas they are pretty easy to see on their redds and someone who doesn't know any better may attempt to cast at them. Since the redds are often in side channels and braided water between islands that is about 3' deep people often wade through this same water to get to an island or cast to deeper water. I saw a few redds get trampled last fall by guys crossing over to an island. Browns are generally October spawners, but I think exactly when is triggered mainly by water temp - cooler is better. So basically start keeping an eye out for the redds so you don't accidentally trample them while wading. Even wading right above redds can be bad as significant silt washing down can smother the eggs. One of the issues with OHVs crossing streams in the spring is the silt they cause that could smother cutthroat eggs.

The info at that link is pretty good but there are always exceptions. During the redd survey last year we did see them occasionally in deeper water and faster water than we expected. Also the 2-3' width is accurate for a single redd but we often saw multiple redds superimposed on each other making it appear like a single much larger redd. Here are a couple pics from the survey. I think this was a single redd. DSCF3881.jpg by Marc Fossi, on Flickr Multiple redds superimposed. DSCF3886.jpg by Marc Fossi, on Flickr

From the press release http://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=433953CA3458B-B50E-57D4-A97FD2549BE284E2 "If you suspect a case of whirling disease, call 1-855-336-BOAT (2628)."

Here's the problem. Say someone reads through this thread and sees all these people posting that they've seen fish with WD around before and WD has been here for years. Obviously it hasn't affected the fish population or spread anywhere else even though nobody has been cleaning their gear they think to themselves. So now they don't bother cleaning any of their gear and bring it to another stream. Because of posts based on suspicion with zero scientific evidence behind it.

It's at the site I linked to earlier: http://whirlingdisease.montana.edu/about/anglers.htm From the link above (emphasis is mine): "When an infected fish develops whirling disease, typical signs include a darkened tail, twisted spine and deformed head (shortened, twisted jaw). Young fish may also swim erratically (whirl). However, other conditions can cause these signs. Whirling disease must be confirmed by microscopic examination or other tests. If you see fish with these signs in an area where whirling disease has not been reported, you should contact your state fisheries agency."

It is a threat and it can potentially be devastating but there's no point in running around like your hair is on fire. What we need to do right now (like I said in my earlier post) is start to be diligent about cleaning gear between water bodies or even using different gear on the Bow than you do elsewhere. http://whirlingdisease.montana.edu/about/faq.htm

Is this the one? http://flyfishcalgary.com/board/index.php?showtopic=9443&p=94056