albertatrout

https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=684911A4FB13A-0BE1-042A-9D1A23A8C1C710CB Some good news here. Arctic graying to be added at Raven as well. This could lead to some great expansion of fisheries opportunity. Kind of a surprise considering the cuts everywhere else.

Yup, Pembina did not need a closure to make more brook trout, it was already loaded.. An incredible amount of real data was ignored before that closure was made essentially just on a pile of assumptions. Hope to hear some changes on that file but not holding my breath.

I know that stretch of the Gregg, can not fish any of the headwaters due to ongoing "mining" these days. Hopefully access resumes in the coming years. Though mining, logging, and forestry do a lot of damage up there mining can also result in some very unexpected positive results fishing wise when they finally finish up. I will say the rainbow fishing improved greatly in the Gregg, McLeod, Embarras, and surrounding drainage over the past 15 years. Whether or not the purity of the rainbows has improved or worsened no one can really know. Beautiful tough little fish for sure. The government even uses some of those genetics in the hatchery system now (strain plpl). Talking with the hatchery folks they are a surprising fish even under culture scenarios.

I would say a fairly different scenario up there versus the cutties down south. The main athabow threat is introgression with other athabows that have varying levels of hatchery genetics. The government is still deciding if they need to be 95% or 99% pure to be considered athabows. Even if you brought the habitat to 100% functional it still would not address the few hatchery alleles floating around in the population. Short of finding a true 100% pure population, rotenoning everything, restocking from source, then building fish barriers all over the place, not much of a solution exists. Angling bans will make no difference as most of the core athabow creeks are totally unfishable anyways. Habitat needs to be addressed to save many of the grayling and bull populations up there, it won't help with the genetics issue though.

Problem in that system is the creek upstream is also jammed full of them. Also good chance they would be re-stocked as they are very very popular with a certain group that frequents that lake. I like your thinking, im just not overly optimistic it would work.

Full of carp, never has had winterkill issues and there is some very good potential for fish growth. Heavy use by the cooler filling crowd but still some large trout most trips out. The carp are very very bad, we have caught piles of them using some of the classic still water trout techniques. Most around 10". Not sure if coincidence but I'd say water quality seems to be going downhill with more carp. More murkiness for sure. I'd still say high potential for above average fishery with the stocking diversity. If interested check out the write up in atlas of Alberta lakes. It is a very productive system.

It' a done deal, consultation always happens after the fact in this province. Ask for the statistically sigificant data trends they are basing these closures on, oh wait, not enough data so they didn' even get that far. I've about given up on even trying to be involved in the process, until there' a change in the guard (Not talking politically here, I mean regional management) anglers are basically out of luck. Simply a disgrace. The proposed changes to protect cutties further south is even more laughable as genetic introgression is the key threat. Frustration abounds...

Anyone know the asking price? Link? I heard a number but if correct I can not see why the ACA is interested. Edit- google says $11,000/acre, sounds like about double what it should be for conservation dollars to be spent. A lot of resources to secure a small property if that price is accurate no?

You will not see non native fish introduced againn. That time is long gone. You can call edson office qnd discuss with the bios but the era of introducing anything new is gone. The Pembina in particular was a fantastic brook trout river but the government decided to remove anglers so the loggers and oil companies can try and wipe the few remaining grayling out (thqts how i see it anyways). Even a plan to reestablish native grayling in that drainage didn't go anywhere following a retirement, they are not that interested in anglers in that region and there is a serious lack of innovative ideas to help the remaining fish flourish/ recover. That being said, even without browns there is plenty of great fishing in that region. The streams are generally less productive and the fish are often small but they can be a lot of fun. There are many creeks in the McLeod drainage loaded with athabows and grayling, it's very different from the streams further south but still very satisfying to visit and explore. You can find the odd place with huge bulls, solid grayling (16 to 18"), and chunky athabows (12" is a hog but my personal best from a heavily ponded trib broke 20", unique fisheries exist). I feel the discussion should be limited to managing and reintroducing native fish populations up there, lots of opportunities exist so keeping pressure on Fish and Wildlife is worthwhile. Otherwise there are a few brown trout fishing opportunities in that area already, you have to look around for them but a few do exist in certain streams.

Can always call it in to the report a poacher line as well, they can get you in touch with the proper authorities. Lots of poor consultants in the province that just fudge numbers to keep the machines working. Contractors will cut corners whenever they get a chance too, lots of bad outfits when it comes to instream work in this province. Lots of self policing as well, sure you can guess how well that works.

.

The pike would be the least of the worries in sustaining a good trout fishery, think more suckers and competition for food (just like Chain Lakes). Without serious thought/ planning, it will produce mostly little fish. If some large predatory fish are maintained (maybe the existing burbot, or by stocking and managing for some large browns) it may be possible to have a decent fishery. That reservoir will have all species present from its inflow (upper willow creek) and the over abundant walleye may be the only reason it's not already choked with suckers. I think it's a waste of resources changing it to trout of any sort anyways. Be better to forget the walleye, add lake whitefish, and manage it for the native burbot and pike. Be better spending money on developing a new pond or two elsewhere imo.

Do the videos show him fishing closed streams? If so, report it and submit the video links. I reported someone for being in a restricted area a few years ago from brag photos posted online, they nailed him. If you can tell where they are 100%, fish and wildlife can take it and run. They are spread thin, rap helps.

http://mywildalberta.com/AboutMWA/MWASurvey.aspx They want feedback for those who use the site. There are opportunities to provide comments relating to them focusing a bit less on the social media/ propaganda machine and instead a bit more on the biology and research end of fish and wildlife management..... Could maybe add temperature guidelines for trout angling guidelines Management area biologist contact info maybe I'm sure some of you may have constructive comments...

Thought I'd add a few shots from this year thus far. I haven't taken very many photos but have got out a ton, few different lakes, lots of streams, lots of fish. Here's some rainbow photo's from a few of the southern stocked lakes. Girthy, interestingly enough we have not caught a single fresh stocker this year. Now, only if the fish at outpost had this shape/ body condition. These lakes seem to have far more food, and the fish are far harder to catch. Flies seem to produce far bigger fish than what the shoreline bait chuckers are catching. I rarely encounter other flyfishers, it pays to explore. Bait fishers do not seem to be removing the larger fish, it's been a blast this year. We did the lake white thing a few times this year, sure not particular and they fight great. Did not see another angler while out for them. And a bit of stream fishing. I really don't get the camera out much on the rivers, enjoy myself too much to remember. Lots of whites, bullies, brookies, and bows this year. Oh, and grizzlies, up to 10 or so encounters with them fuzzy buggers as well. And, the bonus of low flows and no freshet is there are LOTS of fry around. Could still see egg sacs on many of them, but my underwater photo skills are lacking. Emergence was about a month early and they are thick! 2 years of good fry production in a row, seeing these guys takes away a bit of the frustration caused by the low stream flows.

There is simply no interest in our fish and wildlife resources. Look up how many provincial fisheries biologists remain Alberta wide, and then count up the handful of technicians that have not had their positions terminated. Most will be shocked how few people are left to manage the provinces fish and aquatic resources. The new department (AEP) is also making it much tougher to get data/ share data of any sorts. I have not had a single request even responded too since the takeover. Under the previous minister, at least I always got an official response (often it said nothing of use, but at least it showed they read my letters). From what I've noticed, they are sure hiring a lot of carbon experts and parks managers which get big fat cheques, way less researchers and on the ground technician type employees. So frustrating. A lot of the watershed groups which had their funding cut were doing great things with very little resources. Not sure why people defend this minister, she has been brutal when it comes to our fisheries, rivers, and lakes.

Yet more cuts to the management of Alberta's water resources and fisheries. Seems our new government values this sort of work even less than our old one did. Maybe call the ministers office and ask about this, and about the cuts to the fisheries management offices that occurred over the past few months (in secrecy). Its a shame. http://www.producer.com/2016/07/alta-watershed-programs-lose-govt-funding/ http://www.landstewardship.org/watershed-stewardship-grant-program/

Here's how it looks vs past years, data for other drainage's are available on this site as well. http://environment.alberta.ca/forecasting/WaterSupply/jun2016/bowwsf.html Though rivers are low, this is not unprecedented for the most part (a few stations are pretty stinking low). Look through a few basins, it's not looking apocalyptic by any stretch of the imagination. The Bow is a bit of a special case this year (and last), but you can blame our flood paranoid politicians for that to some extent. Drought is more common than flooding in this province, proper risk analyses should have been done rather than just willy nilly political games. I fear the worst could still be on the way for some systems, hope to be wrong though. I worry the lower reservoir levels will also mean higher background temps below the dams (less volume, the water will heat up more, simple grade school science). Even 1 or 2 degrees can be game changers come the low flow dog days of summer when we are already approaching lethal temps for trout. At least the forecast looks a bit better, lets hope the rest of the summer goes that route..

I would say we do not have to accept it in all systems. If there are waterfalls or barriers, efforts to remove non-native species can still be an option. It is being done successfully in small drainages, and there are other systems that may be targets in the future. For the most part I agree we need to accept it, but there are exceptions/ options that could turn the table against brookies in particular. Even if it means only a handful of additional native fish populations in headwaters creeks, it could help provide genetic refuges in the future. You won't win the battle without barriers/ intensive efforts so I don't expect much at current budget levels. Maybe in the future though.

Yes, the problem is there is a lot of concern about genetic diversity between systems and even from creek to creek. A few relocations have been done and there has been some aftermath genetically. It makes the government very hesitant to do anything involving moving fish, often to point of complete stupidity. I think the cancellation of this program comes down to dollars and cents more than anything, they really did not have enough years of data to say much with any real certainty. You will generally be needing at least 15 to 20 years of info to say much as natural population fluctuations and cycles can mask any trends, there are just too many factors at play in aquatic systems. Fisheries has seen a lot of cuts over the past year, funding is being diverted more towards things like climate change. It's a shame, many hoped things would improve under the new "regime".

I've lived in other cities/ towns, did the exact same thing there. Only warning I have ever got was for not keeping up with the buttercup at my cabin. I spray for it once a year now as the county's land is full of it and it spreads onto our place awfully fast. Generally, as long as the weeds are managed there are no bylaws against having a brown lawn or not having perfectly trimmed grass. Clover stays far greener than grass come the hottest part of the summer, it would benefit our communities if it could become more fashionable.

I just let the clover take over and put wood mulch down where the grass dies out (like under the trees). No fertilizer, no spray, and it stays green all year with no water application. Only have to mow when it rains so more fishing time, and the jackrabbits love it. Win win. A little round up keeps any major weed issues in check along the mulch lines, and for those concerned about the environmental effect of properly applied herbicides, please refer to the peer reviewed science.

If you wash in warm anti grease dish soap prior to the borax you will be pleased. Blow-dry and then pack with borax, works like a charm. I did a few birds for a friend that had a silverfish infestation, the store bought rabbits were destroyed but they never touched the birds we preserved. Seems to be a good method.

I don't think it's the one post about quads thats led to frustrations, it's months of spamming facebook pages with sometimes informative but at other times misleading articles. He doesn't do well with criticism and often resorts to very immature replies to those the journal disagrees with. He has a right to free speech but should also expect feedback. Many articles are the result of someone with no biology background making some very weak arguments, others are well done. I hope he can improve his content/ knowledge in time but for now it's not a very positive/ productive way to approach many issues. I followed him early on but grew tired of the pages tone. Maybe give him another chance in a year or two. The journal also follows some pretty radical other pages I would not associate with, there's more to the feedback he is getting than one post a few people shared. I say the initial post is still not appropriate, no reason to bring his personal life into it, just the journals content should be fair game.

Burbot as noted above, widespread native species.