albertatrout

It depends how succesful the spawning is, if fish numbers get too high size will go down. I know of several lakes with outlet spawning, a few have crazy high fish numbers and relatively small fish (14" is a good one) while others grow nice size trout. You can also look at the average depth in some cases to get an idea how big the fish can get, shallower (more littoral area) generally means more food production. There are lots of factors at play but it all boils down to production.

A lake (regardless of location) can only produce a certain amount of biomass per year. Say a lake can produce 100 kg of fish per year and has 100 fish, each fish has the potential to gain 1 kg that year. Say suddenly fish numbers increase and you have 1000 individuals, each fish would only be able to average a gain of 0.1 kg over that year. Fish density is a very important factor in fish size potential, especially in mountain lakes where productivity can be limited (like 1 to 2 kg/ year/ hectare). Diversity on the bug scene is also important, if scuds are around production generally increases as they are relatively efficient at moving resources up the food chain. I have read about a case in a high lake in Jasper where a herd of goats or sheep fell through the ice. They could actually measure the increase in production the next year as the scud population shifted upwards (i have witnessed dead sheep coveted in scuds. Kind of cool). Other experiments showed adding a bag of fertilizer made big fish for a few years but the nutrients eventually run out and lakes return to near baseline. Alpine lakes are fairly simple as far as ecosystems go as more productive lakes have far more variables/species to try and understand. Catch and release can actually make fish much much smaller in some cases, stunting is common in alpine lakes as food/nutrients is generally limiting, not spawning or winter habitat like in many other systems.

There is literally next to no body left in the service. I am in contact with fish and wildlife very regularly and it is shocking how often a large swath of the province doesn't even have an on-duty officer. I reported somebody illegally trying to sell wildlife last spring and it took a week for someone to return my call after leaving a message, all evidence had been removed/ covered up in the mean time meaning they couldn't pursue the case. It can be frustrating. I spend a lot of time in remote country that doesn't see a lot of other people, the amount of poaching and environmental destruction we see/ try to report a year is staggering. Relatively few convictions on our tips but a few is better than nothing so we keep trying.

Very painful video for somebody who has reviewed and studied this project. Most of the claims are over exaggerated as is the scale. It was not as simple as just wolves missing from the area, not even close. Read through the actual science and you will see there were changes but not to the extent this video illustrates. This video comes accross as propaganda being used in the fight against control measures being placed on the wolf population in that area. The elk population crashed (approximately 70%) following the establishment of wolves, there were many factors at play (bears are also very hard on elk, this is being heavily studied right now) and some of the benefits attributed to wolves were part of already naturaly occuring cycles. Yes, having wolves on the landscape is a good thing, they do not however return ecosystems instantly to pre-disturbance status. We have lots of wolves in Alberta, I have seen dozens every summer for many years, they do not insure no erosion/ optimal fish habitat, there are way more significant factors at play.

It's silly posturing. I do not expect to see much of an increase in angler catch, it's just politics. I have fished the southern reservoirs since i was a young kid and even with the commercial harvest, it has never been hard to get a limit of whitefish if we wanted them. If you look at the data, by-catch was extremely low most years and the fishery was tightly managed. I don't have an interest in the industry either way, i just feel it's being blown out of proportion as a positive management move. Don't let the real issue's get forgotton because a small commercial fishing industry was shut down.

Luckily it hasn't invaded most of that country (yet). You could camp south near the pass, lots of service down there.

It could be population recovery, you may also just be catching them congregated prior to the main spawning run. A large percentage of a streams bullies may be located in a relatively small area around this time of year. Bullies begin spawning migrations very early (mid-July in some areas) while the migration is generally started by August. I know of many creeks really full of bullies right now, doesn't necessarily mean they are recovering across the entire system. Also, they are extraordinarily easy to catch due to their aggressive nature, you may be catching every bully in a run. I once caught the same tagged bully 3 times in a single day, they aren't picky and catch rates can be deceiving. Just something to consider.

Thanks for the ideas everyone. Its greatly appreciated. We will see if it works out.

Has anybody here ever registered an out of country vehicle before? I'm looking at buying a Japanese mini truck which has not been registered/ used on the highway in Canada before but I do not know the process. It is already in Canada, but has only been used on private land. Any ideas? Cost specifically? Thinking it would be a great little fishing truck for the bit of off-roading i need, belly boat or pontoon would fit on the back just fine. Just trying to figure out what it may cost in the end.

Volunteer positions for this kind of work are a complete joke! Even the governments has unpaid internships now. I know of university research projects on grizzlies in Alberta actually charging staff money to be involved, the sad thing is all positions were filled easily with granola crunching vegan types. Nothing against them, but it leads to a certain demographic taking over research in our province.

Are they confirmed in Pine Coulee? I have checked on numerous Prussian Carp reports for friends this year across the south (Oldman, SSR, several reservoirs) and all have turned out to be White Suckers, Quillback, or Redhorse thus far. Lack of fish ID skills across the general population is making the issue a bit foggy/ hard to understand at this point.

I don't think brand matters all that much, the most important thing is if it makes you feel comfortable in the bush and is available if you need it. I have had dozens of close bear encounters and haven't used spray yet. Unfortunately for one black bear, i was packing and had a tag in the pocket when he decided to get aggressive (I didn't want that one but it worked out well). He had become habituated to random campers leaving trash everywhere and from what i understand it wasn't his first human encounter by any stretch. I have also thrown rocks a few times and that worked well (even though the bear aware training generally says it's a bad idea, personal experience says otherwise) and I have had the trigger off the spray ready for use several times. I strongly recommend a holster, makes it safer and more convenient for you to carry the cans, it is ugly when you wipe out or drop your pack and they puncture, holsters help.

These are a big issue. If you were to actually see some of the systems they have taken over you would realize there isn't much else left. The take over, i would imagine not only competing with other fish but also with frogs, salamanders, and other aquatic critters. Invasive species are a huge issue, and many bad ones, not just a few. They (carp) may not take over the mainstems but many smaller systems will be inundated. This has happened before, maybe you've heard of brook trout, you know, the eastern species which has displaced native bull trout, cutties, and Athabasca rainbows across the province??Or crayfish which are invading many southern lakes and streams competing with the native fish and invertebrates. How about plants, maybe check this out and educate yourself a touch. https://www.abinvasives.ca/fact-sheets

Not out that way but I was in Writing on Stone the other day and there was people camping already.

Awesome video, I really enjoyed it. As for their equipment, they look pretty comfortable to me, comfort outweighs a few pounds in the back pack from time to time. They aren't exactly bush-whacking, those trails look like highways. Lighter and more compact isn't always better either, I have carried the same cookwear set and its remarkably light and useful. Then again, I eat good when I'm hiking, its a holiday not survival training. I've even been known to carry a cast iron skillet and frozen steaks from time to time (its good exercise, makes the steaks worth it). Problem with lots of hiking enthusiasts is they look down at folks at who don't have the latest hippy gear from MEC, you really have to appreciate those that get it done without buying all the latest junk. Many of the people I hike with started 30-40 years ago and still carry the same gear, it still works. What beautiful country though! Reminds me of some of the valleys in southwestern Alberta.

This is something I wish the ACA would take up. Strategic purchase of small land parcels or easements could open up hundreds of km of rivers spreading out pressure and also benefiting canoes, kayakers, and many other outdoor enthusiasts. I really like the set up they have on the Milk River (mostly for canoe trips/ tubers). Public access points with garbage cans, signage, and even some outhouses have been established meaning public access for the public waterway. Seems more valuable to me than the "enhanced" fish stocking program or a good portion of the university studies they've been funding (Almost all research is valuable, it's just odd how funds don't make it back to the resource in many cases). A public access point even every 20 km would be awesome on some of the rivers south of the bow.

White and blue with a bit of flash is very effective. I mostly fish clouser style flies in bull trout waters but find that color combo works well wherever whitefish are the predominant prey item. Bullies are not picky though so whatever you try should work.

Yeah, I agree a catch and release lake would be great but wait to see what happens on Clear. I think you lose out on a lot of the meat fisherman as soon as the 3 limit is removed. I saw pictures of several really large pike out of there this winter, all were released which was encouraging. Some of the best trophy pike lakes in southern Alberta don't have any sort of special regulations (or even a closure in some cases) so it's still a wait and see sort of scenario. I know the pike fishing is way better than it was 10-15 years ago on many of the lakes I grew up fishing.

Clear lake had major regulation changes recently (year or two now??), limit 1 over 100 cm. The changes to Birch Lake will be interesting, I enjoyed the justification based on poor presentation of the survey info. Basically, anyone who thought the regulations did not go far enough are lumped in the with those that want to eat everything (survey is on the fisheries roundtable website) and no comments/ suggestions were published. Its too bad, used to be a great fishery before it was overly publicized.

Yup, absolutely insane price for the taxpayer. Last I heard is they may be getting grazing lease lands in the Millarville area which would mean even less public land remaining down south. Only if the city planners that caused this problem could have been held accountable.

Look down the legs in a well lit room, you can generally see light coming through the holes (especially in non-neoprene waders). Goop is another perfectly reliable glue for repairs. For non-neoprene (neoprene holds together just fine) and larger rips/ tears, use a piece of duct tape on the inside of your boots to pull the material together, goop then let dry. Next day remove tape and goop the inside so both sides are adequately sealed (as already mentioned). Works really well and prolongs patches as with goop or aquaseal the glue can begin to peel over time due to sun/ rubbing/ use in general. I find myself going through 2-3 pairs of waders a year and find looking for light to be just as effective as the filling with water trick (takes way less time this way too). If repairing the older style non-breathables rough up the area around the hole with fine sandpaper first as well, the glue will stick way better. Breathables are generally too thin to risk sand paper.

If you have ice dubbing that makes a really good substitute as well. I switched to using just a little bit of ice dub/ flashabou style dubbing many years ago, one bag will do thousands upon thousands of little nymphs if you're just using it for a hackle substitute. Gold, peacock, brown, white it all works.

They are by far the best, flaky meat with no fish taste at all. I like to go get a feed of them at first ice but not via a fly rod. The only thing wrong with them is short freezer life. They are really easy to catch with bait, I've never caught one fly fishing.

Great use of tax dollars right there. If no one wants to help pay for an art display that may be an indication it's a dumb idea. Almost half a million bucks though, that's the really nutty part... I'm sure you could have given some local welders some scrap metal and a few cases of beer and come up with something much more appealing.