jpinkster

That may be the way it used to be, but that isn't what it is now. The board right now has a great mix of experience and youthful exuberance (over half of the board is under the age of 35). It's an energized chapter right now, there are going to be some exciting things happening.

The new board is largely made up of anglers (I believe at least 4 of us are pretty regular anglers). Suffice to say, we get it. I've said this over and over again with my various levels of political involvement. If you don't like the way something is being done, get involved and do something about it. Same applies for our fisheries.

As someone on the Bow River board for TU I'll enter the fray a little bit here. TU's mandate is about habitat. I don't see how boat launches contribute to protecting or preserving critical trout habitat. If you don't see TU doing things that support the angling community, I suggest you look a little deeper. The Bow River Chapter is launching an initiative to provide better education on proper fish handling techniques. In 2015 TU also wrapped up a rehabilitation project for Mallard Point. The stabilization of the bank has greatly improved the fish habitat and allowed for more prime spawning space. You can see more here: http://www.tucanada.org/index.asp?p=2163 Saying that TU isn't doing enough for anglers is a pretty unfair statement to make. The board is always looking for more folks to come be a part of the process. If there are things we could do better, shoot me a DM and I'd be happy to pass them along through the board.

This is why if they do the repair...they need to do it the right way. Find a longer term fix, spend a bit more money on it and make sure you don't have to come back again in a handful of years. If it is publicly funded, I would be uncomfortable wasting tax payer money for a spot fix.

One of the big problems with Police is that it isn't Provincially owned (to my understanding). The launch is on private property and therefore private dollars would likely be needed to recover the launch. I suspect fixing it right would cost a couple of million $ at minimum.

Incredible photos, thanks for taking us on the journey!

This is terrific work, big thanks to CP. I think we are seeing a major shift where more and more ordinary anglers identify themselves as anglers AND conservationists. If this kind of momentum continues, the future is bright for our fisheries!

The other is a triple articulated sex dungeon, right?

This was exactly what I needed to get through my afternoon. Amazing!

Stewardship Program is what I was trying to say.

Would a fishery management program to cull non-native species work? Something similar to the brook trout culls in other fisheries?

http://www.producer.com/2016/01/environmentalists-target-off-highway-vehicles/ The whities were lumped in with Athabasca Rainbows, Arctic Grayling, Cutthroat Trout and Bull Trout. I made the connection without verifying.

Thanks for the correction, I had read on another article somewhere that they were also on a threatened list.

Invasive species are a huge threat to our natural species. With that being said, our natural species are much more adapted to survive (and thrive) in many of the streams we find in the Eastern Slopes. If we protect water quality and preserve critical habitat our native species will be better equipped to out compete invasive species.

I get to do my favorite thing, mix politics with fishing! Stronger protection for critical habitat needs to be more of a priority. Native fish species provide a snapshot into water quality in our headwaters. The fact that Cutthroat Trout, Mountain Whitefish and Bull Trout are all considered threatened species should tell you something about our water quality. Protection for water quality hasn't been taking seriously enough by our Provincial and Federal Governments. 20 years ago the Province made the Bull Trout our Provincial fish and set a keep limit of 0. In 20 years the species hasn't recovered, in fact it has gotten worse in many areas. If that doesn't suggest there are bigger problems at hand, I'm not sure what will. It's time for government to stop paying lip service to providing greater environmental protection. What we really need is action. http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/conservationists-call-for-stronger-cutthroat-trout-protection

There have been a lot of conversations about OHV use this week. There have been some great conversations on this forum and in various social media spaces (some of the dialouge on FaceBook spaces like The Crowsnest Journal and Alberta Fly Fishing have been particularly interesting. Check out the latest blog post from the Oldman Watershed Council: http://oldmanwatershed.ca/blog-posts/2016/1/28/ohvs-and-the-owc-where-do-we-stand For the OWC the bottom line is watershed health, so hearing their perspective is especially interesting.

Yesterday Kevin Van Tighem (former top boss for Banff National Park) was on the radio to talk about this. I think Kevin covers nearly every aspect of this issue in his interview: http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2682551066

This x1000. Kevin will get you into fish and keep you laughing the entire day.

That's the sexy headline. You can hardly blame media for doing what media does.

And the corresponding news article: http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/coalition-calls-for-limits-on-off-road-vehicle-use-in-alberta

The link for this is back up again: https://albertawilderness.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/easternslopescommunique.pdf

I joined the Bow River TUC chapter board late last year. There is a lot of eagerness and interest in doing some interesting stuff. I've brought some of my perspectives on poaching to the table, and we are also working on some content to address recent reports of carp being introduced into storm ponds around Calgary (if these were to drain into the Bow it could have very real consequences). I think the future of the Bow River TUC Chapter is VERY bright.

We tried a new stone technique last year that delivered some exciting results: We found a seam that dumped into some slack water against a bank. We casted a foam stone straight across the run. As it moved downstream, we lifted the rod tip up so the foam bubbles across the surface. We would continue the swing until the fly was almost directly downstream of us. We had a few chunky trout move a very long distance to slaughter those foamies. Looking forward to giving that a spin again this year.

Correct me if I'm wrong on the ecology here, but don't pike hatch much more quickly than other species as well? I heard that it can be a matter of a few short weeks between an egg being lain and it hatching.

I really appreciate that insight. I think you touched on another issue that I've been talking about for awhile. I shake my head at "1 pike over 100cm". Why are we allowing the harvest of some of our biggest spawning age fish? It would make more sense to me if we had a more progressive slot size system that kept those big spawners in the population.