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TroutPanther

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Posts posted by TroutPanther

  1. 1 hour ago, monger said:

    The study is based on historical F&W data collected in-house or via consultants. Over the years the sampling methods/areas/timing have been anything but standardized. In order to make sense of the available data, it was quite heavily massaged with some pretty complex statistical math. There are a large number of factors that can influence the river's productivity and population counts. A couple of major floods had very serious consequences in the short term, but the system seems to be able to rebound over time. There have been times when there was less fish around and times when the fishes' conditions factors have been below what we normal expect. At present,  things seem to be on the poor end of the scale (especially the rainbows).  One thing about this study that I see as a blinking light.....there needs to be a standardized system established for collecting data so that we can compare numbers over years without creating fudge factors. 

    No kidding. Looking at the map of where testing was performed - for the years 2003-2008 surveys were performed in the same stretch, near police, in 2011 three separate locations, including above the highwood, below police, and near Cranston, in 2012 they only sampled below the carseland weir, and in 2013 they sampled in the city, 4 separate locations from the WHD weir down to Douglasdale... I’m no biologist or statistician (and won’t try to speculate on whether the adjustment/fudge factors are sufficient to accommodate this) but those sections are not exactly the same in terms of the productivity of the fishery. Would be awesome to see them do population surveys in the same location to make year over year data more comparable... 

  2. Good points sparkplug. Pretty sobering report nonetheless.

    We had a couple really good years for big rainbows, in 15 and 16 I think? This summer there seemed to be more snakey ones, but my anecdotal experience has been that the browns were almost unicorn status in 13 but have come back a fair bit.

    Definitely lots of non-fishing issues at play here. Those flow fluctuations and low flows in mid summer after spring flood mitigation have been crazy. Certainly something needs to be done there, and great to see bow river trout advocating for these issues on behalf of the community.

    The article mentions a lottery system - I really hate the idea. I’d much rather see a classified system implemented with the money going back into the resource, perhaps spring & late fall closures implemented during the spawn (apparently insta stars can’t help but to hammer spawners), barbless hook requirements, and mandatory closures when water temps cross a predetermined “unsafe to fish” level in the dog days of summer. Given they just changed the regs, I’m not counting on them doing anything any time soon. 

    • Like 2
  3. You guys are doing great work. I’ll continue to support the cause. Keep it up! Seeing some improvements post-2020 in terms of negotiating for stabilized flows in the bow would be awesome. The prospect of stable flows in the K, to establish/bring back a quality cutty fishery would be a truly remarkable achievement. We aren’t getting any more rivers, would be nice to see the K live up to its potential.

    Great to see inroads are being made. 

    • Like 2
  4. 6 hours ago, BowLurker said:

    Smith Guide's Choice with Polarchromatic Ignitor lenses (chromaPop)....if the light isn't too bright, say moving into overcast, I find these work great. Purple light rules! 

    I need a bit more coverage if it's going to be full sun, however, and I have a couple pairs of Ryders Polarized in full dark that really do the job.

    Craving a Smith Ignitor Amber lens for twilight, but money money. :D

    -M.

    The Smith low light ignitors are fantastic. I use them in cloudy conditions or for sightfishing, and the Maui Jim HTs for everything else. The HTs are supposed to be a lower light lens also, but with a ball cap they work just fine in the sun. 

    I broke/lost a few pairs of Smiths before I settled on these... I don’t think I would wear anything else now. 

  5. Hahaha. Sounds like Jimmy needs a measuring tape. The ever humbling tape usually shrinks a fish by a few inches. Very few honest 28”ers out there. If I get a couple bow river browns in a season over 24, 25 I consider I’ve done well, and I’m a dedicated streamer junkie. Or maybe I just suck at fishing. 

  6. Kelly Galloup has some great videos on streamer tying. He’s posted a bunch recently as well, including ones on setting materials, wrapping hackle, and constructing deer hair/wool heads. His tutorials deal with material selection & preparation, articulation, tying techniques, etc. They are great, and well worth a watch. My streamer box is probably 60% galloup flies, or versions of his patterns I have tweaked. 

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  7. Thanks for pointing me to their letter, as well as their mission statement. Their letter makes sense and I like some of their recommendation, but their “qualifying” reasons they listed for supporting the closure, in my view, (like wanting to see more enforcement, habitat restoration, etc.) could just as easily be seen as logic for not mandate a closure yet - wanting to see some of these actions before taking the step of shutting C&R down. 

  8. 2 hours ago, BurningChrome said:

    Not yet...

    Btw, TUC issued a letter of support for the NCNT. If you are a TUC member and disagree with this, I suggest you let them know - tuc@tucanada.org. 

     

    That is surprising - With TU’s mandate (and its supporters largely being in the FF community) I thought they would be critical of a plan that appears on the surface to prioritize closures over other habitat rehabilitation. Maybe TU should survey its members re: priorities and support for closures. If TU supports closures on the Oldman & the like - depending on the circumstances - I might reconsider my support.

    • Thanks 1
  9. Thanks for posting - I shared a lot of the same thoughts re: single barbless hooks in cutthroat/bull streams, increased enforcement, implementing a tag system for non-residents in sensitive headwaters/popular tailwaters, giving browns fall spawning protection in the bow upstream of whd and in the elbow, and (might not make friends with this one) closing the bow mainstem near the highwood mouth in the spring. 

    I disagreed with the “recovery is more important than angling” proposition (that was on the north central survey as well, and they are shutting down those systems). I would like to think we can have both with properly managed C&R if other impacts are mitigated. 

    • Like 1
  10. Hey treeplanter -

    the rock snot was not too bad - quite a bit of it in the deep bay in the SE of the lake and along the east shore, but otherwise not much. The fish didn't seem to mind. Neither of us had ever been to the lake, and it was nice hoofing it up that wide open ridge with the views after scaling that damn mountain. Had no idea there were vision circles to check out. We did notice a trail further back down the ridge heading towards the lake, but we decided to press on to that faint goat trail you can see in the pic so we wouldn't lose as much elevation and have to make it up again. Mistake. Made for a pretty nasty descent in some chunky scree/unstable boulders. Unfortunately no goldens left (not that we were expecting any). 

  11. I've only ever had issues with the C49s hooks, in size 14 and smaller, but everything else has been fine for me. Most of the other mustard hooks I use are 2x strong and hold up just fine. It has been bad enough with the C49s that I have thrown out entire batches of nymphs in disgust after losing fish after fish on bent hooks without overly heavy pressure. I won't buy them again, as a few companies make a good curved pupa/shrimp hook. 

  12. 35 minutes ago, BurningChrome said:

    Another survey as part of the North Central Native Trout recovery, but this one is specifically for the Ram.

    https://talkaep.alberta.ca/north-central-native-trout-recovery/survey_tools/ram-river-public-survey

    Thanks for posting BC. 

    Just completed the survey. I imagine they put this up after getting a lot of blowback on the original survey re: their proposal to allow harvest on the Ram.  

    This Ram-specific one is very straightforward, with only 2 maps to look at and without needing to read a huge proposal. I'd encourage everyone to fill out and support C&R on the entirety of the Ram. 

  13. Glad you guys enjoyed the pics! Definitely a beautiful part of our province - every time I go I find my hike-in bucket list gets even longer. Aleady scheming to get a couple bigger trips in next summer.

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