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Bow River Trout Foundation is looking for feedback from the fishing community with a proposal to for improved access to Policeman's Flats. Policeman's Flats - An Opportunity to Improve Access. Following the 2005 flood the Policeman's Flats river access was completely reconfigured by the Provincial Government with the agreement of the property owner to a boat ramp with an adjacent vehicle parking lot. The site was reopened to the public with a belief it would never get destroyed by future flooding. A big mistake! The 2013 flood destroyed the site once again. Debate has continued since that time as to what the future will bring for Policeman's Flats. As it stands the Provincial Government are proposing a new boat ramp on the north side of the river, but it will take some time, probably years before a plan is put in place. In the meantime little progress has been made to mitigate the flood damage at the existing site. Bow River Trout Foundation has taken up the challenge with a proposal to upgrade and service the site until a new boat ramp can be built at a more favourable location. Remove of the large rocks that constitute a danger to access is our priority. Upgrades to parking and service are also being considered. We are looking for feedback from river users on our proposal before we make the financial commitment to proceed. The question: What would you like to see improved at Policeman's Flats as short-term improvements until an alternative river access site is developed? Barry White Photo Bow River Trout Foundation If a decision is made to move forward on this initiative support will be needed from the fishing community. Join BRT to support our initiatives. https://bowrivertrout.org/membership-donations/

The following link will take you to the response from Shannon Phillips, Minister, Alberta Environment & Parks: https://bowrivertrout.org/2017/11/03/bow-river-water-management-plan-response-from-minister-shannon-philips/ Bow River Trout Foundation will continue to dialogue with AEP staff to assure the Bow River fishery is given due consideration with any upstream flood and drought mitigation initiatives. At this point in time it is essential for the recreational fishing community to be recognized as a responsible stakeholder in discussions with the Government of Alberta. Join Bow River Trout to get your voice heard. Go to: https://bowrivertrout.org/membership-donations/

The prizes were for a specimen brown and rainbow trout.We wanted to get some good looking fish photos. I think we achieved that. We will be applying for grants over the winter to support the Bow River fishery. Having raised funds to support our initiatives will assist with applications.

Toolman: three awards as you will see in the following link. Boatman caught the most fish. Although CDC blue winged olive caught most of the fish when the afternoon hatch arrived. The specimen rainbow was caught on a boatman. The brown on a leach streamer . 17 boats and 45 participants. https://bowrivertrout.org/2017/10/04/brt-one-fly-tournament-wrap-up/

Toolman: If there is a loss of habitat and food source due to whatever events have taken place, then as you say, the population of trout that the river can sustain has probably reached a low threshold. Hopefully that is not the case and we will see the current numbers of young trout survive, grow and reach the mature size that we have seen over the past 2 years.

Recent proposals released by Alberta Environment & Parks Minister, Shannon Philips would suggest that the City of Calgary, other local communities and the irrigations districts would be better served by revised water management models to enhance flood and drought protection. The short term proposals would suggest that more water would flow through Calgary during the summer months. This within itself is very encouraging. But the long term objectives to elevate flood and drought protection across the Bow River Basin would see new dams upstream of Calgary! One of the proposals is for a new dam just upstream of Calgary at the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park. No consideration was given to the recreational fishery that will be destroyed by the reservoir. The following letter and accompanying document has been sent to the Minister expressing concerns with the proposals and a request to engage with the recreational fishing community before any decisions are made. Bow River Trout Foundation https://bowrivertrout.org/2017/09/25/bow-river-water-management-policy-letter-to-aep-minister-shannon-phillips/

There is no doubt that Bow River trout populations are way down from what was seen in the '80 and '90 when there was a fraction of the anglers on the river as compared to what we see today. The habitat and food source has changed dramatically. To say that there is "a steady decline" is a conservative statement that researchers use in the absence of statistical data analysis! A few years back those with knowledge of the Bow suggested that there was "100 Years" of biomass in the river and that even with the clean up of Calgary's water treatment plants that trout would continue to prosper. Then came ther 2005 and 2013 floods that cleaned out large stretches of the river. Weed growth is minimal and aquatic species range has changed. There are encouraging signs that trout populations are on the rebound, especially the number of smaller fish on the lower stretch of the Bow between Mac and Legacy. What is needed now is to take pressure off the fishery with a better fish management model.

Everyone is welcome at Bow River Trouts's Reception and Pub Social following the One Fly Tournament on Saturday. September 30, 23017. Toad 'n' Turtle, 155 - 130 Ave SE Slots still available for the BRT One Fly Tournament. https://bowrivertrout.org/2017/09/19/one-fly-tournament-update/

Last year Bow River Trout Foundation took on the challenge to improve Bow River fishing access. Firstly with a successful pitch to the City of Calgary to secure funding as a part of the Calgary River Access Strategy for 5 new boat ramps within 5 years. Two of which will be completed in 2108. First, Ogden Bridge opposite Bonnybrook Water Treatment Park and second, Inglewood opposite the zoo. When complete the whole of the city reach of the Bow River will be open to drift boat use. In addition it will give all anglers better access by way of parking lots park benches, garbage bins and washrooms. To support these resources Calgary River Users Alliance made a commitment to support the $7.6 Million budget for improvements by fundraising $275,000 towards the developments. Bow River Trout's commitment for the fishing community is $75,000.. The BRT One Fly Tournament on September 30 is our first fundraiser to support our commitment. For details follow the link: https://bowrivertrout.org/2017/08/03/brt-one-fly-tournament/ Moving forward, Bow River Trout Foundation has engaged with AEP to develop the Bow River Access Plan for enhancement of river access downstream of Calgary. New toilets are currently being installed at McKinnon's Flats and a new all-weather road is planned to start at the same location in the spring of 2018. The second stage of the public consultation on the future proposals will take place before the end of the year. In addition, AEP Minister, Sharron Philips has announced proposals to better manage water flows in the Bow River Basin that will enhance flood and drought protection for the region. The proposed short-term improvements should see higher summer flows for the Bow River. But to substantially improve overall water management a new dam is proposed upstream of Calgary at the Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park taking away another important trout river fishery. Bow River Trout's advocacy work will hopefully stop this from happening. The fishing community's support of all these projects will come from grants and our fundraising activities. We welcome your engagement and support as best you can Peter Crowe-Swords Bow River Trout Foundation

CnR is at best an attempt to give those fish that are caught a better chance to survive. It has little to do with conservation of a fish population. As I have stated previously,an old guys like myself remembers the days when there was a closure on the Bow River downstream of Calgary from October 31 to June 1. I do not remember the terrible toll trout are taking to their mouths such as I have seem over the past two years. This is probably a result of a combinations of the shear pressure these fish are exposed to as well as the movement to more streamer fishing with larger hooks. When you combine this with low flows resulting in less oxygen and higher water temperatures we should expect more mortality. My argument is that a closure by what ever it is defined will reduce the number and times that fish are caught in a year, reducing morbidity, potential reproductive success and mortality and at best increasing the chance of population gains or more realistically sustaining a fishery. I personally have caught probably half the number of fish over the summer months this year as compared to my long term average. But I have also reduce the time on the river by half. A voluntary closure. Will I increase the fishing day when temperatures are lower and flows higher - yes. Others have said the same in this post. The provincial argument is that in principal a closure will reduce the fishing pressure on one population of fish, but evidence suggests that anglers move to other resources to get their fishing fix, therefore little net gain unless closures are regional in nature.

If the assumptions are that a PURE strain of Westslope Cutthroat and not a hybrid is all that is important to the conservationists, than those streams need to be identified and protected from any man made intrusion. The next step would be to recognize that the balance of ES1 is a managed fishery resulting from introduced species. Cutthroats caught in many of these streams would needs to considered hybrids and of no significant contribution to an endangered trout population. The eastern slopes streams would be managed in the same way as the Bow River. That is, being given less priority with allocation of AEP staff commitment and financial resources. Is the fishing community prepared for this? From what has been commented on in this post, I believe the ability to catch hybrid trout in the foothills is fundamental to recreational fishing activity. This does not change the belief that a fishery should be closed for low flows and high temperatures to ensure sufficient number of fish survive to meet fishery sustainability.

Burning Chrome: Yes I did read the survey. Stream Flows are the immediate problem on all the creeks surveyed. And in most cases the temperatures we acceptable, but at what time of the day and were the locations protected from direct sunlight. If as the report says " the conditions are critical" for survival of a species at risk why is anyone considering fishing on these streams. Fishing within itself is stressful and regardless of the care taken with CnR, some fish will die. All these streams could do with enhancement of habitat, but it does not negate the need for more water.

There are many interesting comments in this post from a wide diversity of opinions. The rationale I have is that there are two components for the survival of the local trout fishery. Firstly the availability of cold water year round and secondly, conservation of the resources that aid in protection of habitat and the ecosystem. Although there is some overlap in these two components and the management model to sustain a viable fish population, one thing is clear, without adequate water supplies everything else is irrelevant. 2017 should give us a wake-up call. The Bow River is a managed fishery with a managed water supply controlled by agriculture and industrial use interests. Although the management model is problematic, water still flows down the Bow River and depending on ones own belief supports a viable trout population. But the foothill streams are a totally different ball park. Freestone streams and rivers are dependent on natural water flows and by the middle of July dependent on rain fall. Very little can be done to generate cold flowing water for theses streams in a drought year. Admittedly, logging in the watershed can impact water retention in the spring, allowing for higher flows during the summer months, but to what extent it would have help flows such as we have experienced this year is questionable. Bank stabilization, restricting OHV use, reduce logging and cattle intrusion into mountain streams are all long term benefits to the fishery, but may well have little impact on fish survival in low flow years. Therefore the only short term fix is to stop fishing in an attempt to reduce stress and aid in survival of the existing fishery.

Burning Chrome comment: "Do you think a 24 hour per day closure will stop poaching, land abuses, and logging? I have no issues with closures when the science supports it but you seem to want to close the mountain streams 11 months of the year based on your other posts. Show me the science that supports that. Maybe we should build a wall around the rivers. It'll be great, really really great. And yuge. And then make the fishermen pay for it." I'm not saying a 24 hour closure will solve all issues, but it is the only option that the provincial government has to reduce mortality considering the lack of staff on the ground. I'm sure the closure we are seeing in the SW corner of the province will help the fishery, but it was put in place to protect the forestry, public and private land not the fish.

Bron: This article you will find useful. Nothing is ever definitive with an article of this nature, but it will give some insight into the cumulative effects of temperature on various salmonoid species. The latter pages 90+ may be the most useful. https://bowrivertrout.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/epa-summarytempeffects.pdf

Any improvement in the fishery management by way of education, land use, policing poachers, restrictions to logging are not possible without manpower. Neither AEP or Conservation Officer law enforcement have the manpower needed. In additions voluntary closures as we have in place do little to curb fishing habits. Just because we wear a floppy hat, wear waders, attempt CnR and carry a thermometer does not override the fact the we need to stop fishing in the afternoons! The only recourse is to have a mandatory fish closure. There are many questions relating to hoot-owl closures that allow fishing from midnight to 2 PM. Fish that are stressed do not suddenly revive once the stress is removed. The only answer is a full closure - 24 hours per day for whatever time is needed. It was not too long ago when we had a seasonal closure on the Bow River - Nov 1 to May 30 if I remember correctly. The Bow River was truly a world class fishery at that time. We cannot claim the same now.

Instream bank mitigation upstream of the boat launch.

The survival of any species depends on the incidence of unplanned mortality or harvest equally as much as the environment it lives in. In this case the lack of fishery management itself is more than likely causing more gradation than can be accomplished with habitat enhancement or protection. AEP and possibly the feds have limited options given the economic time we live in. By limiting fishing opportunities by closures, less stress will be placed on the fish population, mortality will decrease and potentially an increase in reproductive success. The end result is a sustainable fishery.

AEP can impose a closure on any body of water and should have done so a month ago for the eastern slopes trout streams. But going back to 2015 when a 10 day closure of the Bow River was imposed, outfitters and shops were outraged. The whole fishing community needs to get behind fishery management and take some short term pain for the survival of the east slopes trout fishery.. As we move into the early fall with cooler nights we can expect to see a reluctance to impose river closures. But the question needs to be asked of the fishery managers just how damaging the combination of low flows, high water temperatures, the ever increasing fishing pressure, poor catch and release techniques, air exposure and carelessness in general has had on the trout population in 2017. The number of photos taken of fish nowadays is staggering and just how many fish need to be caught to have an enjoyable day on a foothill stream or river? Voluntary restrictions have done little to curb the current trend of self-indulgence in the fishery, therefore full closures of our fisheries are needed. It is my understanding that the government authorities believe that closures need to be regional and not localized to a specific stream or stretch of a river. Therefore, a total closure of ES1 would have been justified recently. Moving forward: should the foothill streams have a shorter season to protect anywhere there is a possibility for cutthroat trout to survive. Possibly 30 days?

If it wasn't for the dams we would not have the fishery as it is today. More control of the water release and storage capacity will stabilizes the flows in and downstream of Calgary. Even with the high snow pack in the mountains this year, the current water management policy could not hold back sufficient reserve to meet the current drought conditions. In other words, the dams upstream of Calgary are the lifeline for the Bow River fishery.

The provincial government is rolling out the recommendations of an expert committee for improvements to the Bow River water management. See attached link to the press release this morning: https://bowrivertrout.org/2017/08/11/bow-river-water-management-report/ Once implemented, the fishing community should see improvements in the management of the water resource that will hopefully lead to a better managed Bow River fishery.

The provincial government is rolling out the recommendations of an expert committee for improvements to the Bow River water management. See attached link to the press release this morning: https://bowrivertrout.org/2017/08/11/bow-river-water-management-report/ Once implemented, the fishing community should see improvements in the management of the water resource that will hopefully lead to a better managed Bow River fishery.

The following video illustrates just what Harvie Passage Low Flow Channel will look like when complete and open to the public in 2018 https://vimeo.com/228027822

https://bowrivertrout.org/2017/07/20/harvie-passage-instream-work-july-20-21-2017/ In addition to the Harvie Passage instream work reported in the above link, PLC will start to construct a berm on the west side of the Bow River downstream of Cushing Bridge as part of the new Bust Rapid Transit Bridge development. A similar berm was constructed on the east side of the river in April with little inconvenience to the fishing community. The following statement was received from the City of Calgary this afternoon: “While PCL will be beginning construction in the river tomorrow (Friday); we will have a team of fisheries biologists on site to conduct turbidity monitoring from a boat throughout the entire duration of the in-river work. The biologists will be making recommendations to the contractor throughout the day to maintain compliance with the Fisheries Act and the Water Act. This can include pauses in the river construction activities to minimize sedimentation of the river. This approach was employed for the east berm back in April, and with our due diligence we were able to complete the work within the CCME guidelines for the protection of aquatic life. DFO also visited our site and were impressed with our housekeeping practices and water quality” We trust that the same due diligence takes place this time around.

Although the powerboat restrictions within the city are what they are until government authorities make a change. The issue most of the angling community has revolves around irresponsible behaviour. What gets me is the speed of many boats within 30 meters of the bank. With a few exceptions, the law states: It is illegal to operate at greater than an unposted speed limit of 10 km/h (6 mph) within 30 metres (100 feet) of the shore lineThis does not grant power boat users the right to charge down the middle of the river at any speed they like. Safety of the public, protection of habitat and bank erosion are at stake here. As with "Report-a-Poacher", citizen action does get results and it is hoped that the same would be true with complaints on power boat infractions. But it may be impossible to enforce the current boating laws without a greater presence of city police and provincial conservation offices on the river.