Police Lake Regulations Review

[monger]

So for the last 3 years 30,000 triploids have been added and essentially no fish removed.

Growth rates are not great...

Maybe this year the stocking rate should be drastically reduced to give the invertebrates a chance to increase. There is already 90,000+ fish there so I don't think we need anymore to catch. We just need some more feed in the lake.

[dryfly]

monger...The fish we caught last year were fat..no indication of lack of food at all. There seems to be huge midge population..they probably have lots of feed. BUT ... we agree with you .. .I have suggested no stocking on 2011. We will discuss this more with TC. Last October, I wrote this to adc ... "MAYBE there should be no stocking in 2011 or at least another reduction to say 10,000 or so...."

 

Shall see.

 

Unfortunately growth rates have probably been affected by the colder-than-average temps the past two summers....maybe if we get a half-decent summer and another year of growth we will see more and more >50-cm fish in Police. We can only hope.

 

Nice letter Neil! Thanks.

 

Clive

[monger]

Good to hear you got some fat fish Clive. We should have some fish over 20 this year I guess. We probably really need an abundance of scuds to get some serious growth. The decreases in stocking should have helped the situation thus far, but I agree a few less fish stocked this year could only be a positive. The extra fish could be a gift to the meat crowd on the lake up the road.

 

Cheers, Rob

[Guest JayVee]

What's the river directly east of Police Outpost? I can't seem to find a label for it on GE. (sorry for the hijack)

[monger]

The river east of Highway 2?

[DonAndersen]

Guys,

 

From what I've been told, 2N rainbows last about 4.5 years and 3N's upwards of 6.

So in 2007, 133,000 were stocked of 2N

And in 2008 50,000 were stocked of 2N

With 2009 having 43,000 stocked of 3N

And 2010 is @ 30,000 of 3N

 

This means that 256,000 fish are alive today if there were no kill by this and that. Better growth should be realized in 2011 and 2012 as the horde of the tiddlers die.

 

I know from previous experience that Police only raised larger fish after a winter kill which got rid of the trout and allowed the bugs to increase. I've caught rainbows well over 6 lbs. out of there. What is really unfortunate is that 133,000 were stocked in 2007 and no winterkill happened.

 

Don

[ham]

Done.

[adc]

Guys,

 

From what I've been told, 2N rainbows last about 4.5 years and 3N's upwards of 6.

So in 2007, 133,000 were stocked of 2N

And in 2008 50,000 were stocked of 2N

With 2009 having 43,000 stocked of 3N

And 2010 is @ 30,000 of 3N

 

This means that 256,000 fish are alive today if there were no kill by this and that. Better growth should be realized in 2011 and 2012 as the horde of the tiddlers die.

 

I know from previous experience that Police only raised larger fish after a winter kill which got rid of the trout and allowed the bugs to increase. I've caught rainbows well over 6 lbs. out of there. What is really unfortunate is that 133,000 were stocked in 2007 and no winterkill happened.

 

Don

 

Simple math Don but a bit flawed...........First, estimates are that when stocking fry or even fingerlings, mortality due to birds, fish, a changed environment and other critters is about 75-90%......We also know that there has been and will continue to be some poaching and there is hooking mortality, whether we want to admit it or not, by the C&R fraternity..........There were also a number of "legal" fish killed over the last 3 years.............Sooooooooo, while I agree that once the population stabilizes at a level that allows reasonable annual growth and the stocking rate is appropriate (I neither I nor the bio's know what that number should be) the fishery will continue to evolve.........The key is, to keep the existing regs and allow that evolution which is why everyone needs to cast their VOTE!!

[DonAndersen]

Alan,

 

- No flaw in the math - As I pointed out in the line "This means that 256,000 fish are alive today if there were no kill by this and that."

 

Like you, I have no idea how many are killed by whatever but certainly there are some. When I organized and ran the fish caging experiment well over 25 years ago, we found a difference of 20% between those fish held in cages for 2 weeks and those allowed to be shoveled down by the loons. Last time I was @ Police I didn't see any loons but the cormorants/pelicans were having a field day.

 

What is important however is that the large numbers of fish are gonna be dying and the big life will increase as will the fish size. It is really too bad that the fish stocking were not lower early on which would have increased the bug life and realized a fishery where some decent fish survive. Either that or a winter kill that used to get Police Outpost raising decent sized trout.

 

At any rate, here's hoping that Police gets to show it's potential. I've had days there when more than 10 fish were landed over 5 lbs. The following year, one nearly 8 lbs.

 

 

Life was good - lets hope we get back there.

 

 

 

Don

 

 

[regdunlop]

Done

[adc]

Had to bring this thread back to the top of the page..........Things are heating up a bit here in Lethbridge (unfortunately not weather-wise) with a recent letter to the editor in the local rag which basically suggests that the Quality Fishery reg's on Police Lake are just one step towards privatization by the elite fly-fishers and encouraging everyone and their family, whether they fish or not, to vote to have the old reg's re-instated........As well, a letter to one of the TU Chapter directors here stated that with the change in regulations at Police he has been "basically shut out of a fishing paradise I have enjoyed since the sixties and the resentment I feel knows no bounds."........While I don't propose to understand what goes on in the minds of folk to make them think this way I can only say that it is IMPERATIVE THAT ALL WHO WANT TO SEE THE MOVE TO MORE CHOICE FOR ANGLERS AND THE NEED FOR MORE QUALITY FISHERIES NEED TO VOTE!!........Please email Terry and cast your vote if you haven't already and please ensure that any who may not be on this Board are aware of the need to vote........