jstelfox Posted May 31, 2011 Posted May 31, 2011 Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Just got a call this evening from Jim Rennels, who was at Bear Pond today, and he reported seeing lots of dead fish along the shore. No sign of any live fish, so it appears that it has been a complete winterkill. Most of the fish appeared to be relatively fresh, suggesting that they died fairly recently, likely succumbing to the combined effects of the delayed ice-off and heavier-than-normal snow fall this winter. This is only the second time that Bear Pond has winterkilled since it was first stocked with Arctic grayling in 1985. The last winterkill occurred in 1995, so we have been lucky to get 13 years without any winterkill after it was restocked in 1997. I'm hopeful that the grayling in Big Iron Lake made it, since there was no sign of any dead fish in the 20% that was ice-free when I was there a couple of weeks ago to replace the creel survey box. In the meantime, Wedge Pond and Quarry Lake are your best bets for Arctic grayling fishing in the Calgary area. They have never winterkilled. Jim Quote
hydroman Posted May 31, 2011 Posted May 31, 2011 Jim, Too bad for Bear. Do you know if the ice is off Wedge? Thanks, Garry Quote
Hawgstoppah Posted May 31, 2011 Posted May 31, 2011 Thats awful. Bear was one place to go where you could pretty much count on getting into a grayling or two. Wedge / Quarry are a bit more difficult... fish seem a bit more sophisticated or else they just like eating micro flies, either or... Quote
Guest Sundancefisher Posted May 31, 2011 Posted May 31, 2011 that is a real shame. when are you going to need volunteers to help collect grayling eggs? Quote
Taco Posted May 31, 2011 Posted May 31, 2011 Too bad, methinks there may be a pond or two more around that's got it this spring. Oh well there may be some Montana fluvials around with the high runoff if I feel the need to get some thyme smell on my hands. Quote
SilverDoctor Posted May 31, 2011 Posted May 31, 2011 Sad to hear, there are few enough places for grayling close to Calgary. I usually get out there a coupe times a year. Quote
kentan Posted June 1, 2011 Posted June 1, 2011 Jim, Too bad for Bear. Do you know if the ice is off Wedge? Thanks, Garry Wedge is ice free, didnt fish it but was by there on Sunday, man is there alot of snow in Peter Lougheed Park. To bad about Bear, only went up there the once but it was awesome. Got a few 17" Grayling that day and a ton of smaller ones. Quote
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