Fishing After The Flood Your Predictions

[eagleflyfisher]

Checked police an hour ago, rip rap wall is still there but barely visible .

An unbelievable pile of trees, junk everywhere .

The road into the parking lot has about 40' of it left, no hope for it anymore .

Lets hope once we get through this mr. Cohos is in a good mood & sees fit to look at another launch in a more suitable area.

The main road @ the bottom is plowed out getting people back to there homes, the river has receded a small amount but still huge.

I was surprised that 150 yds up the road it's untouched by the flood simply because its a straight part of the river.

Checking several vantage points from police to carsland you guys aren't going to believe the new paths the river has taken.

[reevesr1]

I heard that SRD will be organising cleanups. I'll see if I can get info and report it here.

[Hawgstoppah]

another issue ... however minor it really may be considering so much loss and devastation... is the fact that there are thousands and thousands of pounds of mud and muck now deposited on Calgary streets. Fishing the Bow this year after it clears up, when it rains it will muddy up extremely quickly.

[flyfishy]

PMD's in the fall!

Tiny stuff behind

The logs yummy

[DougC]

Any update on Glenmore or Police launch?[/quote

 

I live in Riverbend and have been keeping a close eye around here. The Carburn pond closest to glenmore is completely wiped out and I would not be surprised at all if the new river channel, or at least a good part of it will now flow through where that pond was. There won't be any room on the east bank for a new launch, so a Glenmore area launch may be lost for good.

[Flash]

No boat launches, what will I do. I know, I'll walk 500 meters and have the river all to myself.

 

I predict that hatches will be sparse this year and to a lesser degree next year as well. That initially the trout that remain will be very hungry, hitting everything they see as the water begins to clear and coughing up gobs of washed-out earthworms as we land them. As the year goes on the pale, sand-blasted trout that remain will regain much of their former condition and vibrancy. The water will fall further in the late summer and early fall and as it does terrestrial fishing will become more important. And finally, following the complete loss of a year class of Rainbow Trout, reports of larger than usual trout will appear on this forum over the next three or four years and we will all marvel at the resiliency of nature as the river returns to glory. In short, the fish will survive, launches will be rebuilt and we will all have the pleasure of returning to rediscover and fish a different but familiar river.

 

As to the comments attempting to provide perspective regarding something as trivial as how flyfishing will be affected on the Bow River, by redirecting our attention to the loss of life and property associated with this natural disaster, who can disagree? However I must offer the following thoughts; many of us have spent a substantial portion of our lives on the Bow River, where we have found solstice and perspective enough to help us through both good times and bad, where we have played and grown from children to adults and where we have been entertained, employed and educated in all manner of things involving the both natural world and our fellow man. It stands to reason that we would be upset and concerned about a place that has played such a large role in making us who we are.

[Vagabond]

Well said Flash.

 

I read a comment in a topic here(can't find it now?)wherein somebody(?) predicted "epic" fishing in the not to distant future??

I wasn't here for the last flood,only in CGY for a few years now,but.......from what I've heard,we will lose a year class of trout....understandable.As for the "epic",trying to wrap my head around that?Is it because alot of bug life got washed away,and they will be less selective?Orrrr....for as much talk as there's been of fish being washed away,wouldn'tit be possible that just as many fish have been washed down INTO the Bow from all the mountain tribs??

[bcubed]

a lot of people consider pulling fish out of mud using 2lbs of lead, epic.... it's about perspective. I'll just be happy to float it soon. Guess i should get on redoing my fiberglass as it'll need it...

 

2005 was a godsend to the river with the weed infestation we had. We won't know what this does for a few years. Sadly a lot of the work that has gone into the river in the last few years may have had some serious damage. The fencing projects along the river, the rip-rap zones...we're going to have a significant change in our riparian zones. Won't have a ton of bank structure. Really, it's all going to be speculation until we get out there

 

 

Here's some great information regarding floods. http://www.oldmanbasin.org/pdfs/agm/agm_2006_rood.pdf

 

[FraserN]

The flood waters are subsiding up here in Bowness, and the river has changed significantly. Entire areas of structure have been wiped out, and the course of the river flow changed. It will be interesting to see what it looks like when water levels return to normal.

[Willshire59]

I hope the launch at 22x survives by the look of the pics i have seen of mac the river is in the overflow parking lot be interesting to see what happens when it goes down again. 2005 was a write for fishing but the years after where epic. See what happens this year.

[Sean84]

The 22x launch doesnt look that bad besides being underwater. The east side of the river took a good beating though.

[Tungsten]

If you look at the flows of Calgary +Highwood and the flows at Carseland it would appear that more then half of the flow is bypassing the weir.Not sure how they're going to fix that berm that gave away.

[WyomingGeorge]

Flash: That was a beautiful, almost poetic post. Well said.

 

One small observation about the speed with which fish adapt: fishing on an Elk tributary a few years ago, a stream running beneath two enormous coal mines, a road crew was installing rip-rap along a new bridge deck. There were small through large cutthroat situated in and feeding along boulders that had been placed only one hour before.

 

So I believe that on our beloved Bow, the fish will readily locate the newly created structure. Of course, the fish that have been killed or stranded, and I suspect there are many, won't be adapting, they'll simply be gone.

 

On balance, I'm with the optimists on this one: damage, but not annihilation, and signs of recovery by next year.

[Flash]

George you sweet-talker you!

 

See you down south again this fall. This time I'll bring my fly rod instead of my bird dog.

 

That was you wasn't it?

[soggysocks63]

Interesting article on the subject here. http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tec...tist-1.1339687

 

It's depressing to think of the Bow suffering the same fate as the Spray River. I'm going to remain optimistic and get out and check out some these areas and see what's new.

 

If Allen Bill pond was obliterated from existence as i heard I wonder how many other places share the same fate.

[troutlover]

Do you think that SRD will try to do fish recovery by electro shocking some of the stranded back waters? Thoughts anyone?

What would be the legalities of catching fish in the stranded back waters and transferring them back into the main river on my own?

[fishinglibin]

Good questions tl, especially the second. I think you have a great idea there, but as you said, is there a legal concern. Maybe the govt would ask a board like FFC to assist with catch and transfer back. I would be a part of that.

[ÜberFly]

TU does this with volunteers!

[bcubed]

technically it is illegal for you to transport live fish...if you get caught

[fishinglibin]

Isn't TU at the end of the fall, and if so that may be too late for the stranded back waters.

[yakfisher]

Sorry if I am asking this too soon, but I just landed in town from Ontario for a wedding and I am curious if there is anything within a 3 hour drive that is fishable? Thanks.

[bcubed]

Went and looked at policemens and glanced at 22 yesterday on the way back into town.

 

Policemens was more promising than i had thought it would, the grid where it connects to Bow River Bottom trail has survived, though the gravel section between the grid and bow bottom got beat up pretty good, it has a few trees that are going to have to be pushed off.

 

 

The upper berm held for the most part, however further down it had breached the berm. The berm at the parking lot may or may not have held, however there was definitely water coming over the top.

 

 

The parking lot is flooded and flowing, so i'd expect that it will be a mess, as with the launch itself. Further along the driveway into the launch the water was going over with some pretty good velocity. Impossible to tell what survived...hoping for the best, but it had a hell of a lot of flow.

 

[this is the road to the launch, the launch area would be just to the left of the photo]

 

Last year the water was close to the top of that berm when we were at 400 cms. Currently we're at ~770. Probably won't be able to see the real damage until we're back down to around 400.

 

22 looked like it survived half decently (could only see from 22x). The road down to the launch seemed intact, and with the amount of flow it didn't look like any trees got stuck in the launch like last year. However, the boat launch itself was fully underwater, so i'm sure it will be damaged. Will try to find more as i can.

[jarett39]

technically it is illegal for you to transport live fish...if you get caught

That is correct, however... Given the circumstances I really can't see anyone getting charged attempting to rescue stranded fish and releasing them back in the river (depending how its executed). That would create some bad PR if someone was charged... While not as high on the priority list as helping the people effected by the flood, saving the fish is a form of post flood recovery effort, and its well known how important the fishery is to Calgary and Alberta.

 

Unfortunately fish are not something most (people on forums like this excluded) feel an emotional attachment to. If a group of animals, even more so "cute ones" (I.E. bunny rabbits) was stranded on a small island with no resources as a result of the flood, people would want to help them. Trout stranded in some small pockets of water with no chance of survival, isn't something most would even be aware of.

 

You bring up a couple good points RBT, and I would be more then willing to volunteer for either scenario... If fisherman and those that use, and love the river don't who will... Of course I would contact the proper authority's such as SRD before attempting such an effort.

[reevesr1]

Sorry if someone has already posted this, but I walked down to the FC boat launch yesterday evening. Much of it is still flooded, but what I could see was in great (perfect actually) shape. The beaver living there seemed happy too.

[Jayhad]

I got my first opportunity to look at the Harvey Passage this morning, wow don't worry about having to go over the weir anymore, you can just take a channel around.... I hope to get some pictures as the day goes on.