Fish And Floods

[murray]

I came across this article that talks about trout survival and health after a flood event. It specifically deals with flooding in the East but I think the same thing applies here. If nothing else, it's an interesting read.

 

http://www.orvis.com/news/fly-fishing/Survival-After-the-Floods/

 

Murray

[DaveJensen]

That's a good link so folks can understand what happens. But it's not so positive for all species. Drift dives in NZ this past year's massive flooding showed that many rivers had been washed for browns (likely downstream or mortality) while other rivers showed that trout abandoned the shoulders of rivers in favour of the deepest pools, where they remained through last season. Further, talking brown trout in an unstable, shingly river that is similar to several central Alberta brown trout streams: be sure to read the full paragraph of the abstract. The full text is interesting. It's not a stand alone either as there have been a few other such reports that show the same thing.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1577/T08-148.1

It's really a stream by stream thing and while everyone seems to wants to highlight the benefits and habitat improvements from this year's flood, we have to be very careful we don't ignore the frequency of these events as cumulative impacts of such floods/drought seriously limits a population as shown in the link. Also, we have to look at habitat as it pertains to all life stages and examine whether or not things have truly been 'improved'. You can have enough spawning habitat that trout could shag every day of the week for 10 years but if the wintering habitat is diminished the carrying capacity goes way down. That's life in a trout stream in Alberta.

[murray]

You make some good points Dave, particularly in regards to the increasing frequency of major flooding events.

 

Murray

[albertatrout]

Another phenomena I've noticed in Alberta is floods leading to more quad degradation. I went to watch the "running of the bulls" a few weeks ago and noticed the popular recreational trails were badly damaged. I'm not sure how few brain cells quaders possess but instead of leaving the area they are now using the creeks to bypass the washout areas. Two class A creeks have been badly damaged by the heavy traffic this summer and I couldn't even see one redd remaining or adult fish still hanging out in the smaller creek. The one stretch which is now the main trail had redds over the past 3 years while the other stretch is known as one of the most important spawning areas in the McLeod River drainage. Similar phenomena up by Grande Cache this year too, very discouraging and something that nature cant really prepare for. This is the third major flood in that area over the past five years as well, we could use a stretch of calm weather again. I am beginning to see a pattern of major floods and quads using streams though, hopefully SRD steps in.

[Sean84]

Another phenomena I've noticed in Alberta is floods leading to more quad degradation. I went to watch the "running of the bulls" a few weeks ago and noticed the popular recreational trails were badly damaged. I'm not sure how few brain cells quaders possess but instead of leaving the area they are now using the creeks to bypass the washout areas. Two class A creeks have been badly damaged by the heavy traffic this summer and I couldn't even see one redd remaining or adult fish still hanging out in the smaller creek. The one stretch which is now the main trail had redds over the past 3 years while the other stretch is known as one of the most important spawning areas in the McLeod River drainage. Similar phenomena up by Grande Cache this year too, very discouraging and something that nature cant really prepare for. This is the third major flood in that area over the past five years as well, we could use a stretch of calm weather again. I am beginning to see a pattern of major floods and quads using streams though, hopefully SRD steps in.

 

Ive noticed the same. Might have somthing to do with the vast open areas beside the creeks and rivers that were created by the floods.

 

I have also never had more encounters with COs then any other year. And in some places that actully startled me since i have almost never seen another person in some of these places. Which is a good thing. So hopfully they cracked down on irresponsible quaders as well.

[FraserN]

A good read. It is rather fascinating: the differential mortality on fish species a severe flood event can have. On the Bow river in NW Calgary, I noticed numbers of large dead brown trout after the recent flooding. In over 20 trips I only caught 4 brown trout, which was more than some capable flyfishermen, who got none. The rainbows, on the other hand, faired well. I got more bigger (16"+)rainbows this season than in several years combined. And they all were in good shape. Being originally a California steelhead stock made these rainbows far more capable of handling the massive torrent, than the browns, which appear to have taken a very substantial reduction in numbers.