My Hunt For Brookies..

[Pipestoneflyguy]

Mcleod - anytime just PM well in advance

 

PS - hey Birchy - Emerald Lake Opening night - you'll hear the occaisonal zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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..that means a brookie is on the line LOL

 

Last couple years have had great surface hatch on opening evening....biggest hook-ups usually feature the mottled dorsal you seek...

[birchy]

Mcleod - anytime just PM well in advance

 

PS - hey Birchy - Emerald Lake Opening night - you'll hear the occaisonal zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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..that means a brookie is on the line LOL

 

Last couple years have had great surface hatch on opening evening....biggest hook-ups usually feature the mottled dorsal you seek...

 

Can't wait!

 

Gets me thinking.. how do brookies compare to bull's when it comes to the fight? I've heard that bull trout are the hardest fighting trout, but I've heard lots about the brookies too!

[McLeod]

Interesting discussion for sure - I could go on for hours with practical pros and cons but for now its nice to see folks thinking through the angles anyway.

 

I sent an email to the LLYK Chief Park Warden two years ago posing a difficult question - (considering the Parks mandate which is to preserve the "naturally" occuring environment) - At which point does something un-naturally introduced to the park environment become a park asset as a result of its historical and/or cultural value ?

 

For example - it is illegal to remove artifacts (early CP stirling silver plates, forks etc etc) from the old buried dumpsite behind the Banff Springs hotel because those items existence is interpreted as being of cultural and historical value, irregardless of the fact there is nothing natural about how they were introduced to the Park.

 

Can the same argument be posed regarding Brookies - what quantifyers would be applied to measure the fishes historical and cultural value to the Park ? At which point does it's cultural and historical signifigance outweigh the fact it was un-naturally introduced in terms of it's value assesment ? (is it a measure of potential impact on naturally existing elements that defines it's status ?)

 

Why is a car driven by a Park Warden in the 30's that was left abandoned considered trash and subject to removal from the Park, meanwhile the cabin it is parked beside is protected from tampering or removal under threat of criminal prosecution, despite also being introduced (built) in the 30's

 

Anyway it is questions like these that befuddle the "powers that be" which is likely why the keep two fish rule for brookies and other non-native is such a "middle of the road" wishy-washy position for the Park to take. The solution must be proceeded by the resolution of the cultural vs natural question which is very hard to define in an organization which has a mandate which is somewhat self contradictory. The mandate - "To protect the natural environment vs., for the enjoyment of Canadians" is in itself an enigma. makes for good fireside chat though.

 

When you consider one of the Park's recent inititives, which is a system-wide eradication using poisoning to recreate a truly natural area for purposes like examining the effect of global warming and studying that water system in its truly natural state, lends itself to a more proactive approach, the debate continues, but with real consequences in the balance. Still haven't figured where I sit on this one, luckily I am nothing more than an interested observer, so the burden of these decisions rest with experts not us (luckily the Park is big into public forums and collecting imput so if I did have a formed opinion I know it would at minimum be heard by the powers that be)

 

 

Excellent insight ..well though out and some great points.

Are you able to hook up on June 30th ?

[Pipestoneflyguy]

Thanks - I try not to ramble too much anyway LOL - 30th you bet, thats fly fisher xmas morning in these parts !

 

30th sounds great - tradition for me to hit Emerald in the evening but we can discuss - the back beach can be a little crowded so I bring my pontoon - I have a belly boat if you want to use it, or I also have a canoe if Birchy or anyone else wants to come along.

 

If you want to overnight usually some awesome small alpine lake action the following morning (Sun) but a belly boat is pretty well mandatory for the one I am thinking of (We code named Sushi Log) usually an decent morning hatch happening that time of year.

 

we'll chat when we get closer.

[cdock]

I once spoke with a biologist about why the limit is only two for the brook trout in places where they are causing so much trouble, and he told me that it has to do with people's ability to identify the trout. Not only do people have difficulty differentiating between brookies and bulls, but a lot of anglers can't tell the difference between brookies and cutts. The problem with increasing the limit is that it would increase the chances of people keeping the fish that the regulations are trying to protect.

 

One example I was given about the inability to identify trout was when Fish and Wildlife was considering the idea of implementing a fish ID test in order to get your license or at least a special harvesting license to help clear out invasive species. As an example, they gave all wardens in the Alberta a test that covered all the salmonids in Alberta. Not one of the wardens was able to correctly identify all of the fish on the test. An additional problem with trying to implement this test is that no where in North America requires you to write an exam to get a fishing license, therefore it would be very difficult to pass through government.

 

I know the test. I've been given it stream side. Did very well. Only screwed up on the Lake Trout simply cause I've never caught one nor even knew about them. This was in like 1998 when I first moved to Cowtown. Only been stopped 3 times since that first one. So 4 stops in 9 years. And 3 of them were in the last 2 years.

[Pipestoneflyguy]

Not sure if this has been posted on the new site so here it is again.

 

This is the fish identification test provided on the sustainable resources web site - even the Park Wardens use this as a learning resource.

 

I try to do it a couple times a year just to keep up to speed on those species I never catch - good review even for the pros

 

http://www.srd.gov.ab.ca/fishwildlife/fish...quizcentre.aspx

[lonefisher]

yeah that test isn't so simple It got me with 2 last time I took it. The juve bull and the first rmw I called him a lakewhitefish...... Just took it again only 1 wrong and the whitefish got me again....... but other then that 95%

[Glenbow]

Lone, that sure beats the 10% you got the first time! Ever since you caught that sucker in the Crow & thought it was a bull trout, I've had to wonder. I can't believe you ate that thing.

[SanJuanWorm]

Quick brookies. Travel on highway 8 out toward bragg creek. Stop at bridge over elbow. Fish the left side of the bridge as you are heading out of town. Bunch of wood poles stickin up. I pulled 18 small brookies out of there one day. And by small i mean SMALL. Still fun.

[BlueNorther]

The Little Elbow can produce a lot of brookies too.You'll catch lots of small ones before you get a big one but I've taken some decent ones of of there.