Breaking: List Of Closures

[bigbowtrout]

They should have closed all the Southern rivers. The pressure the remaining opened rivers will get will be crazy and do more harm then good.

 

And think of all the lost trips the guides are going to have. Can they apply for assistance? Might be a good time to look into forming an association.

[SkwalaStonefly]

as much as it sucks its about time! now its time to head further north to central ab with these bans

 

No one should even think about streams like the DogPound, Fallentimber or Little Red Deer. They are not fed by snow pack and are extremely low. I have not been out that way to check temperatures in a month but they are likely warmer than the mountain streams and they should have been closed a long time ago. I don't know what things are like further north, but any river whose source is in the foothills rather than the fed by melting snow or glaciers is going to be very low and warm.

[RedBeard]

No one should even think about streams like the DogPound, Fallentimber or Little Red Deer. They are not fed by snow pack and are extremely low. I have not been out that way to check temperatures in a month but they are likely warmer than the mountain streams and they should have been closed a long time ago. I don't know what things are like further north, but any river whose source is in the foothills rather than the fed by melting snow or glaciers is going to be very low and warm.

 

Yes, a month ago FT was 20°C and LRDR was 24°C

[ÜberFly]

Yikes!!

 

Yes, a month ago FT was 20°C and LRDR was 24°C

[RedBeard]

Related, but unrelated. Anyone want to help me wrangle some elusive Alberta carp?

[fishinglibin]

Sorry for guides and clients but good.Should close Old man and Crow too.

[jpinkster]

Sorry for guides and clients but good.Should close Old man and Crow too.

Big time, the pressure on the Crow-Oldman-Livingstone is going to be stupid. Closing some just hurts others.

[Vagabond]

Are these closures unprecedented,or have they closed the Bow in years past?

[BurningChrome]

Are these closures unprecedented,or have they closed the Bow in years past?

First time I'm aware of in 20+ years of fishing it.

[BurningChrome]

I sent out some info on the closure from Councillor Keating's FB page earlier. Nenshi is away for all of August, so I highly doubt he has his finger on the pulse. If I see his Chief of Staff in the hallway I'll ask him about this.

Got a reply from Daorcey:

https://twitter.com/Daorcey/status/631182428552335360

[jpinkster]

I'd be really interested to see the economic figures of the closures impact. What's the contribution to the local economy made from guides, etc? How much is the government having to spend on the closure? Obviously this will translate to longer term payoff, but the short term stuff is still interesting to look at.

[Smitty]

No one should even think about streams like the DogPound, Fallentimber or Little Red Deer. They are not fed by snow pack and are extremely low. I have not been out that way to check temperatures in a month but they are likely warmer than the mountain streams and they should have been closed a long time ago. I don't know what things are like further north, but any river whose source is in the foothills rather than the fed by melting snow or glaciers is going to be very low and warm.

 

Ditto for the Edmonton area; Freeman, Berland, Embarrass have 1 to 2+ std deviations off the quartiles for low flows. They had the same issues as everywhere else; low snowpack and only some modest recent rain. Plus many of those foothill muskeg watersheds have no cold glacial sources. None. Those grayling and Athabasca rainbows should be left alone. There is no relief up north.

 

I'll be heading back through southern Alberta coming from fishing with Rickr in BC this weekend. I'll be sure to keep updated with the flows and closures. I have one good relationship with a landowner down there on one of the major rivers I was planning to fish in AB, but I just may have to find alternate plans. I was in Waterton last weekend, couldn't believe how low it was, ditto for the Castle.

 

We all saw this coming with the above average spring fishing due to low flows. No one should be surprised by this (at least not on this board).

 

Guess we'll fish for carp, pike, walleye, lake whitefish, goldeye. Whatever. Or just paint the fence. Won't be long before cool fall weather comes and provides relief.

[Tpetey]

Maybe next year the brain trust will leave some water in the reservoirs over the spring instead of emptying them out and refilling with the rain that they hope will fall.

[jpinkster]

Maybe next year the brain trust will leave some water in the reservoirs over the spring instead of emptying them out and refilling with the rain that they hope will fall.

I'm not convinced this would have made a huge difference this year. The snow pack was so minimal and even our runoff was laughable at best. Just a bad year.

[BurningChrome]

I'm not convinced this would have made a huge difference this year. The snow pack was so minimal and even our runoff was laughable at best. Just a bad year.

I think the "runoff" we saw was just TransAlta lowering the reservoir the 2 metres they were ordered to.

[bcubed]

So weird that it seems the list changed already. No mention of Gorge or Threepoint anymore, and no more 'tributaries' when it comes to the Sheep or Highwood. Seriously confusing

[northfork]

No one should even think about streams like the DogPound, Fallentimber or Little Red Deer. They are not fed by snow pack and are extremely low. I have not been out that way to check temperatures in a month but they are likely warmer than the mountain streams and they should have been closed a long time ago. I don't know what things are like further north, but any river whose source is in the foothills rather than the fed by melting snow or glaciers is going to be very low and warm.

 

It's the same on everything further north, Clearwater, Prairie, Ravens, etc. Even our cutthroat streams are approaching high teens. Close down ES1 and ES2 completely.

[jpinkster]

Here's the most up to date list that I could find:

Effective August 11, 2015 the following waters have been closed to all fishing; due to high water temperatures, until further notice:

1. Sheep River from headwaters to Highwood River;
2. Highwood River from headwaters to Bow River;
3. St. Mary River, downstream of the St. Mary Reservoir and tributaries;
4. Belly River, downstream of Secondary Road 800;
5. Bow River from Bearspaw Reservoir to the W.H.D. Weir;
6. Bow River from W.H.D Weir to the Carseland Weir;
7. Bow River from Carseland Weir to Highway 24 bridge;
8. Bow River from Highway 24 bridge downstream to Bassano Dam; and
9. Elbow River from Glenmore Reservoir to the Bow River confluence.

 

The following areas are not yet closed, but we are asking people to carefully monitor and use safe handling practices for the following as well:

1. Castle River and tributaries from Highway 3 upstream to Westcastle River;
2. Oldman River from Racehorse Creek downstream to Oldman Reservoir; and from Highway 2 near Fort Macleod downstream to Secondary Road 509;
3. Crowsnest River from Crowsnest Lake downstream to Oldman Reservoir;
4. Belly River, downstream of Secondary Road 800;
5. Waterton River, downstream of Waterton Reservoir;
6. Waterton River, upstream of the Waterton Reservoir including tributaries; and
7. St. Mary River upstream, of the St. Mary Reservoir, including Lee Creek.

The fact that tributaries are not explicitly included is worrisome. Those skinny tribs (Jumpingpound, Gorge, etc) are in worse condition than the major rivers right now.

[jgib01]

I'd be curious what a straw poll would say about folks who were not planning to venture out to the places listed under "not yet closed", but are now considering doing so because of closures of their regular beats. Smokin hot down south for the next few days... mid 30's in Lethbridge and pushing 30 in the mountain areas. I was getting surface temps on the Crow this past weekend around 17-18C, so can only imagine what another week of hot weather and no rain will do there. Think I will put the gear away pending the cooler weather (and hopefully a tiny bit of rain) that's supposed to be on our way.

[bcubed]

I'm sure you'll get lots of people saying they won't go, but those places will be a zoo this weekend. I kind of suspect that the only reason they're not closed, is that AEP didn't/doesn't have the data in place (temp. loggers, etc) in time to do it in a defendable manner.

[jgib01]

How about using logic as a defence?

[bcubed]

Logic would be a great defense, but how well has that worked for the southern streams and ATV use, logging, etc

[somereddeerguy]

Just to be clear I ment bring the bans to central AB, not head there to fish. Our streams have been too warm since before brown drakes in early June.

[jgib01]

Logic would be a great defense, but how well has that worked for the southern streams and ATV use, logging, etc

 

I think what your referring to there is a lack of logic and common sense. Don't crush my last remaining shred of hope

[FraserN]

I don't understand why they don't close all flowing waters in ES1. Closing the Sheep and highwood, and not the Crowsnest and Oldman doesn't make sense. The temperatures on those Southern rivers must be equally high.