Current State of Red Deer R Browns?

[Smitty]

Just fished below the Dickson dam (twice) for the first time in the past couple of weeks. Interesting fishery, to be sure! Didn't think I'd be hooking and landing Lake whites, let alone walleye, though I know walleye are the "in" thing of the past few years in fly-fishing circles.

No brown trout, but I certainly wasn't disappointed. Like I said, quite the variety of species!

But here's a question from the RDR newbie. Atlas of Alberta Lakes states construction of the Dickson Dam began in 1980, reservoir started filling in '83. Let's call it 35 years, give or take.
So, for the more knowledgeable out there, what's your opinion of the Red Deer river fishery, especially as it relates to the brown trout population? My impression is that the prevalance of pike and walleye are impacting the brown population negatively. No, that's not stemming from my own personal lack of success, just from talking to people. Seems like there was a golden age in the late 90's / early 2000's in terms of populations numbers and sizes. Tales of the 30 inch browns...

...no doubt some big browns are in there still, but it just seems the fishery has changed from a semi-reliable brown trout destination to a well rounded, who knows what's on your line type of destination. But, that's just an impression based on a few outings and conversations...

Thoughts?

Smitty

[scel]

I grew up in Red Deer.  I watched the RDR change over my lifetime.   I must admit, however, that I did not fish it when it was in its brown trout prime.  As a teenager in the late 80s, it was possible to catch walleye, pike, goldeye, whitefish, and rainbow trout (yes, rainbow trout) in the city section.  So, as long as I can remember, unless you were very specific (like bottom bouncing a sz16 fly tipped with a maggot for whitefish or chucking a big red devil for pike), at least to me, it has always been a piscatorial roulette.  Oh, the things a kid could catch with a small panther martin spinner!

I had not fished the RDR since 1992.  I took up fly fishing about 12 years ago.  I immediately started fishing the RDR, mostly for whitefish and goldeye, as a homage to my childhood.  I remember the first brown trout that I caught.  I had a WTF moment.  I was expecting to set the hook on a 12" whitefish, but was actually a 24" brown trout.  Since then, I have caught a steady 1 or 2 per year in an average of 4 or 5 outings per year.  They do not live in your typical brown trout lies---those places are occupied by walleye.  They live with the whitefish---kind of like a herd of house cats living with a lion.

There is no doubt the brown trout population is in a tenuous balance with all the other species.  The brown trout fry have a gulag/gauntlet to run to outsize the walleye, but if they can make it to 12", really, they only have the pike to worry about, and a big brown trout predator has a veritable cornucopia of food sources.

They are very wiley; they would have to be to survive in the chaos of the RDR.  But if you can catch one, they really are an archetype of the species---very beautiful.

[Sage]

scel....great, well considered reply!

[northfork]

To echo what scel said I grew up fishing the tailwater too. I was fortunate enough to catch a few donkies in the last ten years even but the consensus is that the original monsters have died off. The good news is there is a great crop of 8-16" browns. Sure the coarse fish may be impacting the brown trout negatively but as stated, the few browns have found a way. Unfortunatrely as the prussian carp advance further and further upstream I think we're going to see detrimental effects on the native and "wild" brown trout.

 

Guys like sanky on here spend a lot more time there now than I do and can chime in with more information.

[jjthom2]

I’ve seen the (trout) fishing ebb and flow over the last 15 years.  It’s a fishery that is at the mercy of the dam operators.  The biomass in suckers alone is astonishing which would indicate there’s lots of room for species higher up the food chain but I think irregular flows and the lack new of woody debris habitat in the tailwater aren’t helping the browns.

if you want to fish for walley/pike/Goldeye it’s as good as any river that far east (for now).