Kananaskis Update

[Glenbow]

I just got off the phone with the biologist for the Kananaskis area and he had some good info. By 2013 Trans Alta is REQUIRED to dismantle the powerplant at Pocaterra (the boat launch side of the Lower K lake) and the fisheries folks are going to lobby to stabilize the Lower K lake & therefore the K river to enhance fish populations. All the study work is already done, and lake levels/fish populations etc has been settled on & figured out (to the best of their ability) - this has been a 10 year study. The hope is to allow the Lower K lake to become more productive & allow the Cutts to spawn in the K river which flows into lower K. Also, it would allow for greatly increased trout pops in the K river downstream & a dramatically improved fishery.

 

He also indicated that the fish in upper & lower K feed almost entirely on mysis shrimp & the occaisional chronie, and that they are stocking the upper this fall with 26,000 more cutts in the 25cm range.

 

He also said the bulls in the lower are the place they get all their eggs from for re-populating other waters including the upper K, and that around 1200 adult bulls spawn in the Smith-Dorrien in the fall. There are lots more bull trout in there in other age classes though, and that the bulls live somewhere between 13-17 years, whereas the rainbows & cutts are more in the 5-8 year range.

 

This means that soon there will not be any more rainbows in the upper or lower K lakes, once they are harvested or die of old age.

 

The cutts however will continue to be stocked in the upper K. There is no stocking of the Lower at all since a number of years ago, and there is no plan to do any stocking of it.

 

They will be netting the upper lake starting July 29th this year for about 1-2 weeks for pop studies, so anglers are encouraged to stop by & say hello & chat with any questions etc. The biologist's name is Brian Lajeunesse, and he is a very nice fellow.

 

He is going to send me some information on an article that they are getting published on Trans Alta's impact on the fisheries in our region (including the upper Bow), and when he does I will forward it on to you here. We will have the opportunity to probably help with the lobbying with a petition when the timing is most appropriate, and I would encourage all of us on this forum to at least have a look at it if not sign it.

 

I hope this info has helped some of you with your questions regarding the K lakes.

Glenbow

[Guest bigbadbrent]

cool stuff, those are going to be killer lakes with just cutties and bulls

[cheeler]

Did he mention how long it would take for the K river to recover after its stabilized?

[Nick0Danger]

I know for a FACT that lower K has a breeding population of rainbows how are they going to stop them from spawning?

[Glenbow]

He said that he can't confirm that the rainbows reproduce there, but he did say it is possible, and that it is far more likely that they come down into the lake from places like Pocaterra or Boulton. Either way, their numbers are nothing like what the Bull's pop is, and probably never would be. Remember, I am only relaying the info I got. You are free to contact Brian at:

 

brian.lajeunesse@gov.ab.ca

 

He did not say how long the K river recovery would take, but I didn't ask him either.

[reevesr1]

Could you imagine the K River being fishable? It'd be like golfing in Kananaskis. You would never want to leave!

[birchy]

So.. one of these next time out:

 

[Glenbow]

That's actually as awesome looking fly Birchy. That'd be the ticket, I'd bet.

[lonefisher]

I'd really like to see the rainbows stay.......... but thats for greedy reasons LOL.

 

I think you mean the k river flows out of the lower k right? Musta been a typo I assume. But that sounds like a great plan as I have been wishing the k river supported a better population of fish as thats a beauty of a river. Like BM said though insects seem to be fairly sparce on that river...... but who knows how the better regulation of the river would affect the insect life in the river...... I suppose a steady flow could allow for an increase in insect populations...... Not sure though.

 

I am interested to see their plan for the lower k as if they intend to remove that dam then they will have to have an outflow at a fixed height and they would have to keep a constant level in order to keep a flow in the river....... this could kill the good early season low water fishing conditions in the lakes and possibly make them harder to fish if they have the outflow at a high level. If they keep the outflow at a low level this could mean permanent low level fishing which I "think" would be killer. But I have a feeling the lake residents would not be happy to learn that their lakeside cabins are no longer right on the lake which would be the case if they kept the lake at the spring (low water) level. SO this said I bet they would keep the lake fairly high and possibly make bull trout fishing tougher......... but thats speculation maybe they would still be feeding shallow in the spring regardless of the water level....... Anyways it sounds good but its all in the details right?

My only real argument would be..... keep the bows and make em C&R as they seem to be trying to make a go of it in there and they are BIG........ The non native fish thing is a good arguement I suppose....... But if they are just gonna let em be AND stock cutts for the W&S crowd maybe the rainbows will keep their small niche and perhaps even flourish..... who knows......

 

Anyways Glen thanks for the info thats a great post

[Glenbow]

I know the K river flows out of the lower K, but Brian said into the upper K, so I thought there was some place that the K river flowed into the Lower, but he was probably mistaken & meant a different creek. The intended (proposed) level of the lake would be somewhere between low level (at ice-out) and summer, so probably not too unlike now (Or maybe a week ago). Again, he was reluctant with absolute specifics, but assured me that all the research has been completed & everything figured out & it's a matter of getting it done for a massive improvement in the fishery both in the lake & more noticeably in the river downstream. A constant lower lake level would allow for weed growth & the bugs would soon follow. Same for the river downstream. Today's constant twice-daily flushing of the K river prevents stable water & weed growth, which means few fish. A constant level in the river would allow for weeds to start, & allow the river to esablish itself structure wise etc.

[birchy]

That's actually as awesome looking fly Birchy. That'd be the ticket, I'd bet.

 

Now I just have to figure out where to find one. I don't tie.. found that one with my R&D tool - Google.

[Guest rusty]

Awesome info. Lower K and that river would be phenomenal fisheries if it were not for the hydroelectricity.

[monger]

The old K river channel actually flows into the very south end of lower K lake.

[Brownstone]

Hydro development is'nt bad, K lakes is just a bad place for it has a good vertical drop but not the flows needed..its retarded to have it where it is to rely on mountain run off to power it with a small reservoir..but because of hydro we have the lakes, the bow the way it is today, and many other great waters...

[maxwell]

sweet thanks for teh info glenbow

[Guest rusty]

Oh, I'm not slagging hydroelectricity in general - but if you look at the production from that area versus the loss of prime fishery, it's not an acceptable tradeoff. Just think of the Kananaskis River if there was actually stable flows, man - that's a lot of prime trout stream!

 

Don A always says that you can't create new trout streams - but in this case, I think we very well could.

[grannyknot]

Thanks for the info Glenbow. The Kananaskis river is a perfect example of mismanagement, and I curse TransAlta every time I pass by it. No one would be creating a new trout stream, but rather taking a step to return a stream to it's natural state. Glad to see they might FINALLY doing something about it. Please let us know what we can do to help when you know more.

[LynnF]

Gotta agree with Rusty here...if ever there was a river that could be turned into a great trout fishery, the K river is it. Wandered it a few kms some years back when I was doing a golf tournie up there and had an afternoon to spare. I couldn't believe there were no fish in it....it's just a gorgeous piece of water.

 

Thanks for posting Glenbow....good stuff.