Moving To Calgary Soon, Need Some Info

[gheart008]

Hey guys,

 

I just wanted to post this so that people could correct me if I'm wrong or give me some advice/pointers. The worst thing I want to do is violate regulations that I don't know about or that I mis-interpreted.

 

I'll be moving to Calgary from BC sometime next year so I'd thought I'd start looking into places to go fishing in my uboat. I fish quite a bit on local lakes here in BC and would like to do the same after I move to Calgary.

 

From poking around these forums, I've heard that these lakes are good for fishing for trout, all within 30 minutes driving distance from where I'll be located:

 

Arbour Lake

McKenzie Lake

Lake Chaparral

Bonaventure Lake

Lake Bonavista

 

I started looking around for Alberta regulations, and here's the major points I've come across:

 

1) Alberta is split into multiple regions, and all the lakes listed above are in region "Eastern Slope Zone 1 (ES1)". My fishing on local lakes will probably stay within this area to begin with so I'll be looking into specific regulations for this region.

 

2) I can only use barbless hooks. http://www.albertaregulations.ca/fishingre...ingrestrictions

 

3) Alberta has a fish stocking program, and all the bodies of water that are stocked can be found here: http://www.albertaregulations.ca/fishingre...h-stocking.html

 

4) I must purchase the alberta fishing license as well as the WIN card.

 

Questions

 

1) Is everything I said correct so far? If not, please correct me.

 

2) From the list of stocked lakes from the link provided above, I can't seem to find the locations of any of them. Can anyone direct me to a link showing where all these lakes/ponds are?

 

3) How clean are the waters in the lakes in Alberta, especially the ones I've listed so far? Clean enough to eat without worrying?

 

4) For the lakes I mentioned above, how come I can't find them as being part of zone ES1? I thought maybe it was PP1 but I couldn't find it in there either. http://www.albertaregulations.ca/fishingregs/es1.html

 

5) Is there a site that shows stocking reports of when the lakes are stocked, and updated on a regular basis?

 

 

Thanks in advance. Can't wait to try out some fishing in Alberta.

[headscan]

Arbour Lake is man-made and stocked annually. You can only access it if you're a resident of that community or go as a guest of a resident. I'm pretty certain the same is true for the rest of the lakes on your list. That's probably why they aren't listed in the regs since they're private or semi-private and each one probably has its own regs.

[Harps]

Like mentioned above, the lakes listed as stocked are those stocked by the provincial gov`t for fishing... not those stocked privately.

Lakes and fish in them are fairly clean, but there are guidelines in the fishing regulations. Stocked fish are often fine, because they have a limited life in the environment... but I`d avoid eating from new reservoirs; often there is mercury leaching out of the soil that enters the food chain.

 

Lakes in the Regs are listed by their legal locations.

 

You can convert those numbers (1-27-1-W5) into UTM or Lat/longs if you like at this web site:

http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/GIS/conversion_tools.shtml

 

Th numbers are written like this:

Airdre Pond

Section 1

Township 27

Range 1

West of the 5th Meridian

(1-27-1-W5)

Sometimes you'll see a direction (NW) at the front, which indicated the object you're looking for is in the northwest quarter of the section.

 

 

Make sure you read through the Regulation book when you get your licence. Its easier than most provinces, but ignorance of the regulations is no excuse.

 

Welcome to Alberta, and enjoy the fishing responsibly!!

[Guest Sundancefisher]

Arbour Lake

McKenzie Lake

Lake Chaparral

Bonaventure Lake

Lake Bonavista

 

Are all private lakes in Calgary city limits. You need to be a resident or guest to get carded in. There are people on the board that if you get to know them you can get in as a guest.

 

If you love fishing...the last four are great...second last one is super private...first one is the smallest in the city.

 

Sun

[BlueNorther]

Best thing you can do is pick up a copy of Barry Mitchell's Alberta Fishing Guide,available at any sporting goods outlet,Walmart,Can. Tire.Then supplement that with the Backroads Maps of Alberta and you'll find all the available water you want to fish.

 

As far as clean water,there's not a lake that I fish that I wouldn't eat a fish from.

[bhurt]

Well I live in Lake Bonavista and thefishing in that lake (private) is okay, big fish but dumb as hell and for the most half are all "MARSHMELLOW" trout, which means they will eat just about anything that lands infront of them.

 

I do have acess to Bonaventure Lake and is okay at times but out of the two I would pick Bonavista, but like Sundancer said, you need to live in the community to get into Lake Bonavista and to get into Bonaventure Lake you either need to live on the lake or very near.

 

Never fished the other lakes but why would you if you have the Bow so close. Since I have started fishing the Bow three years ago I just can't see myself fishing Bonavista or Bonaventure anytime soon.

[ham]

Ya if your looking for lakes your going to have to venture out of the city, all the ones you listed are lakes within communities inside the city limits which are all private so unless you know someone who lives in those comunities you cant just waltz in and fish it. Theres lots of decent ponds and lakes not far outside of the city if you do a little looking.

[LynnF]

My husband lived in Kamloops for 13 years (B.C. his whole life) and knew nothing but lake fishing when he left there. He taught himself (and me) how to fish rivers and, quite honestly, he's told me that fishing lakes for him now doesn't hold the same appeal or challenge.

 

My advice to you upon your move to our fair province? Put away your Uboat for a bit and explore some of the finest rivers you'll ever fish. That's what we do here in Alberta and it's a blast! Besides...you got lots of folks on this board who'd be willing to show ya the ropes. You won't regret considering it - trust me

[Conor]

I agree with Lynn. The Bow is one of the best trout rivers in the world. Moving to Calgary and only fishing lakes would be like moving to Kamloops and only fishing rivers.

 

There is some good lake fishing to be had. 1 to 2 hrs west of Calgary are a load of excellent medium to high altitude lakes with quality fish. Grab a copy of the Alberta Fishing Guide Mag, a backroads map book and a highlighter and have fun planing your season.

[gheart008]

Wow thanks guys for all the great info so far. I would have never know that the lakes I listed are all private. Guess that's out of the question.

 

I agree with everyone that the Bow river is great for fishing, but I do also enjoy floating around on a lake early in the morning as I find it quite relaxing.

 

I definitely pick up the magazine that everyone is mentioning when I get to Calgary so thanks for that suggestion. I can just grab that from any fishing shop, maybe even Army and Navy?

 

As a quick answer to my research so far though, what would be the best public lake to start out with that's closest to Country Hills in the NW?

 

How fast is the current in the Bow river? Do people use U-Boats on the Bow?

 

For some reason, people are telling me not to eat fish from the Bow due to lots of dumping of waste into the river? Is that true?

 

Thanks again guys.

[dale89]

the warm water and 'dumping' are a contributing factor to the fishery. Some would argue that it is the contributing factor. Enjoy, it is good.

[ladystrange]

i live near country hills. honestly i think the closest would be ghost resiviour outside of cochrane to the west off of hwy 1A. there might be one in airdrie but i'm sure. if you like pike you can try chestermere to the east. i have fished arbour lake. it is small but the fish are fun.

 

everyone has a differnt opinion about eating the fish. personally i dont but thats just me

[rusty]

There are some small stocked reservoirs around the north end of town and there are at least 3 very, very good public spots inside of an hour that you can find if you poke around and do some research.

 

It's not that you can't bonk the odd trout, but bear in mind that C&R produces better fishing almost without fail.