No Runoff

[headscan]

I've heard more than a few people say that there likely won't be any real runoff this year for a number of reasons - lower snow pack in the mountains, cool spring, not much rain. I also recall reading an article last month saying that we were in for a hot, dry summer. So the question is, what does that mean for our rivers and the summer? I've always thought of runoff as flushing the toilet on the rivers. It usually gets rid of a lot of the garbage, weeds, and didymo. Lower water levels combined with a hot, dry summer also doesn't bode well for fish in a lot of the smaller streams. Thoughts?

[cheeler]

http://environment.alberta.ca/apps/basins/...tionID=RBOWCALG

 

After the delay, we are very close to the average flow this year on the Bow though it is starting to drop off already. The concern should be the RDR and Oldman drainages and if they decide to protect the reservoirs at the cost of fish populations, and I'd expect closures again down south if it does turn out to be too dry, which can be good for the populations.

 

And runoff doesn't get rid of the garbage, it just sends it towards Saskatchewan.

[duanec]

i know that overall the reservoirs in the bow valley need some rain as well, and soon.

without it may be a challenging summer for fish and people.

 

[fisher26]

Lets just agree that there will never be any runoff or droughts or any problems whatsoever now that reputable scientists have established that global warming is a liberal myth.

[Guest 420FLYFISHIN]

shitty snow and a warm end to the ski season mean that there just want that much to melt off. I bow up in canmore is running blue and bears paw dam is blue. This is run off right now, in the past 2 weeks the water came up about 15-18" or so but because all the sediment had time to settle in the reservoirs and there isnt that much mud banks between bears paw and FC it hasent muddied up at all.

[headscan]

And runoff doesn't get rid of the garbage, it just sends it towards Saskatchewan.

Isn't that the same thing?

 

NOTE: The above statement was a joke and not meant to offend anyone from Saskatchewan. Please address any complaints to steadyeddy@alberta.ca

[Hawgstoppah]

The bow could maybe use a couple of low runoff years to regfrow them HUGE green weeds that are full of aquatic life / bugs. They help the fish. I've never seen as many fish in the bow as there was between about 1999 and 2003. And the big green weeds were massive. Now this is an unscientific take on the whole thing, but I usually observe and make statements based on actual fact. People think a 10 fish day now is good. Back then I woulda been dissapointed with 10.

[Din]

Brian, how is the size of fish now compared to back then??

 

The bow could maybe use a couple of low runoff years to regfrow them HUGE green weeds that are full of aquatic life / bugs. They help the fish. I've never seen as many fish in the bow as there was between about 1999 and 2003. And the big green weeds were massive. Now this is an unscientific take on the whole thing, but I usually observe and make statements based on actual fact. People think a 10 fish day now is good. Back then I woulda been dissapointed with 10.

 

[Hawgstoppah]

Brian, how is the size of fish now compared to back then??

 

Probably avg 16-22 inches. There's a lot more reports of larger fish now than I've ever heard, but I dont know most of the guys catching them though and a lot of them come without pics... studies show only 1 in thousands of fish on the bow is 24 or more.

 

more people need to pack a tape measure methinks most people see a true 24 incher and call it a 27

 

[jksnijders]

more people need to pack a tape measure methinks most people see a true 24 incher and call it a 27

 

 

 

Yup.

[rusty]

There was a guy on the old board with the best sig I've ever seen:

 

Many 25" trout are caught on the Bow - few are ever measured.

[Hawgstoppah]

Yup you got it right russ. I remember that siggy... cant remember who's it was (wasn't it YOURS?)

[jksnijders]

There was a guy on the old board with the best sig I've ever seen:

 

Many 25" trout are caught on the Bow - few are ever measured.

 

 

 

That's awesome..

[SilverDoctor]

Well said Hawggie

With a fishing rod in you hand fish may appear larger.

[Taco]

Bow river fish are prone to grow expedientually the farther you get from the water....any fish or any water for that matter

[bigbowtrout]

25" taped from a couple years back. My biggest brown ever.

 

 

 

 

[bhurt]

The past two weeks for me has been very productive. Thinking about the water level in some of my high water spots the river is at the same level while other spots are lower. Not much mud at all when comparing it to the last three years. Most fish I have been catching this year is between the sizes of 16 to 21, I have caught a couple of beast this year, I know my sizes as I put eletrical tape at certain messagerments on my rod so I can quickly check.

 

Personally I don't need to have to post sizes cause like everything else here, someone ALWAYS has a opion and what to tell you diffrent. Personally for me when I post it is about the experince and not a ego trip, I'll leve that to my facebook.

[cgyguy]

The past two weeks for me has been very productive. Thinking about the water level in some of my high water spots the river is at the same level while other spots are lower. Not much mud at all when comparing it to the last three years. Most fish I have been catching this year is between the sizes of 16 to 21, I have caught a couple of beast this year, I know my sizes as I put eletrical tape at certain messagerments on my rod so I can quickly check.

 

Personally I don't need to have to post sizes cause like everything else here, someone ALWAYS has a opion and what to tell you diffrent. Personally for me when I post it is about the experince and not a ego trip, I'll leve that to my facebook.

 

 

I've heard women say that size matters , but does it really matter to a fisherman how big the fish are? In my books, sometimes smaller is better!!!

[Conor]

Well the caddis have been popping right through the high water this year. That is a big bonus, in my books.

 

More weeds/sediment means more bugs. I'd like to see the Bow like it was back in the dry fly days of the 80s.

 

Hopefully some rain this year will keep the water up and cool. Even if it doesn't, I imagine a year of bad recruitment might be compensated by high food resources.

[bhurt]

Well the caddis have been popping right through the high water this year. That is a big bonus, in my books.

 

More weeds/sediment means more bugs. I'd like to see the Bow like it was back in the dry fly days of the 80s.

 

Hopefully some rain this year will keep the water up and cool. Even if it doesn't, I imagine a year of bad recruitment might be compensated by high food resources.

 

I could be wrong on this, but if we have a summer with low water (once high water is gone) and we have alot of weeds does this not choke out alot of the oxyegen that the fish need?

 

[snakeman]

I drove over Canyon Creek a few days ago and it was already dry at the highway. This could be a long summer for some of our streams...

[maxwell]

we had a mild gradual runoff this year forsure and no rain compared too the last few years with a large heap of water coming down all at once.. like others mentioned flows are around then orm for this time of year now.

 

i dotn think much will be different best case it has already bin a sick dryfly year and it will continue too on!!!! if she gets low things could get warm and like 5 ish years ago they will shut down all the east slope streams for fishign in a few weeks wich would suck..

 

madd weed growth brad it what makes oxygen not choke out oxygen they live off of co2 and mak o2 in teh fall it might be a little problem with less oxygen but i doubt it only because the polants once dead will move downstream and be swept away!

[bhurt]

we had a mild gradual runoff this year forsure and no rain compared too the last few years with a large heap of water coming down all at once.. like others mentioned flows are around then orm for this time of year now.

 

i dotn think much will be different best case it has already bin a sick dryfly year and it will continue too on!!!! if she gets low things could get warm and like 5 ish years ago they will shut down all the east slope streams for fishign in a few weeks wich would suck..

 

madd weed growth brad it what makes oxygen not choke out oxygen they live off of co2 and mak o2 in teh fall it might be a little problem with less oxygen but i doubt it only because the polants once dead will move downstream and be swept away!

 

Thanks for the info, I thought I read something somewhere but I wasn't sure of it.