Fishing - Everything Fishing!

[troutman]

https://www.facebook.com/AlbertaFish...type=1&fref=nf

Fish and Wildlife Enforcement

The driver of this truck was charged for driving through fish-bearing waters. Wheeled or tracked vehicles are not allowed on beds or shores of watercourses, wetlands or water bodies. Driving in these areas produces harmful ruts and erosion problems and destroys fish-spawning habitat. In addition, fine sediments stirred up by tires are harmful to fish. Under the federal Fisheries Act, the maximum fine is $100,000.

[troutman]

Angelamc and I visited a river in Alberta. She is a Bow River expert, so this was her first trip to this river. Quickly, she got her first cuttie on this river on a dry fly:



My catch of the day:

[Slava]

That looks familiar! How was the fishing overall?

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Slava

That looks familiar! How was the fishing overall?

Typical great day there. Fish are quite active taking dry flies from 10:30 to 12:30, then they go down through the heat of the afternoon. Some were rising, probably to something very small (like ants) but we couldn't figure out what they were going for then. Caught the biggest fish on nymphs in the afternoon.

I'm always struck by how these cutties can hold in very fast water - perhaps they hold there during the afternoon to avoid predators - we saw a large family of Mergansers.

I'm still unclear on the barbless hook rule. The Fly Shop says barbless, but the Regs don't seem to say that.

Remember - trout are more important than work and family commitments!

[GreenLantern]

Trout are such good looking fish, great colors.

I'm heading up to Meadow Lake park for a week, bringing my canoe and motor hoping to get into a half a dozen lakes or so.. one of them is stocked with splake, browns and tigers. Planning to bottom bounce a worm harness to see if I can entice some bites. Splake I seem to have good luck with, they are like the Jackfish of the trout family, really dumb and hit everything.. But those browns are quite a bit smarter it seems as I haven't caught one yet. I've been told to fish for them right at dark so that might be the method I try this time around.

[Canehdianman]

My understanding is that when the Fisheries Act (of Canada) was amended in 2011, the prohibition on the use of barbed fish hooks was removed. The Alberta Fishery Regulations were updated to reflect this, and as such, this made the ban on the use of barbed fish hooks unenforceable.

[troutman]

Many claim that Browns are smarter or more wary than other trout. I think mostly they are more nocturnal than other fish, and are mainly active at twilight and in the dark.

[Flacker]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

My understanding is that when the Fisheries Act (of Canada) was amended in 2011, the prohibition on the use of barbed fish hooks was removed. The Alberta Fishery Regulations were updated to reflect this, and as such, this made the ban on the use of barbed fish hooks unenforceable.

Yeah it isn't explicitly listed in the regulations anymore. That being said if you don't intend on keeping the fish, I would still recommend crimping barbs.

Anywhere that is zero limit for trout you should have your barbs crimped. Not enforceable anymore, but you don't want to be ripping lips apart trying to release a nice trout.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by Flacker

Yeah it isn't explicitly listed in the regulations anymore. That being said if you don't intend on keeping the fish, I would still recommend crimping barbs.

Anywhere that is zero limit for trout you should have your barbs crimped. Not enforceable anymore, but you don't want to be ripping lips apart trying to release a nice trout.

Definitely agree.

[troutman]

I think I will go barbless on most flies, but not the smallest dry flies. They are easy enough to remove without harming the fish?

[Angelamc]

Originally Posted by troutman

Angelamc and I visited a river in Alberta. She is a Bow River expert, so this was her first trip to this river. Quickly, she got her first cuttie on this river on a dry fly:



My catch of the day:

I was schooled on how NOT to lose the fish you hook, nicely done Troutman. Super fun day, i'm down anytime.

[Slava]

When you catch the huge Bulls like me it's better to be barbless so that our provincial fish lives another day. You might lose a few more, and things like that, but at the end of the day I think it's better.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Slava

When you catch the huge Bulls like me it's better to be barbless so that our provincial fish lives another day. You might lose a few more, and things like that, but at the end of the day I think it's better.

From what I can tell our provincial fish are safe from you.

[Angelamc]

Originally Posted by troutman

From what I can tell our provincial fish are safe from you.

Troutman chirpin' Slava, good stuff

[troutman]

Mike Drew: Fishing trip to Alberta's Oldman River valley

http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/07/24...n-river-valley

Changing to a new fly, I caught a chubby cutthroat right away, a beautiful fish that I photographed and put back in the water. The river had changed but the fish were right at home.

As were a lot of people.

I felt pretty darn hypocritical as I drove up the Oldman valley toward the falls looking at all the fifth-wheels and even motorhomes parked along this tiny river. In places it looked more like an R/V park than a back-country fishing stream. I wanted this place all to myself like it was 20 years ago.

But then I thought, well, that’s just selfish. There’s no reason I should enjoy this country and be annoyed when others want to enjoy it, too. And in truth, I only saw one other person fishing and he kindly tipped me off to a green drake hatch that was coming off the river. I changed flies and caught more fish.

But damn, there were a lot of vehicles up there.

The first rule about Oldman Club, is don't talk about Oldman Club.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by troutman

Mike Drew: Fishing trip to Alberta's Oldman River valley

http://www.calgarysun.com/2015/07/24...n-river-valley

Changing to a new fly, I caught a chubby cutthroat right away, a beautiful fish that I photographed and put back in the water. The river had changed but the fish were right at home.

As were a lot of people.

I felt pretty darn hypocritical as I drove up the Oldman valley toward the falls looking at all the fifth-wheels and even motorhomes parked along this tiny river. In places it looked more like an R/V park than a back-country fishing stream. I wanted this place all to myself like it was 20 years ago.

But then I thought, well, that’s just selfish. There’s no reason I should enjoy this country and be annoyed when others want to enjoy it, too. And in truth, I only saw one other person fishing and he kindly tipped me off to a green drake hatch that was coming off the river. I changed flies and caught more fish.

But damn, there were a lot of vehicles up there.

The first rule about Oldman Club, is don't talk about Oldman Club.

So why are you posting this?

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Slava

So why are you posting this?

Only because it is Catch and Release.

[Flacker]

Originally Posted by troutman

Only because it is Catch and Release.

Well it is supposed to be! Stories like this one make me sick:

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-...hreatened-fish

Hopefully they get the book thrown at them, despicable human beings.

[troutman]

“Officers responded and discovered six Lethbridge men in possession of 25 cutthroat trout and four bull trout,” said a Facebook post by Alberta Fish and Wildlife.



Disgusting. They are not even good to eat.

[PIGL]

Originally Posted by Flacker

Yeah it isn't explicitly listed in the regulations anymore. That being said if you don't intend on keeping the fish, I would still recommend crimping barbs.

Anywhere that is zero limit for trout you should have your barbs crimped. Not enforceable anymore, but you don't want to be ripping lips apart trying to release a nice trout.

Ive been told that another good way to avoid excessively harming fish is to use a rubber landing net and if possible, avoid overhandling the fish. If you do need to handle them, make sure your hands are wet before touching them. From what I understand, the non-rubber nets (nylon or other, stiffer material) and dry hands scrape more of the slime off of the fish which they need to re-generate after release.

I have found that if I use barbless hooks and a wider-bottomed rubber landing net, I can catch and release most fish without even touching them. The wider bottom rubber nets hold their shape the the water with a fish in it, so you can hold the fish in the water, hopefully take out the hook with some hemos and then let them recover in there. Even if you want to pose for a quick photo, you can leave the the fish in the water until you're ready for the shot take it out for a second or two and then put them back in the net in the water until they are ready to swim away on their own.

Not sure if there is any scientific evidence that this reduces mortality rates, but most of the guides on the Bow River tend to use this method, so I've tried to follow suit.