bow river question

[waterninja]

i;mmaking a trip to cagary on tue. may 21and will be near the childrens hospital aroud 9;30 TO 11. IF ANYONE IS WILLING TO MEET ME AT THE RIVER THAT runs by the way out of town to banff and give me some pointers i'd really like to fish for an hour or 2 in the bow. i'll be using a spinning rod. thanks pm me if you are interested.

[Fishnafterwork]

Free bump for a fellow passionate fisher ... I'd live to take you up but I know there's a bunch of better suited people that could help u out around there

:) cheers all the best

[BeeGuy]

Could you be more specific about the stretch of river you plan to hit?

The river is closed around the childrens hospital and the section heading west out of the city beyond that is difficult to access and not nearly as good as the more south easterly reaches.

[waterninja]

actually that was the part i was planning to fish. i'll be back in calgary on southeast corner by the dog offleash area that you can see from the dearfoot and i'll try again then. thanks.

[MtnGiant]

actually that was the part i was planning to fish. i'll be back in calgary on southeast corner by the dog offleash area that you can see from the dearfoot and i'll try again then. thanks.

That Southlands area is a beautiful deep run but is very polluted with waste products from the waste plant. Further south around Fish crk park is a little better but you will still be cleaning gunk off your lure every cast or so.
The Bow is actually making me sick to fish and will probably go there less and less.But if you've never experienced it....it's worth a try for some nice fish.

Calgary has really dropped the ball on their waste treatment plant program...it's actually quite disgusting IMO.
Even the small town of Kamloops, BC has tailing ponds before it dumps it's waste product into the Thompson River w/ no gunk.

[Jayhad]

That Southlands area is a beautiful deep run but is very polluted with waste products from the waste plant. Further south around Fish crk park is a little better but you will still be cleaning gunk off your lure every cast or so.
The Bow is actually making me sick to fish and will probably go there less and less.But if you've never experienced it....it's worth a try for some nice fish.

Calgary has really dropped the ball on their waste treatment plant program...it's actually quite disgusting IMO.
Even the small town of Kamloops, BC has tailing ponds before it dumps it's waste product into the Thompson River w/ no gunk.

What are you talking about, the treatment plants in Calgary are some of the best in the country. The only thing that leaves the treatment plants is water... no solid matter. we wouldn't have the fishery we have with out the effluent outflow.:snapoutofit:

[commieboy]

What are you talking about, the treatment plants in Calgary are some of the best in the country. The only thing that leaves the treatment plants is water... no solid matter. we wouldn't have the fishery we have with out the effluent outflow.:snapoutofit:

In support of your statement.

http://www.calgary.ca/UEP/Water/Pages/Water-and-wastewater-systems/Wastewater-system/Wastewater-Treatment.aspx

But, people will believe what they choose to believe.

[Don Andersen]

Mtn..

Perhaps you are seeing didymo (rock snot) and confusing it with toilet products. They look similar.
Mind you calgary does a reasonable job of sewage except for storm drains and estrogen.

Don

[Jayhad]

Mtn..

Perhaps you are seeing didymo (rock snot) and confusing it with toilet products. They look similar.
Mind you calgary does a reasonable job of sewage except for storm drains and estrogen.

Don

Actually Don, the water treatment in Calgary is far better than most on the world scene. Estrogen testing is extremly expensive and removal is very difficult and even more expensive. There aren't many water treatment plants working on estrogen removal, BUT the city of Calgary has implemented UV treatment points which have shown to be effective to removing some of the in-water estrogen.

[DiabeticKripple]

go down to policemans flats. nice big pools just upstream of the launch

[MtnGiant]

Mtn..

Perhaps you are seeing didymo (rock snot) and confusing it with toilet products. They look similar.
Mind you calgary does a reasonable job of sewage except for storm drains and estrogen.

Don

That's a whole lotta rock snot in there.
I've never seen another river like it in my life or even smelled any other so-called healthy river like it.
I don't know what the filth is in there....but it aint cool.
And it sure aint mtn fresh clean.

Maybe I am a little biased and spoiled by the beautiful BC waterways.
Ya the Fraser aint so nice in the Vancouver area.

[MtnGiant]

go down to policemans flats. nice big pools just upstream of the launch

I was at policeman flats last week.
It's a little cleaner the further down you go...agreed.
But it still carries a lot of snot.
I'm not used to cleaning my line or flies every 1 to 3 casts.
It's just gross and that's my take on it.
Not to mention my waders smell raunchy after being in the Bow water.
If you guys like it...that's fine.
I'm just saying it's turning me off.

[MtnGiant]

In support of your statement.

http://www.calgary.ca/UEP/Water/Pages/Water-and-wastewater-systems/Wastewater-system/Wastewater-Treatment.aspx

But, people will believe what they choose to believe.

Of course paraphenalia written by the city of Cagary is going be positive.

But sorry.....I mostly have only BC waters to compare things to.

[Scott N]

Of course paraphenalia written by the city of Cagary is going be positive.

But sorry.....I mostly have only BC waters to compare things to.

Paraphernalia or propaganda? So, you're saying that the city is not being truthful?

[MtnGiant]

Paraphernalia or propaganda? So, you're saying that the city is not being truthful?

Sorry...I meant propaganda.

I'm not accusing the city of lying....I'm just saying a positive read is not shocking. After all....it is the gov't.
And from what I experience on the Bow....I don't feel its clean enough to swim in or drink. Clean water doesn't have a raunchy smell.
So I'm not basing my comments on scientific facts....but by the experiences I've had with actual fresh water for comparison.

[Scott N]

Sorry...I meant propaganda.

I'm not accusing the city of lying....I'm just saying a positive read is not shocking. After all....it is the gov't.
And from what I experience on the Bow....I don't feel its clean enough to swim in or drink. Clean water doesn't have a raunchy smell.
So I'm not basing my comments on scientific facts....but by the experiences I've had with actual fresh water for comparison.

The other experiences.... they were in water below a city with a population of 1 million +?

[Jayhad]

Well mtngiant, the vast majority of BC's coastal rivers are too alkaline to have any real plant life in them, so yea the water will appear cleaner, but that's also why no one is flocking to BC for trout fishing on rivers (yes there are examples mainly in the east)... no plants = no life.
As well most rivers have didymo naturally occuring, it is more appearant on the Bow right now as the faster/run off water the rocks of dead didymo.

If a naturally reproducing, extremely healthy fishery puts you off, then perhaps the Bow isn't for you.

[MtnGiant]

Well mtngiant, the vast majority of BC's coastal rivers are too alkaline to have any real plant life in them, so yea the water will appear cleaner, but that's also why no one is flocking to BC for trout fishing on rivers (yes there are examples mainly in the east)... no plants = no life.
As well most rivers have didymo naturally occuring, it is more appearant on the Bow right now as the faster/run off water the rocks of dead didymo.

If a naturally reproducing, extremely healthy fishery puts you off, then perhaps the Bow isn't for you.

Ya but everyone flocks to the BC rivers for Salmon fishin....and it's great.

I'll hafta check further into this didymo stuff.
But to each his own braddah.
I'm just saying it grosses me out....but I will keep fishn it on occassion.
I'm just not used to it...and don't like it....but I will have to tolerate it if I want to fish close to town.

So I just did a quick web check and maybe the gunk in the bow is didymosphenia geminata (rock snot). Be assured...I will be looking into it further. When I first got here last yr....I asked all kinds of people what the gunk was and got no confirming answers until now. So maybe you guys are right...it looks correct from what I just read. But I am not fully convinced yet.

[BeeGuy]

no one is flocking to BC for trout fishing on rivers

Are you for real?

As for the impact of the effluent on the river, the river in the NW of the city looks like a typical mountain stream, in the southeast it looks brown and green.

In a 15km stretch the ecology changes drastically.

[MtnGiant]

Are you for real?

As for the impact of the effluent on the river, the river in the NW of the city looks like a typical mountain stream, in the southeast it looks brown and green.

In a 15km stretch the ecology changes drastically.



OK....you do have a valid point.
The Bow looks beautiful around Canmore....and guess I shouldn't be making a blanket statement about the Bow being gross.
But for a ways south of the waste plant it sure is