South Buck Lake - Algae

[abhunter8]

Was out on south Buck lake on Sunday Aug 5th and the Bright green pods of algae were the worst I have ever seen on any lake. It was disgusting and looked like toxic waste right out of the movies. lol

[Lefty-Canuck]

That sort of thing has been happening on Buck for many many years

LC

[OpenSights]

I fish it almost every weekend.

Its been the same every year for the last 8 years since I have owned my cabin out there.

Can be bad on the east side when the wind blows all the green goodies into Calhoun bay.

Nothing to worry about its a normal Alberta lake. Just don't drink it....

[abhunter8]

Well I will say it was disgustingly gross and I was in shock! lol

[thorne]

Pics or it didn't happen....lol

[pikeman06]

Oh it happens. Been like that for ever. Gin clear in the winter sometimes. Doesn't seem to be the same strain of algae that causes major fish kills. You get the odd white floating around this time of year but not loading them off the shore with bobcats kinda stuff. They get alot of rain in that area so maybe it keeps the water temp down just enough to prevent yearly fish kills.

[NSR Fisher]

The thing that saves buck is that it has flowing water... the lakes that get so choked with weeds and algae and have fish kills are lakes that don't have a running inlet / outlet.

Without flowing water a lot of prairie lakes will suffocate.

As long as that weir is maintained on the north end of the lake she will be good to go.

By the way, has anyone ever fished the outlet down to the North Sask River? My buddy walked it with a light action spinning rod and said there are hundreds of jackfish to be caught. He even caught a nice 50< CM walleye by the culvert just downstream from the lake.

[Justfishin73]

Have fished there for 20 years at a buddy's cabin, can't say I have ever swam in it though......

[Red Bullets]

By the way, has anyone ever fished the outlet down to the North Sask River? My buddy walked it with a light action spinning rod and said there are hundreds of jackfish to be caught. He even caught a nice 50< CM walleye by the culvert just downstream from the lake.

A beautiful walk. Your buddy must have done more walking than fishing I'm sure. Lots of bushwacking.
Years ago I walked and camped along the creek , from the lake down to Hwy 39, but I was hunting, not fishing. Back then there was more bush long the creek's length. I am sure there are some fish in the creek at certain times of the year. Not a big creek though. I remember 40 years ago seeing some FN families netting buck lake creek right next to Hwy 39. Downstream of Hwy 39 buck lake creek merges with the modeste creek. I still enjoy fishing the BL creek almost where it enters the river. Nice in the fall.

Originally most of the creeks that were connected to lakes had fish migrating up and down from the lakes to the river. I have wondered.... fish migrate up the creeks from the NSR river to spawn but I've always thought the fish maybe migrated to the lakes to winter too. I remember local old timers that were here from 1900 that told me they used to fish creeks like Conjuring, Weed, Strawberry and other creeks and would catch all sorts of pike, walleye and suckers. And they would fish the entire lengths of these creeks. At that time most of the creeks were quite full of water.

[Talking moose]

A beautiful walk. Your buddy must have done more walking than fishing I'm sure. Lots of bushwacking.
Years ago I walked and camped along the creek , from the lake down to Hwy 39, but I was hunting, not fishing. Back then there was more bush long the creek's length. I am sure there are some fish in the creek at certain times of the year. Not a big creek though. I remember 40 years ago seeing some FN families netting buck lake creek right next to Hwy 39. Downstream of Hwy 39 buck lake creek merges with the modeste creek. I still enjoy fishing the BL creek almost where it enters the river. Nice in the fall.

Originally most of the creeks that were connected to lakes had fish migrating up and down from the lakes to the river. I have wondered.... fish migrate up the creeks from the NSR river to spawn but I've always thought the fish maybe migrated to the lakes to winter too. I remember local old timers that were here from 1900 that told me they used to fish creeks like Conjuring, Weed, Strawberry and other creeks and would catch all sorts of pike, walleye and suckers. And they would fish the entire lengths of these creeks. At that time most of the creeks were quite full of water.
Nowadays these creeks are choked with beaver dams. All the fish are close to the major rivers. No migrations like the long past

[Isopod]

Blue-green algae advisory issued for Buck Lake today:

https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/news/Page14591.aspx

[Red Bullets]

Nowadays these creeks are choked with beaver dams. All the fish are close to the major rivers. No migrations like the long past

I have seen fish 3 or 4 miles up some of these creeks in recent years too. Neat seeing big pike basking/spawning in 6 inches of water in a stream that might be 4 feet wide and less than a foot deep.

Now these creeks all have crayfish so the crayfish might be affecting the spawning fish. I'm sure crayfish would fill up on fish eggs and invade the nurseries.

[NSR Fisher]

Nowadays these creeks are choked with beaver dams. All the fish are close to the major rivers. No migrations like the long past

I have seen suckers spawning past the 23rd Avenue bridge in whitemud creek, almost past the city limits. Fish will find a way when the water is high I think.

It is true that some are completely choked though, tide creek from Pigeon hardly even flows I bet.

[Red Bullets]

I have seen suckers spawning past the 23rd Avenue bridge in whitemud creek, almost past the city limits. Fish will find a way when the water is high I think.

It is true that some are completely choked though, tide creek from Pigeon hardly even flows I bet.

To think that back in the 60's a guy caught a 25 lb bull trout in the whitemud. Before the dams were put in the bull trout used to range down to Edmonton and below.