Bass in Alberta Vote

[jesse34567]

state your opinions on this issue,

and fish diversity in alberta for that matter.

would like to get a general feeling from the community on this issue.

for the people that don't feel they should please share your opinions.




mods could you please sticky this

[baitfisher83]

I would love to see bass here, question is, would the water be warm enough for them to sustain themselves?

[jacenbeers]

I went bass fishing for the first time two days ago in Bayne's Lake near Fernie in BC and it was cool. I think it would be great to stock a few lakes.

[jesse34567]

If lakes like boundary reservoir in saskatchewan can sustain them, and lake windermere then we can most definitely have a healthy growing population here.

[A187]

Yes Yes Yes

[BH1]

I think it would be fun to have a couple bass lakes around... as long as they dont interfere with the native species. So just keep them in man made water bodies.

[Bear]

Absolutely not. Lets not mess up more water with introduced species. It ain't supposed to be here don't bring it in.

[pickrel pat]

would be alright until peaple started thinking that they would like to have bass in a lake closer to their home and start illegally putting bass in my faverite walleye perch lake...... i say no to bass or carp or anything else.

[Faststeel]

I am fortunate to have a cabin on a lake in Manitoba that was stocked with bass 20 years ago. It has been up until this year a catch and release fishery. Now we have a 4 bass limit this season. We have smallmouth bass in our lake.
The fellows I fish with always wanted to just fish walleye, but last season I made a point of targeting the bass in our lake. Just a fantastic fighter in just about any size. Now it is all I fish for, easy to catch and fun. FS

[jesse34567]

If people think are trout will suffer they will not, because bass do not prefer and don't no well in the mountain streams and lakes were trout thrive
I'm talking about lakes like Clear lake near stavely and PCR both have dying populations of fish.

[floppychicken]

I would love to see bass here, question is, would the water be warm enough for them to sustain themselves?

Warm water is not needed.... I've caught them in waters with ICE OVER 3' THICK. They'd do just fine. :)

[floppychicken]

would be alright until peaple started thinking that they would like to have bass in a lake closer to their home and start illegally putting bass in my faverite walleye perch lake...... i say no to bass or carp or anything else.

HUNDREDS of lakes in ALBERTA have been STOCKED with fish that never had anything in them to begin with. They were never in those lakes, or 'man-made' reservoirs, thus 'some of your favourite' FISH are NOT 'indigenous' to the water... That's the part I find amusing.

Cheers,

[flygirrl]

I belive the water has to be acidic and Alberta's water is not. May be wrong

[Rockymtnx]

I am sure there are valid reasons as to why we don't have bass stocked in Alberta. I thought one of them had to do with water temp.

Bass have been stocked in Alberta in the past and have not been successful. Alberta has a tough enough time balancing its current fish populations, so I highly doubt we will see a bass fishery in Alberta in the near future.

[jesse34567]

water temp is not issue, so I have no idea what their hold back is.

[gramps73]

Love fishing them in BC and as long as some thought went into what lake I will be all for it..

[floppychicken]

I think it would be fun to have a couple bass lakes around... as long as they dont interfere with the native species. So just keep them in man made water bodies.

I Agree completely...

[canned Tuna]

Maybe in the southern parts of Alberta rivers and deep lakes can sustain populations of smallmouth bass as long if there is enough forage. Largemouth need deep enough lakes to over winter.

I guess where ever the biomass exists aka sewage treatment plants (bow river) and coal plants (lake wabamun) with warm water discharge will provide either warm or nutrients to feed the forage which equals bigger fish.

The main problem here is forage in the lakes there is not enough baitfish to support there appetite. Therefore they are in direct competition with your gamefish pike, walleye, whitefish and trout.

Let the battle begin.

[floppychicken]

I am sure there are valid reasons as to why we don't have bass stocked in Alberta. I thought one of them had to do with water temp.

Bass have been stocked in Alberta in the past and have not been successful. Alberta has a tough enough time balancing its current fish populations, so I highly doubt we will see a bass fishery in Alberta in the near future.


Actually, the failure was on the part of the people in charge. Talk to the 'right' people at the Fish Hatchery and you'll know why they didn't succeed. SMB's could EASILY be introduced to Alberta if done 'properly'. Even the more 'sensitive' LargeMouth BASS 'still' reside in Lake Windermere!

Cheers,:)

[jesse34567]

forage like perch, are not stocked in the right lakes in the first place example PCR no forage except leeches and bugs that's why the walleye are stunted. Put bass in that lake plus some forage like perch and you CAN have a healthy population of both bass and walleye because the bass would also feed on the young of the year walleye and the bigger pike would control both.

[pickrel pat]

HUNDREDS of lakes in ALBERTA have been STOCKED with fish that never had anything in them to begin with. They were never in those lakes, or 'man-made' reservoirs, thus 'some of your favourite' FISH are NOT 'indigenous' to the water... That's the part I find amusing.

Cheers,do you know the lakes i fish? no you dont! the fish in my lakes ARE indigenous.... I fish mainly around red earth. all the species have been in those lakes for thousands of years! pff !!! :snapoutofit:the part i find amusing is your unthought out response to an easy to understand statement.:sHa_sarcasticlol:

[burbotman14]

I would be fine if it was restricted to stocked lakes but I would not be happy if they were introduced to a non-stocked lake. One big example is Pigeon lake. Before all the walleye were stocked there it was a lake with nice pike and the walleye you caught were usually larger. Also, there was quite a few perch you could catch off shore that were up to 12 inches. Since then the lake has been filled with walleye and it seems now that year after year the fish don't get any bigger. Some fish may be best if they were not introduced. Besides I"m tired of watching every fishing show and all they can fish for is bass.:scared0015:

[floppychicken]

Absolutely not. Lets not mess up more water with introduced species. It ain't supposed to be here don't bring it in.


LOL, I understand what you're saying, but you do realize that you woudn't be fishing for many of the GAMEFISH in ALBERTA right? Here's a few that were BROUGHT to ALBERTA from SOME PLACE else.... 'BROWN TROUT', BROOK TROUT, GOLDEN TROUT, DOLLY VARDEN,...

Let's be realistic, with 400 anglers per fishable lake, we need all the help we can get. Also, the Walleye and Pike aren't going Anywhere, that's why I propose making 'good' Walleye and Pike waters EXCELLENT and 'Money Sucking' waters into some other Gamefish or Panfish.

Cheers,:)

[floppychicken]

I would be fine if it was restricted to stocked lakes but I would not be happy if they were introduced to a non-stocked lake. One big example is Pigeon lake. Before all the walleye were stocked there it was a lake with nice pike and the walleye you caught were usually larger. Also, there was quite a few perch you could catch off shore that were up to 12 inches. Since then the lake has been filled with walleye and it seems now that year after year the fish don't get any bigger. Some fish may be best if they were not introduced. Besides I"m tired of watching every fishing show and all they can fish for is bass.:scared0015:

You hit the nail on the HEAD. Some waters have TOO many Walleye in them...period. They are 'Already' a slow growing fish, so why are we FURTHERING their plight by 'stunting their GROWTH'?? I agree, it JUST does NOT make any sense... What's worse, is all those fish have very little 'quality' food to eat! It's no wonder they don't grow.

Cheers,

[buckfever]

do you know the lakes i fish? no you dont! the fish in my lakes ARE indigenous.... I fish mainly around red earth. all the species have been in those lakes for thousands of years! pff !!! :snapoutofit:the part i find amusing is your unthought out response to an easy to understand statement.:sHa_sarcasticlol:


wow calm down mr. pat :snapoutofit: what he was getting at (imho) many lake all over the world get stocked like that. what is stopping someone driving to bc and getting them and putting them in a lake cuz they are from bc.



imho dont let them into alberta, it would effect the ecosystem. another reason would be that a few ppl go to bc 4 their bass fishing as a luxury, if we bring them into alberta it wont be the same.


at the same time im making it my goal to catch one this year and that would make it so much easier and practical lol

[pikester]

I have mixed feelings on this issue. On one hand, it is fun to fish for bass just cause they are different than what we are used to. On the other, I do have concerns about the compatibility of bass with other large predator fish like pike & walleye. I don't know very much about how bass coexsist or compete with those other species. I love pike fishing & get a kick out of sampling some of our provinces finest walleye fisheries now & then so I wouldn't want to endorse introducing another species which may compete with or overtake our exsisting favorites.

Having said that, if having a fishable population of bass in some of our lakes would have little to no impact on the pike or walleye fisheries then bring it on!

[IR_mike]

Great Idea!!!!

While we are at it lets live capture feral horses and introduce them to the 100, 200, and 500 wmus as well.

A healthy population of wild boars would increase hunting oppurtunities with little impact on native species and landscapes.

Siberian tigers will keep the introduced species in check.

Seriosly with the exception of game birds due to there relativly low metabolic and habitat needs are the only introductions in Alberta that are not harmful to native species and or landscapes and that may even be debateable.

[nicemustang]

I haven't read the thread, I SAY NO. Instead of worrying about another fish that may not take, can we please fix the walleye fisheries and stock up all of the lakes with eyes that should be full of them and open to fishing.

[Bear]

LOL, I understand what you're saying, but you do realize that you woudn't be fishing for many of the GAMEFISH in ALBERTA right? Here's a few that were BROUGHT to ALBERTA from SOME PLACE else.... 'BROWN TROUT', BROOK TROUT, GOLDEN TROUT, DOLLY VARDEN,...

Let's be realistic, with 400 anglers per fishable lake, we need all the help we can get. Also, the Walleye and Pike aren't going Anywhere, that's why I propose making 'good' Walleye and Pike waters EXCELLENT and 'Money Sucking' waters into some other Gamefish or Panfish.

Cheers,:)

Ya and some of the lakes that I like to fish have been destroyed by illegally introducing perch. Now we have lakes full of stunted 6" perch. While fun for the short term it gets pretty boring pulling in tiny fish.

Point I am getting at is we have had enough problems with introduced species of all kinds lets not mess mother nature up any more than she already is.

And the trout species you have listed have been identified as one of the reasons for placing the Bull trout on the endangered list. Once again messing with introduced species is a mistake IMHO.

[walleyechaser]

NO, we need to get the walleye fisheries sorted out

[italk2u]

All of you might want to read this:
It is long-winded, scientifric and probably boring to most, but it clearly shows that while water temp may not be an issue to survival, it is a major issue to reproduction.
Habitat is extremely important, and this study shows that mud-bottomed lakes are not a good survival habitat for bass eggs.
Read on: www.nwrc.usgs.gov/wdb/pub/hsi/hsi-016.pdf

[fishpro]

Absolutely not. They may fight hard at first, but then they give up and come in after ten seconds. Not to mention there's no challenge in getting them to bite - throw any stupid looking lure out there and they hit it. I've fished for them, had a bit of fun, but don't really think of them as much of a sportfish. But then again, walleye aren't much better.

[Okotokian]

No more imports. Let's stick with native species plus those imports that are already established here. What we have is just fine, whether it's fin, feather, or fur.

"let's just stock a few lakes" sounds good... until the midnight bucket boys get going and we have bass everywhere competing with trout, walleye, etc. and SRD refusing to stock anything there.

[Rockymtnx]

All of you might want to read this:
It is long-winded, scientifric and probably boring to most, but it clearly shows that while water temp may not be an issue to survival, it is a major issue to reproduction.
Habitat is extremely important, and this study shows that mud-bottomed lakes are not a good survival habitat for bass eggs.
Read on: www.nwrc.usgs.gov/wdb/pub/hsi/hsi-016.pdf


Thank you for posting this link.
This may help some of these keyboard biologists re-think their idea.

Like I said earlier. We have enough problems managing what we currently have. Why would we want to and something else to it. Let’s get our current issues solved first then worry about new ones.

[jesse34567]

All of you guys bring up interesting points, I do agree we need to fix are current problem first that being the amount of stunted walleye in alberta, however after that is sorted and we have a better understanding on how bass do affect ecosystems, it should be attempted again.

[grizz]

I would rather fish for Carp. No Bass .

[Okotokian]

As I said earlier, I'm not in favour... BUT if it was to go ahead I have an idea.... why not have various companies SPONSOR the stocking of certain bodies of water??? Can't you just see a big sign at the boat launch saying "This bass pond brought to you by BASS PRO SHOPS"? Now sponsorships might not pay for the entire stocking program but you would think various outdoor stores, fishing tackle manufacturers, etc. would pony up a little cash to get their name associated with a program/ or lake.

[sdimedru]

I voted yes, only cause I have fished for them in Ontario and had a blast doing so....

Even more fun, was fishing for perch, walleye, pike AND numerous Bass species all in the same lake.... it appears to work well in Ontario, but as already stated, we need to figure things out here with what we've got before anything is introduced.


my 2cents

[iliketrout]

Spend the money on Walleye.

[jesse34567]

As I said earlier, I'm not in favour... BUT if it was to go ahead I have an idea.... why not have various companies SPONSOR the stocking of certain bodies of water??? Can't you just see a big sign at the boat launch saying "This bass pond brought to you by BASS PRO SHOPS"? Now sponsorships might not pay for the entire stocking program but you would think various outdoor stores, fishing tackle manufacturers, etc. would pony up a little cash to get their name associated with a program/ or lake.

I like that idea, it would give companys reason to give back and promote themselves.

[mustardb]

NO, we need to get the walleye fisheries sorted out

X2

[buckmasterjr]

They should put bass in hanmore lake. The lake is pretty much done.

[ice]

I say no. With legitimate facts

Our province already has problems with the populations of fish already... The facts are
Barbless rules
Bait bans
Size limits.
Total closure on a specific species.

I say take care of our native species and once that's taken care of then intoduce a new species

[ice]

Absolutely not. They may fight hard at first, but then they give up and come in after ten seconds. Not to mention there's no challenge in getting them to bite - throw any stupid looking lure out there and they hit it. I've fished for them, had a bit of fun, but don't really think of them as much of a sportfish. But then again, walleye aren't much better.


The hell?
Walleye not much of a sport fish?
You must not fish for eyes to often
I'd expect to hear that about pike.
But eyes....

[BuckHunterBowen]

bull trout shouldnt be on the endangerd list...you just aint lookin in the right spots.

put them in but in a lake that rarely gets fished and is full of crayfish it would get rid of an invasive species and also give us some enjoyment

[jesse34567]

bull trout shouldnt be on the endangerd list...you just aint lookin in the right spots.

put them in but in a lake that rarely gets fished and is full of crayfish it would get rid of an invasive species and also give us some enjoyment

any suggestions as to what lake?? the only one I can think of that has crayfish is travers, but that gets tons of angler pressure.

[floppychicken]

Absolutely not. They may fight hard at first, but then they give up and come in after ten seconds. Not to mention there's no challenge in getting them to bite - throw any stupid looking lure out there and they hit it. I've fished for them, had a bit of fun, but don't really think of them as much of a sportfish. But then again, walleye aren't much better.


Uh, What?

Where the hell are you catching BASS and how SMALL are they? LOL.... Give up after ten seconds..? Ahahahahahah, yeah right! I've had RODS snapped in two when hooking 3 to 4lb Smallmouth.... I'm thinking maybe you were catching 'SUNFISH'..:rolleye2:

[floppychicken]

Thank you for posting this link.
This may help some of these keyboard biologists re-think their idea.

Like I said earlier. We have enough problems managing what we currently have. Why would we want to and something else to it. Let’s get our current issues solved first then worry about new ones.

Horse_sh!t !!

Fished MANY, MANY Mud bottom RIVERS and LAKES and they were CHOCK FULL of SMALLMOUTH BASS, ROCK BASS, PIKE, MUSKIE, PERCH, SUNFISH, CATFISH, EEL and HUGE AMOUNTS of FEEDER FISH...within 700 YARDS of Shorline! The MILLE ILLES River through LAVAL is HORRIBLY muddy and FULL of BASS.

That is CRAP! I love how SOOOO many people are willing to BELIEVE ANYTHING they read, but have NEVER fished for them, or at LEAST not EAST of Lake Windermere:rolleye2:

[Okotokian]

Horse_sh!t !!

Fished MANY, MANY Mud bottom RIVERS and LAKES and they were CHOCK FULL of SMALLMOUTH BASS, ROCK BASS, PIKE, MUSKIE, PERCH, SUNFISH, CATFISH, EEL and HUGE AMOUNTS of FEEDER FISH...within 700 YARDS of Shorline! The MILLE ILLES River through LAVAL is HORRIBLY muddy and FULL of BASS.

That is CRAP! I love how SOOOO many people are willing to BELIEVE ANYTHING they read, but have NEVER fished for them, or at LEAST not EAST of Lake Windermere:rolleye2:

I'm confused. What does this have to do with rocky's statement which you quoted? Are you misunderstanding his use of the word "current"?

[floppychicken]

The hell?
Walleye not much of a sport fish?
You must not fish for eyes to often
I'd expect to hear that about pike.
But eyes....

I like catching Walleye, but let's be honest, almost ANY other fish is WAY more fun than fishing for an EYE. Although a Good EATING and nice looking fish I sure as hell don't find them to be A very good 'FIGHTING FISH'... Do you? What do they do that seperates them from other fish, the way they 'nose down' into the water? I'm just not clear on what makes them a GREAT 'GameFish'? I understand the 'TASTE' and NON-SLIME factor, but that's ALL we really have to compare them to aside from Trout.

In all the years that I've caught Walleye, I have NEVER had a SINGLE fish BREACH the water... NEVER. I've had 12+ pound PIKE from GULL shoot STRAIGHT out of the water and pull many yards off my reel more than two or three times before they got to the boat.. Hell, even the Head Shaking and 'spooling' of the fishing line when they see the boat, is more intense than catching an EYE.

Cheers,...

[fishpro]

Uh, What?

Where the hell are you catching BASS and how SMALL are they? LOL.... Give up after ten seconds..? Ahahahahahah, yeah right! I've had RODS snapped in two when hooking 3 to 4lb Smallmouth.... I'm thinking maybe you were catching 'SUNFISH'..:rolleye2:

I've fished for them quite a bit out at Duck Lake in BC. While their aggressiveness can be exciting, it does get old very fast... The fish will fight for a few seconds, then I can pretty much just drag them in. Also, it doesn't matter what you throw out for them, so there's almost no challenge to catching them.

[fishpro]

I like catching Walleye, but let's be honest, almost ANY other fish is WAY more fun than fishing for an EYE. Although a Good EATING and nice looking fish I sure as hell don't find them to be A very good 'FIGHTING FISH'... Do you? What do they do that seperates them from other fish, the way they 'nose down' into the water? I'm just not clear on what makes them a GREAT 'GameFish'? I understand the 'TASTE' and NON-SLIME factor, but that's ALL we really have to compare them to aside from Trout.

In all the years that I've caught Walleye, I have NEVER had a SINGLE fish BREACH the water... NEVER. I've had 12+ pound PIKE from GULL shoot STRAIGHT out of the water and pull many yards off my reel more than two or three times before they got to the boat.. Hell, even the Head Shaking and 'spooling' of the fishing line when they see the boat, is more intense than catching an EYE.

Cheers,...

That's exactly it, people fish for them either for food or for the fact that they can catch them one after another. The fight is NOTHING spectacular. I've caught a lot of walleye and find them to be not very exciting, you hook a 16 inch walleye on medium tackle and after a few seconds it comes to the surface and just slides in without a fight - a 16 inch trout fights every bit of the way to the boat. And I agree about the pike, you catch them in the right water and their stamina can be quite impressive, not to mention they have a lot of power.

[floppychicken]

I say no. With legitimate facts

Our province already has problems with the populations of fish already... The facts are
Barbless rules
Bait bans
Size limits.
Total closure on a specific species.

I say take care of our native species and once that's taken care of then intoduce a new species

Barbless Rules = Fish Mortality due to OVERFISHING
Bait Bans = Fish Mortality due to OVERFISHING
Size Limits = Due to Overfishing
Total Closure of a specific species = The FAILURE of BULL TROUT to thrive is due to overfishing OVERFISHING and their VERY specific reaction to Climate Change.

Does anyone see the pattern here? Everybody is Mother Nature 'Ra, Ra' RA' don't mess with 'Mother Nature' ra.... Well, lemme tell you that what we have done to SUPPORT the BULL TROUT is WAAAAAY beyond ANYTHING that can be called Natural or 'MOTHER NATURISH' in ANY way, shape, or form. BULL TROUT can ONLY live in the 'CLEANEST' of waters and therefore subceptible to ANY change in water as far as POLLUTION is concerned. THAT is PRECISELY WHY OTHER TROUT HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO ALBERTA!!!!!! Doesn't ANYONE UNDERSTAND this?? It's been almost 20 YEARS and we STILL cannot fish for those stupid fish! Cut em' loose, let em' go if they CANNOT adapt and make 'some other fish' the 'PROVINCIAL FISH' of Alberta... Good Grief MOTHER NATURE does it ALL the time. If we want 'MOTHER NATURE' to take care of things, then let it happen to ALL the fish and stop stocking... Mother Nature will kick the FISHERIES AZZ!!

ALBERTA fisheries are in HUGE trouble because of TWO things that are UNDENIABLE... OVERFISHING and the PLACEMENT of 100's of THOUSANDS of fish in WATERS that CANNOT and WILL NOT SUSTAIN them!! There is NO FRIGGIN' food for them too eat... Certainly no QUALITY food! ON TOP of those problems, we are 'HELL BENT' on supporting SO MANY of the 'SLOWEST GROWING GAMEFISH' in NORTH AMERICA!... LOL. It makes NO SENSE when we have these issues AND 400 ANGLERS per LAKE!

What also makes no sense is people 'Bitching' about Small Stunted Perch! WTH is that all about? Doesn't matter HOW you may try and DENY it, PERCH are PAN-FISH (not GAMEFISH) and they should be in MANY lakes and waters that have WALLEYE and PIKE so they can BE EATEN! Who CARES how big they get..! As long as they populate (which they're good at) and make the WALLEYE and PIKE nice and FAT and ABOVE ALL,.. HEALTHY!

Alberta fishing SUCKS because we aren't DEALING with the FISHING PRESSURE properly... Bring in TONS of Baitfish and Panfish and start FEEDING these fish, stocking the right LAKES and re-evaluate the REALLY poor fisheries and put something ELSE in those. Any lake that can't support WALLEYE can sure as hell support Sunfish or Perch.. Use those lakes as 'Pan-Fish breeding lakes, occasionally netting and transferring 'breeding fish' to other lakes and reservoirs thus keeping the WALLEYE fisheries HEALTHY enough to REALLY POPULATE!

Worried about Bucket Brigades? Let's get REALLY TOUGH and make the fines SO HUGE that if they get caught doing ANY of it, they either GO TO JAIL or pay a $50,000 fine!
Enough is enough, we need to do SOMETHING drastic for our Fisheries, cause there is NOTHING NATURAL about OUR Fisheries RIGHT NOW and 'MOTHER NATURE' if left to do 'HER THING' (as many of you would like,,,) would MERCILESSLY kick our azzes due to our ALREADY MASSIVE interference... Let's do in right.

Cheers,

[floppychicken]

I'm confused. What does this have to do with rocky's statement which you quoted? Are you misunderstanding his use of the word "current"?

Re-Read the first part of his post...

Originally Posted by Rockymtnx
Thank you for posting this link.
This may help some of these keyboard biologists re-think their idea.

[fishpro]

Barbless Rules = Fish Mortality due to OVERFISHING
Bait Bans = Fish Mortality due to OVERFISHING
Size Limits = Due to Overfishing
Total Closure of a specific species = The FAILURE of BULL TROUT to thrive is due to overfishing OVERFISHING and their VERY specific reaction to Climate Change.

Does anyone see the pattern here? Everybody is Mother Nature 'Ra, Ra' RA' don't mess with 'Mother Nature' ra.... Well, lemme tell you that what we have done to SUPPORT the BULL TROUT is WAAAAAY beyond ANYTHING that can be called Natural or 'MOTHER NATURISH' in ANY way, shape, or form. BULL TROUT can ONLY live in the 'CLEANEST' of waters and therefore subceptible to ANY change in water as far as POLLUTION is concerned. THAT is PRECISELY WHY OTHER TROUT HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO ALBERTA!!!!!! Doesn't ANYONE UNDERSTAND this?? It's been almost 20 YEARS and we STILL cannot fish for those stupid fish! Cut em' loose, let em' go if they CANNOT adapt and make 'some other fish' the 'PROVINCIAL FISH' of Alberta... Good Grief MOTHER NATURE does it ALL the time. If we want 'MOTHER NATURE' to take care of things, then let it happen to ALL the fish and stop stocking... Mother Nature will kick the FISHERIES AZZ!!

ALBERTA fisheries are in HUGE trouble because of TWO things that are UNDENIABLE... OVERFISHING and the PLACEMENT of 100's of THOUSANDS of fish in WATERS that CANNOT and WILL NOT SUSTAIN them!! There is NO FRIGGIN' food for them too eat... Certainly no QUALITY food! ON TOP of those problems, we are 'HELL BENT' on supporting SO MANY of the 'SLOWEST GROWING GAMEFISH' in NORTH AMERICA!... LOL. It makes NO SENSE when we have these issues AND 400 ANGLERS per LAKE!

What also makes no sense is people 'Bitching' about Small Stunted Perch! WTH is that all about? Doesn't matter HOW you may try and DENY it, PERCH are PAN-FISH (not GAMEFISH) and they should be in MANY lakes and waters that have WALLEYE and PIKE so they can BE EATEN! Who CARES how big they get..! As long as they populate (which they're good at) and make the WALLEYE and PIKE nice and FAT and ABOVE ALL,.. HEALTHY!

Alberta fishing SUCKS because we aren't DEALING with the FISHING PRESSURE properly... Bring in TONS of Baitfish and Panfish and start FEEDING these fish, stocking the right LAKES and re-evaluate the REALLY poor fisheries and put something ELSE in those. Any lake that can't support WALLEYE can sure as hell support Sunfish or Perch.. Use those lakes as 'Pan-Fish breeding lakes, occasionally netting and transferring 'breeding fish' to other lakes and reservoirs thus keeping the WALLEYE fisheries HEALTHY enough to REALLY POPULATE!

Worried about Bucket Brigades? Let's get REALLY TOUGH and make the fines SO HUGE that if they get caught doing ANY of it, they either GO TO JAIL or pay a $50,000 fine!
Enough is enough, we need to do SOMETHING drastic for our Fisheries, cause there is NOTHING NATURAL about OUR Fisheries RIGHT NOW and 'MOTHER NATURE' if left to do 'HER THING' (as many of you would like,,,) would MERCILESSLY kick our azzes due to our ALREADY MASSIVE interference... Let's do in right.

Cheers,

You have to be joking.

[Okotokian]

Worried about Bucket Brigades? Let's get REALLY TOUGH and make the fines SO HUGE that if they get caught doing ANY of it, they either GO TO JAIL or pay a $50,000 fine!
,

Floppy, the penalties already are severe, including paying for the rehabilitation of the lake (Rotenone "Therapy" ain't cheap). It hasn't stopped a thing. Criminals never think they will be caught. I suspect any newly introduced fish that can survive and thrive is going to spread, often at the expense of the species we already have..

[great white whaler]

no way

[jesse34567]

I've fished for them quite a bit out at Duck Lake in BC. While their aggressiveness can be exciting, it does get old very fast... The fish will fight for a few seconds, then I can pretty much just drag them in. Also, it doesn't matter what you throw out for them, so there's almost no challenge to catching them.

Bass are hard to fish for just like any other game fish, some may be easier then others because you stumbled onto the right location with the right presentation and the right time.

For me when I was fishing in BC in a lake called jim smith, the 5lb plus LM that I caught fought like nothing I have ever fished for and it was a real rush.

Here is that thread for some who would like to see.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=39921

[Bear]

Blah blah blah.........

What also makes no sense is people 'Bitching' about Small Stunted Perch! WTH is that all about? Doesn't matter HOW you may try and DENY it, PERCH are PAN-FISH (not GAMEFISH) and they should be in MANY lakes and waters that have WALLEYE and PIKE so they can BE EATEN! Who CARES how big they get..! As long as they populate (which they're good at) and make the WALLEYE and PIKE nice and FAT and ABOVE ALL,.. HEALTHY!

...blah blah blah....

I don't have the time to really get in to all this post. So much wrong, so little time. This little nugget caught my eye. The reason people are "bitching" about stunted perch is because they were introduced illegally in to bodies of water that don't have pike or walleye to feed on them. They take over the lake and boom nothing but 4" perch. Totally screwed watershed.

By introducing outside species we risk what is happening down in the states with Silver carp and other invasive species. Quit screwing with the balance of nature.

If over fishing is the problem limit the number of licenses that are issued. Boom problem solved.

[italk2u]

Agree with everything you said except:

If over fishing is the problem limit the number of licenses that are issued. Boom problem solved.

All you do then is limit the number of LEGAL anglers

[jesse34567]

Yup limiting the number of angler licenses given out is a bad choice and will only lead to more poaching.

[savagencounter]

Barbless Rules = Fish Mortality due to OVERFISHING
Bait Bans = Fish Mortality due to OVERFISHING
Size Limits = Due to Overfishing
Total Closure of a specific species = The FAILURE of BULL TROUT to thrive is due to overfishing OVERFISHING and their VERY specific reaction to Climate Change.

Does anyone see the pattern here? Everybody is Mother Nature 'Ra, Ra' RA' don't mess with 'Mother Nature' ra.... Well, lemme tell you that what we have done to SUPPORT the BULL TROUT is WAAAAAY beyond ANYTHING that can be called Natural or 'MOTHER NATURISH' in ANY way, shape, or form. BULL TROUT can ONLY live in the 'CLEANEST' of waters and therefore subceptible to ANY change in water as far as POLLUTION is concerned. THAT is PRECISELY WHY OTHER TROUT HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED TO ALBERTA!!!!!! Doesn't ANYONE UNDERSTAND this?? It's been almost 20 YEARS and we STILL cannot fish for those stupid fish! Cut em' loose, let em' go if they CANNOT adapt and make 'some other fish' the 'PROVINCIAL FISH' of Alberta... Good Grief MOTHER NATURE does it ALL the time. If we want 'MOTHER NATURE' to take care of things, then let it happen to ALL the fish and stop stocking... Mother Nature will kick the FISHERIES AZZ!!

ALBERTA fisheries are in HUGE trouble because of TWO things that are UNDENIABLE... OVERFISHING and the PLACEMENT of 100's of THOUSANDS of fish in WATERS that CANNOT and WILL NOT SUSTAIN them!! There is NO FRIGGIN' food for them too eat... Certainly no QUALITY food! ON TOP of those problems, we are 'HELL BENT' on supporting SO MANY of the 'SLOWEST GROWING GAMEFISH' in NORTH AMERICA!... LOL. It makes NO SENSE when we have these issues AND 400 ANGLERS per LAKE!

What also makes no sense is people 'Bitching' about Small Stunted Perch! WTH is that all about? Doesn't matter HOW you may try and DENY it, PERCH are PAN-FISH (not GAMEFISH) and they should be in MANY lakes and waters that have WALLEYE and PIKE so they can BE EATEN! Who CARES how big they get..! As long as they populate (which they're good at) and make the WALLEYE and PIKE nice and FAT and ABOVE ALL,.. HEALTHY!

Alberta fishing SUCKS because we aren't DEALING with the FISHING PRESSURE properly... Bring in TONS of Baitfish and Panfish and start FEEDING these fish, stocking the right LAKES and re-evaluate the REALLY poor fisheries and put something ELSE in those. Any lake that can't support WALLEYE can sure as hell support Sunfish or Perch.. Use those lakes as 'Pan-Fish breeding lakes, occasionally netting and transferring 'breeding fish' to other lakes and reservoirs thus keeping the WALLEYE fisheries HEALTHY enough to REALLY POPULATE!

Worried about Bucket Brigades? Let's get REALLY TOUGH and make the fines SO HUGE that if they get caught doing ANY of it, they either GO TO JAIL or pay a $50,000 fine!
Enough is enough, we need to do SOMETHING drastic for our Fisheries, cause there is NOTHING NATURAL about OUR Fisheries RIGHT NOW and 'MOTHER NATURE' if left to do 'HER THING' (as many of you would like,,,) would MERCILESSLY kick our azzes due to our ALREADY MASSIVE interference... Let's do in right.

Cheers, great post dude

[floppychicken]

I don't have the time to really get in to all this post. So much wrong, so little time. This little nugget caught my eye. The reason people are "bitching" about stunted perch is because they were introduced illegally in to bodies of water that don't have pike or walleye to feed on them. They take over the lake and boom nothing but 4" perch. Totally screwed watershed.

By introducing outside species we risk what is happening down in the states with Silver carp and other invasive species. Quit screwing with the balance of nature.

If over fishing is the problem limit the number of licenses that are issued. Boom problem solved.

BAHAHAHAHAHAH....

WHAT BODY OF WATER COULD A PERCH POSSIBLY TAKE OVER ? LOL..... Lake Sundance? That place is a POND and the TROUT sure don't seem to be getting ANY smaller..lol What do you think it IS that a PERCH will EAT that has NO WALLEYE and NO PIKE in it? What the hell is left for the PERCH to take over? They should be FISH FOOD or for 'CHILDREN' to catch, along with Sunfish.. LOL.

We've HAD IMPORTED fish here for eighty FREAKIN' years! EVER heard of the BOW RIVER? One of the BEST, If not the BEST TROUT FISHERY in the WORLD!! How do you think IT got that way?? :rolleye2:

Wait until the ANGLERS per lake REACHES 500 and the ONLY thing you're catching IS PERCH!! LOL...

BTW, go ahead and LIMIT the LICENSES (let's start with yours since it's YOUR idea!)

:P

Cheers,

[floppychicken]

great post dude

Thanks Man...

I'm no 'FISH EXPERT' (that's pretty obvious) but I know that the FISHERY is SCREWED for CERTAIN if it continues the 'way it is' at present... We need some 'changes' and I think it's time for a 'petition' or 'two'.... :P

Cheers,

[Bear]

BAHAHAHAHAHAH....

WHAT BODY OF WATER COULD A PERCH POSSIBLY TAKE OVER ? LOL..... Lake Sundance? That place is a POND and the TROUT sure don't seem to be getting ANY smaller..lol What do you think it IS that a PERCH will EAT that has NO WALLEYE and NO PIKE in it? What the hell is left for the PERCH to take over? They should be FISH FOOD or for 'CHILDREN' to catch, along with Sunfish.. LOL.

We've HAD IMPORTED fish here for eighty FREAKIN' years! EVER heard of the BOW RIVER? One of the BEST, If not the BEST TROUT FISHERY in the WORLD!! How do you think IT got that way?? :rolleye2:

Wait until the ANGLERS per lake REACHES 500 and the ONLY thing you're catching IS PERCH!! LOL...

BTW, go ahead and LIMIT the LICENSES (let's start with yours since it's YOUR idea!)

:P

Cheers,
Lake Sundance is once example. Cummings Lake is another. Hasse Lake. On and on. Perch eat the bugs and water creatures and compete directly with the trout in those lakes. Hence no trout left in Cummings Lake and others. As been said in the past, perch without a predator to keep them in check the population explodes to beyond the carrying capacity and the perch stop growing.

Alberta has bigger problems to worry about than introducing outside species. Lets worry about what we have and what to do about those species before we start talking about introducing ANY MORE. Clear enough for you?

I half heartedly said limit licenses. You and others were bitching about too many anglers. I said the simple way to fix that is limit the number of licenses issued. Anyone caught fishing without a license gets a $500 fine. Pretty easy way to raise revenue huh?

I contend that trying to fix our fisheries by introducing outside species is wrong and should not be done, ever.

[jesse34567]

bumpp

[Steven Noel]

We, as people in general, have a severe problem, with feeling the need to tamper with and change things from thier natural state. As much as I love my Brook Trout, my Browns, as much as I love the southern alberta Rainbows, as much as I love the cutts in the high alpine lakes... the fact is THEY SHOULD NOT BE THERE. Nature did not intend for them to be there, but we felt a need to change things to make them as we wanted. And as a result the native species... the Bull Trout, the Athabasca Rainbows, the Westslope Cutts have suffered. Look at the Cave and Basin hot springs. The introduction of the three invasive fish species there led to the EXTINCTION of the unique subspecies of stickleback that called the springs home. Albeit our knowledge of our impact on the environment was significantly less then what it is now, when we made some of these decisions. However, now that we know of the potential consequences of our actions, let us consider them carefully, and NOT make the same mistake again.

Do not introduce Bass to Alberta.

[pickrel pat]

isnt there a specie of shark that can live in freshwater and salt water? im getting an idea !:bad_boys_20:

[Steven Noel]

isnt there a specie of shark that can live in freshwater and salt water? im getting an idea !:bad_boys_20:

Has to be tropical water.. very warm. I googled lol...

[Little Miss Fish]

Just caught my first bass a couple days ago at Duck Lake near Creston BC. The two I caught weren't anything to write home about but I was surprised by the fight those little suckers put up, lol. I am not opposed to seeing bass introduced to Alberta as long as it's done in a safe and sustainable way. There is always a chance, as some of you have pointed out, that irresponsible anglers will catch and release bass into 'virgin' waters. However, what also concerns me is Mother Nature herself. For example, I was at Bower Ponds in Red Deer this morning which use to be stocked with Rainbows but flooding a few years back introduced Pike into the ponds... With the recent heavy rains we've seen all over Alberta it is easy to see how flooding could represent a greater risk than many other factors, allowing potentially foreign species the opportunity to gain access to major waterways. If bass are to be introduced I hope it's done responsibly and in a way that eliminates any potential risk factors.

[greylynx]

Bass have been introduced into Alberta over a very long period of time. In the early days lakes like Wabamun and Lac St. Anne had different varieties of Bass introduced with no success.

Small mouth Bass were introduced into Smoke Lake north of the town of Smokey Lake during the early eighties. They survived there for about five years. Maximum size was a couple of pounds.

[TexasTornado]

I am pretty sure i hooked a Halibut or something slow trolling in 50fow the other day out on Sylvan, what ever it was hugged the bottom and headed straight out at an incredible rate of acceleration. Spooled off 200-250 yards of 20lb mono, i picked it up once my i got into the backing but there was nothing i could do.

[Djcoles]

I would love to be able to fish bass in alberta, but the problem is it will take away lakes with trout in them. I lived in Ontario for a few years and fished the lots of lakes with both bass and trout and the trout just move out to deeper waters and is alot harder to catch. Bass are very aggressive and will eat anything smaller then itself.

[jesse34567]

Very interesting to see the results of the poll,

some people bring up good points about not introducing them.
But I believe Alberta is in rough shape with their current fisheries, their has to be a change in that first before the thought of introducing new species.

Lakes have to be more balanced in predator and prey for a healthy and sustaining population of fish to occur.

[sickfast]

Bass are just old Walleye that have lost there teeth and moved south.... Keep them out of here!!! This is Walleye country!!!:scared0018:

[loetv]

:)yes yes , so nice have bass in alberta aaaaa++++