A Vanishing Provicial Treasure.

[Dust1n]

the bull trout still on the decline after F&W TRY and do there best to deal with it but they still havent recovered....the walleye has made a great comback. though pipelines,cuts trees,more atv traffic, fishing preasure, more silt in water and most of all warmer waters.
hmm what are your ideas?

[uplander]

Just out of curiosity fish hunter where did u get this info that bulls are still declining? Ill agree with you that yes in some rivers due to the larger flooding that occured in 2005 and the unseasonally warm water flows that happened in 2009 wich took there toll on our freshwater giants they may have declined somewhat but then again in rivers like the NSR,Athabasca,highwood and livingstone just to name a few have increased bull trout populations and numerous mature fish so in no way are these fish declining in those rivers. With the introduced c&r regs on all bulls now they seem to be recovering very well and if you also have experienced the wonderful fly fishing for bulls that takes place on said rivers you will soon have a hard time beleiving there in decline.

[WillyOneStyle]

They were once the only trout (actually char) in most of the rivers in Alberta, It will never be that way again. It may be the end of an era.
I would certainly throw a Bull back and I think the same could be said for all that might read this, but there is more to this than anglers. I say rally around any area where they show strength. Still, I think they struggle because we brought in competition for them a century ago.

[Dust1n]

Red deer advocate just seen it in the pappr.(no caps)

[Dust1n]

thursday, march 11, 2011 paper

[fishstix]

They were once the only trout (actually char) in most of the rivers in Alberta, It will never be that way again. It may be the end of an era.
I would certainly throw a Bull back and I think the same could be said for all that might read this, but there is more to this than anglers. I say rally around any area where they show strength. Still, I think they struggle because we brought in competition for them a century ago.

You have no choice in Alberta. You have to throw them back.

[Dust1n]

no black throw it back. :fighting0074:
its all catch and realse for bullys in alberta due to the over fishing years ago that nearly killed them off becuase there thought of a trash species im glad we wke u and turned it around

[sdimedru]

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradvocate/lifestyles/columnists/A_vanishing_provincial_treasure_117675603.html

[howlin]

so the hatcheries raise thousands of rainbows ,why cant they do this with bulls?:thinking-006:

[Dust1n]

its a slow growing fish and they need realy cold water to survive othrwise there metalosm gets thrown off.

[uplander]

bulls are so finicky on where they spawn it would be almost impossible to raise them in a rainbow style hatchery and also a mature bull trout may only spawn once every few years so the whole population of mature fish aren't spawning every year. where the waters cold and glacial it's great for them we just need to obey the regs and keep their spawning grounds pristine

[Dust1n]

in other words dont throw your beer can into te deep dark pools kee it with you aswell if you see any trash and give it a proper dispocal

[WillyOneStyle]

You have no choice in Alberta. You have to throw them back.

I think you're missing the point. There should be more factors than just the law when you decide toss one back .... but the law is a good start.
What I'm getting at is we removed the Bull trout from it's niche by over fishing it and we had already introduced the successors. Bulls are more fragile than the other species in the rivers, simply not harvesting them just isn't enough. Hopefully we are starting to understand that there is no such thing as an indigenous trash species.

[lannie]

Bull Trout-

I am surprised with this report as i have seen more and caught more in the last few years than ever before in Oldman, Crow, and Castle drainages. Maybe i missed something somewhere along the line. Are there more detailed reports that specify which drainages have improved or declined ?

[walking buffalo]

The latest Alberta Bull Trout Status report ( 2009 )

http://srd.alberta.ca/biodiversitystewardship/speciesatrisk/DetailedStatus/documents/StatusOfBullTroutInAlberta39-Sep-2009.pdf

[lannie]

That is very informative and interesting reading.

I am not sure where the lower crow and the upper crow meet. Possibly lundbreck falls ? Why do they not list the lower Crow in the charts. There are many Bulls caught below the falls. Another surprise for me was using the stats of the Castle and Oldman Reservoir as 1 identity. I do believe due to the Dam the Reservoir stats would be very low. But it would make the Castle drainage stats much lower than they actually are if my thinking is sound and i did not miss anything. The Castle drainage is the one i frequent the most and that is what my observations are based on. I do think this drainage would have the highest numbers south of the Bow when you consider tribs such as the carbondale, lynx, and lost. There must be a very good reason why the Castle and Oldman Res. are mashed together. Any ideas on that one ?

The biggest changes other than the bulls that i observe in the south are increasing catch rate of Brown Trout in the Crow above the falls. Also Anglers catching Lake trout in the Crow, downstream of Blairmore.

[lannie]

And thanks for the link too !

[fishstix]

I think you're missing the point. There should be more factors than just the law when you decide toss one back .... but the law is a good start.
What I'm getting at is we removed the Bull trout from it's niche by over fishing it and we had already introduced the successors. Bulls are more fragile than the other species in the rivers, simply not harvesting them just isn't enough. Hopefully we are starting to understand that there is no such thing as an indigenous trash species.

Im not missing the point. You dont have a choice. Wheather you feel copelled by the law, or because you're a good guy, or a you're a lead by example person. You have to throw them back.
Throwing one back is throwing one back.

[southunter]

That is very informative and interesting reading.

I am not sure where the lower crow and the upper crow meet. Possibly lundbreck falls ? Why do they not list the lower Crow in the charts. There are many Bulls caught below the falls. Another surprise for me was using the stats of the Castle and Oldman Reservoir as 1 identity. I do believe due to the Dam the Reservoir stats would be very low. But it would make the Castle drainage stats much lower than they actually are if my thinking is sound and i did not miss anything. The Castle drainage is the one i frequent the most and that is what my observations are based on. I do think this drainage would have the highest numbers south of the Bow when you consider tribs such as the carbondale, lynx, and lost. There must be a very good reason why the Castle and Oldman Res. are mashed together. Any ideas on that one ?

The biggest changes other than the bulls that i observe in the south are increasing catch rate of Brown Trout in the Crow above the falls. Also Anglers catching Lake trout in the Crow, downstream of Blairmore.



I believe they are lumped together because many of the bulls that winter in the reservoir spawn in the Castle drainage, thus making them the same population.

[Dust1n]

like what someone mntined above me i thik theyre loosing there niche in our home waters...

[lannie]

I believe they are lumped together because many of the bulls that winter in the reservoir spawn in the Castle drainage, thus making them the same population.

The bulls in the reservoir could go into the Oldman, Lower Crow and the Castle making that 1 population. Does not look that accurate. Having Bulls from Lynx creek and lower Crowsnest river as part of the Oldman reservoir count seems odd to me. A Bully in that count could also be from the upper reaches of the Oldman or livingstone river. Very well could be but the study does appear to be very detailed and then to throw that in the mix...

[Dust1n]

i think when hey say wildlife and habbat willnot be damaged i think they should mean it where LOOSING our provincial fish

[WillyOneStyle]

i think when hey say wildlife and habbat willnot be damaged i think they should mean it where LOOSING our provincial fish

x2
It has been over sixteen years since we decided to save the bulls. Four generations of bull trout.

[pikester]

If this decline is true & turns out to be a trend then I will truely be sad for this fish. I have had many enjoyable trips & memories catching big Bulls throughout most of of my life. As much fun as I have had chasing rainbows & browns over the last 30 or so years, I would trade most of those opportunities to once again have a healthy native bull trout / cutthroat fishery the way nature intended. I know that idea is a pipe dream but I've put enough time in along the rivers & creeks on Alberta to have those dreams ;)

[fluxcore]

I'm missing the cutties and browns in the Clearwater, Ill catch 8-9 bulls before one brown and Ive only caught 3 cutties in 4 years fishing on that river and you can keep them!!!! I am throwing huge streamers but you would think a brown would be all over that!!

[Dust1n]

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