I don't agree with poaching but some people play within the law and think they are saints (btw, I'm not Asian in case you wonder LOL).

we all know that a good percentage of C & R fish will die due to stress/injuries caused when they were caught.

Let say the famous poacher killed 2 undersized pike breaking the law while somebody else killed more by C & R (the fish died due to injuries and stress)?

And these things could happen in a place where the fish is not recommended for eating like NSR.

Of course, we have a better chance protecting fish populations in the long term by following the law but as individual it does not make you a saint compared to the poacher.

Some stuff is actually confusing to me. The barbless hooks is very confusing. Its illegal to use them but they are allowed to be sold without any warning on the stores that you must fix them on your own. If you dont read the regulations or visit forums like this you are in trouble.

Then the stocking program. Man when I tell my Mom that the government and conservation groups put fish in ponds for people to catch them she cant understand it.

The fish put on the ponds are very small and not allow to grow in the pond due to fishing, winter kill, sterile fish, ect. I feel like I'm poaching. Again, now I understand these fish are stock to reduce pressure to wild/native fish populations but still it does not feel right LOL.

As a new canadian and new sportfisherman, all this concept is new to me. I try to learn as much as I can and share the info with my kids and new canadians friends too. You have no idea how much ignorance is out there. As a new Canadian, I know a good chunk of new Canadian fishermen with no idea on the regulations.

Again, I hate poachers but some improvements in the system need to happen to reduce poaching.

I apologize if some of my concepts are incorrect.

the only people who should be scared to say what they think are guys who spew racism. maybe you need to start thinking about the way you think of others, before you share your ideas with everybody because i have no problem saying what i think, without people calling me racist. As far as you admitting you are a racist...well...i feel sorry for you.

Welkome to the forum, BeeGuy!
You started with a very good post.

maybe re-read the post and you may be able to figure out where it went over your head....

Taken from Hal53's post....to help Tosh understand.

"I agree Race has nothing to do with it, but neither does his preconceived notions bred out his naivety of the situation... BTW, still chuckle, how we as Canadians are so afraid to say what we think because , someone, somewhere no matter what you say or think, is going to call you a racist."

Hal53 was being sarcastic when he stated what he did.....thought I would help clear it up for some who could not see the obvious......the post has to be taken in all of its context not just a single statement.

Lefty

Interesting to hear everybodys take on the issue, from my perspective poaching is poaching and no matter how severe the poaching is it may be one or two today 3 tommorow and it may just escalate until they get caught!! If the poacher happens to have young kids with them (which I have seen) well guess how they will respect the fishing regualations when they are a little older!

In a nut shell I have reported some pretty minor offences to the fish cops which most people would have turned their head the other way. In the end one of them ended up being busted on grand theft, and as well a much larger poaching ring then I would have imagined that could have stemmed from a 10 inch trout being kept in a catch and release stream!

We have worked to hard to let poachers take advantage of the fishing opportunities in Alberta

Welcome to Alberta Beeguy! Well said!

I'm fairly certain this is exactly what the natives of this land said before all the white european immigrant forebears were fresh off the boat - shortly before they raped and pillaged the land without a second thought to conservation or harmony with nature.

Not trying to start a flame war - just making the necessary rebuttal to your statement. I gather you said this sarcastically, but I've seen others here use this exact same narrow-minded argument before - so this is more of a rebuttal to all of them, and to the sentiment expressed - not you

good one.

If you choose to fish in Alberta,
You require a Sportfishing License,(in most cases)
With that License you receive Sportfishing Regulations,
If you cannot understand or comply with these Regulations, ask for clarification from numerous sources or Pick Another Sport.
Non-Compliance will be Reported to the Proper Authorities
Thank You.

Hey Folks,

Thanks for all the replies. Hopefully I didn't stir things up too much. Thanks for all the positive feedback. I haven't had the opportunity to read all the responses yet but I'm working on it.

I should make it clear that I wasn't specifically trying to criticize any particular poster. I was commenting on some themes which seemed apparent to me from my browsing. That is all.

For those that think my commentary on the state of environmental transformation in the province would suggest I'm a raging tree-hugger, this is not the case.

Cheers, and I'll get back to reading your responses.

Hey SSYD,

I was just testing the waters mate. It wasn't meant as a gospel, just passing some ideas around.

Peace

Alright, Good stuff all 'round with a bit'o'chaff mixed in.

So, where were we? Ah yes, I love fishing.

So I headed out to PCR this morning for the sunrise (5:38am). I had a good idea of what to expect, and that turned out well. ~50 pickerel in a couple hours. I didn't measure any but would estimate they were all in the 1.5-2.0lb class. The ****ers looked delicious, but they all went back. In between entertaining myself with the pickerel, I was tossing out a very large yellow 5oDiamonds without success and was pumping a little cleo across the bottom to the same effect. Didn't see a pike or a burbot, but I never left the dock.

What a great rec fishery. I can't wait to take the wife and a few fair-weather outdoors friends here. Anyone actually see a big pike come out of here or are they just sightings still?

I also had a set-line with a smelt out deep hoping for a burb I could feed the lady for brekfast but no luck (or engineered success either).

Note: I had 2 rods, only 1 of which was in use at a time. That means when I had a smelt set, I was standing around watching the ducks.

Anyone got a canoe they want to get rid of?

Also, if anyone is in Calgary and is thinking about dropping a tinney somewhere (Glenmore Reservoir) and wants company or some gas money shoot me a PM.

Anyways, looks like you have a great community here, and an awesome knowledge base.

Thanks for the welcome!

walleye are called walleye not pickerel two different fish

wow are we going here again?

no doubt!

we do?

Assimilate into OUR society? Interesting... please feel free to explain what "OUR society" is. Last time I checked, Canada was built on immigration with a proud history of cultural diversity.

Now let me ask you to do the same thing. Assimilate into OUR society. Canada is multi-cultural and to be Canadian means to embrace that and enjoy the diversity that exists among us. Assimilate into OUR society, instead of continuing in your ignorance. Enjoy and embrace Canada and its people.

Tyree, it's unfortunate that you have to see the ugly side of Alberta through this forum. If I didn't live here, I'd probably think exactly what you think. But what you're seeing is a very small percentage of very loud people.

There are varying degrees of fishing pressure across Alberta, but I wouldn't categorize it as extreme. Some trout ponds/lakes can be fished out, but there are plenty of options for Albertans and many lakes will hold fish throughout the winter.

As for poaching, it's definately an issue, but is it a bigger problem than what the rest of Canada experiences? I'm not so sure.

The racism on the board is sometimes subtle and sometimes very blatant. The subtle ones like to state they are using a "description", but what purpose does the description serve? This is a forum, not F&W. Also, it's typically a 1 word description and it's enough, because what else matters?

Anyhow, my experience on the water is actually very different than what this forum would suggest. Fishing in Alberta is fantastic and almost everyone I run into is extremely friendly. It's too bad that a small percentage of very loud and ignorant people have figured out how to use the Internet.

Agreed!

There seems to be lots of fishing opportunities within a 1hr drive from Cowtown. I'm not a huge fan of cities, so this ability to escape is a massive ++++. 45 minutes to the mountains....AWESOME!

The waters here are so varied as well which is great.

Have you ever been to Fort Mac, are you technically involved in the process up there, or are you just repeating what you heard James Cameron said or what you saw on a biased documentary?

I have plenty of family back there so I get annoyed when people make assumptions.


And Photoplex I like you but we gotta drop all the WASP talk. Yes white man did horrible things, but so has every other colour/culture in the history of man. Lets shake it off and move one, cause I didn't do it and you didn't do it.

Hey, brother, I am not racist, or prejudiced against any group - WASPs included (except the yellow and black buzzing stinging type:)).

I just get annoyed when I read around here "go back where you came from" or "this is our country, like it or lump it". Pointing out to that person, that they are only a few generations away from the exact same thing they're getting their panties in a twist about does not make me some kind of crusader...

Hey ESOX,

I have not worked in oil/gas, however I have worked all over the place (BC and AB) in forestry which in AB runs side by side with O&G. My wife is currently an env. consultant in the Big Mac.

So no, your right, I'm not technically washing bitumen out of the sand.

Guys, as I mentioned, I conducted a lot of research on bees, so go easy on my WASPY brethren!!

Agreed, I dig where your coming from!

You don't need to be directly involved in something to form an educated opinion. Part of critical thinking involves applying research and validating/invalidating that research. Also, wouldn't working directly with the oil sands create a bias?

Anyhow, I'm not a dentist, but I'm pretty confident that sugar promotes tooth decay. I'm not a doctor, but I'm pretty confident that smoking can damage your lungs and cause cancer... and so on.

I think you missed the post where the sarcasm in hals post was explained.

good to see that your still around and as single minded as ever. Why is it you only ever seem to post on threads like these.

couldn't agree more with you hal...

LB I'd love to hear about what you think "we" are doing to the entire Athabasca Watershed....


in the same breath, welcome to the forum.

Research and environmental impact assessments are not cut and dry like your examples of sugar/tooth decay etc. Fertilizing your lawn may impact fisheries in your local watershed - but to what extent? When working around water, it is tough not to have some sort of impact. Depending on who has conducted the research, it can be incredibly bias, particularly around an industry with so many negative attitudes surrounding it already. That being said, without being directly involved, it IS quite difficult to form an "educated opinion".

Guys, my example was one meant to identify largescale and smallscale impacts as a tool to promote perspective on the thread topic, poaching.

Posts on the ethics and extent of the environment in Alberta that do not relate to poaching should be made in a new thread.

I think the original topic has about run it's course.

LB

I'm not racist
 

If i look at the spillway on traverse and see the guys throwing 15inch eyes in their bucket while i get confronted at little bow and checked over and then to hear the mnr guy say ("ohhh i missed the tourny ? i was hoping to do a few extra checks" )

this makes me want to freaking explode. pardon me if i don't give 2 s***'s if you are racially offended by the remarks because the people fishing the spillway were asian , sorry if that truth is terribly difficult to swallow for you , maybe you play by the rules and upsets you the same way . Fair enough !


Stereotypes are unfortunate but typically 90% accurate , its the culture thats responsible for the actions and everyone contributes to that big picture.

BTW , seriously ? the mnr was going to check SAWT fellas ? talk about barking up the wrong tree ...