Police outpost winterkilled
 

Heard some ice-fisherman checked out the lake to find lots of dead minnows and no trout.
What a waste to not aerate a lake with such great potential.
Can't understand why other lakes and lots of other provinces don't have any issue with aeration

I heard the same news, I hope it's not 100% accurate, but it doesn't sound promising. Might be a sign of bad news for some of the other southern lakes that are vulnerable to winter kill too.

It will be a terrible result,of years of trying .I see that in some lakes in BC where there are wk problems.Fishermen/women have gotten together,with a GO Fund acct.Where those monies go directly to aeration.Some lakes are also collecting $ 10.00 for parking,which is then used for aeration,up keep etc.Quality stocked fisheries are so rare,it behouves me why.The gov't can't look after ,aeration..Sad

what is sad, the aerators were purchased and power was installed. Parks wouldn't operate them any more and the ACA did a lousy job as well killing it once in two years.
Word was that the Camp Attendant was to aerate the lake.
Looks like that didn't happen either.
About time to fire some people.

Don

No kidding. And ask for volunteers if no one else will do it. So many more on here care more about it. It really is not a hard thing...

Very sad to hear that. When I was going to school, we spent a lot of time there.
Years upon years...

Bummed,
Nog

Fished there 2 rainy nights about 13 years ago in May on my way to Montana to test my dog. Caught 2 beauties in my float tube. First night dog went ballistic in the tent like I’ve never had before. Never did see what was outside but it sure took off quick. Woke a guy up in a real hurry.

It’s a beautiful lake.

Buddy was a Park warden? there years ago, He said there were quite a few skunks hangin around, Said they were a GREAT incentive for campers to clean up their garbage.
I used to haul some nice rainbows outta that lake.

Hopefully its not 100% winter kill

It's my go to campground for many years , but never have I seen a skunk

I have moose, bear,fox,a few coyotes, chickens , lots of small rabbits

Government waste and neglect at its finest.

Rumour has it there was winter kill, exactly how much is yet to be determined, as of today the ice is not off yet.
Fish and wildlife were there today and nothing has been determined .

Hoping those 20 plus inch fish are still around

Maybe now they will put it back to the way it was.... a family campground and you can keep what you catch... The trophy boys might have to find another pond to dominate. :argue2:

Wasn’t the GOA. Was ACA.

Ya, a real “trophy” lake!
Oh well, there’s always pine coulee,lol!

Must be the same clown that empties the garbage bins at castle falls, considering down south I see 10 parks vehicles to every one co, pretty pathetic actually!!

Grizzly most certainly

Ah, a good ol' pickerel rig and worm guy!

Amazing the people still butt hurt about being able to catch fish bigger then 12" isn't it!!

The province needs to put it back to the way it was. If it never could support a population of naturally occurring fish let it go. Quit stocking with fish that aren't indigenous to the lakes and put the money into the habitat where our native species struggle.

Lannie; Why is it so wrong,to have a handful[1 hand].Of QSF scattered around the prov.It gives fellow fishers ,the op to catch,perhaps there PB. That is not 8-9" long.IMO there should be more...

It's not so wrong....

It's just a case of being responsible and doing what's best for the fish that are native to our province. They stand the best chance of being self sustaining and we should be doing what we can for them first and then look at other options. That is my opinion and the way I see it.
Because you don't see it my way doesn't mean you are wrong either...

Great response!

I don't actually know what the native fish is for Police Outpost.

For me if there is a small pot hole / lake that can better sustain large fish with some work to make it happen, native or not, I'm in favor of it. I'm a sportsman who likes the new stocking variety that Alberta has to offer. A handful of quality fisheries to go with it is great for me.

I definitely agree with supporting native fish populations. I think the challenge is that if we only focused on native trout, there would be too much pressure on those fisheries, so creating fisheries such as Police Outpost is a great way to steer some angling pressure elsewhere.

All trout lakes that are stocked should be catch and keep fisheries. That could take pressure off native fish in streams on the east slopes. Seen lots of winter kill fish wasted over decades in the spring time on many stocked trout lakes in Alberta.

The winterkill is a fair point. On lakes that fish are likely to survive the winter, I do believe that reduced harvest regulations can be a good thing. I may be in the minority, but a stocked lake that's catch and keep and fish rarely survive to grow bigger than 12 inches before being harvested will not steer me away from fishing a stream with native trout, but a stocked lake with reduced harvest regulations that regularly grows 20+ inch trout will definitely draw me to fish there instead of a stream with native trout.

Also, what do we need to classify as wasted stocked trout? Stocked trout that are harvested at 10 inches the first time they're caught definitely aren't wasted. At the same time, I don't believe we should just call 24 inch trout that die in winterkill wasted simply because they don't get eaten - they have provided entertainment to several anglers, whether through being caught multiple times or simply by drawing anglers to pursue them in the lakes they inhibit.

What happened is terrible.

Just for info sake,it's early stocking 2023.So far Payne lake,which is 25k away from Police & is a put & take fishery.That get's the exact strains of fish stocked as what Police get's.Police get's 5000 fish per year.It might get a few1ooo more this year because of the wk.
Here is Payne for early 2023 Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR
Trout
Lodge/Jumpers AF3N 21.7 8,455 25-Apr-23
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR
Trout
Lodge/Jumpers AF3N 20.0 581 25-Apr-23
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR
Trout
Lodge/Kamloops AF3N 17.3 14,220 25-Apr-23 That's about 20,000 so far

2022 168000 fish stocked there in the year

e Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Trout
Lodge/Kamloops AF3N 12.7 15,000 25-Apr-22
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Beitty Resort 3N 6 50,000 25-Apr-22
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Trout
Lodge/Jumpers AF3N 17.7 5,000 26-Apr-22
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Campbell Lake 3N 24.7 747 31-May-22
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Trout
Lodge/Jumpers AF3N 18.8 3,529 3-Jun-22
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Campbell Lake 3N 14.8 17,799 16-Jun-22
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Campbell Lake 3N 16.8 3,823 16-Jun-22
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Campbell Lake 3N 17.5 18,506 12-Sep-22
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Campbell Lake 3N 17.6 5,494 19-Sep-22
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Beitty Resort 3N 14.2 38,000 21-Sep-22
Payne Lake Mami Lake NE10-2-28-W4 RNTR Trout
Lodge/Kamloops AF3N 20.2 2,001 28-Sep-22
Payne Lake

Sorry to the group about multi posts.Site won't allow it all in 1 post

168,000 fish to Payne every year plus all the other lakes marked for harvest in the south should be cancelled. Hundreds of thousands of non-native fish poured into all these lakes. The budget must be astronomical to run all this hatchery support.

I guess all those funds used at the hatchery to provide a meat fishery should be cancelled and forwarded to stream habitat reclamation for bull trout and cutthroat. The effects of industry and vehicle traffic are very detrimental to long term health of our native streams and fish.

Putting 4-5000 fish in Police and letting them grow over 20" sounds like such a serious problem. The fraction of the budget Police takes up is hard to even calculate.

Just thinking out loud