Quote:
Originally Posted by KegRiver
Grayling are one of the species I had in mind.
They used to be abundant around here and some remain. But to the best of my knowledge they have never been popular with anglers in this district and I have never heard of them being caught in a net in the area.
But their numbers have decreased considerably. No one seems to know just how much.
I do know that in the 40s and 50s some trappers would make rock traps to catch them to use for dog food on their trap lines. My dad was one of those trappers and he described to me where when and how to catch them using rock traps. He talked about using a short plank to stun them and being able to fill a half dozen grain sack with them in a couple of days with this method. He described the river coming alive with a carpet of moving fish when they were moving down steam for the winter.
I've often thought of trying to catch them with fly fishing gear at the time and place he suggested but have not because others I know have tried with no success. Yet I have caught small Grayling in the upper stretches of that same river.
From what my dad described I should be able to see them in the pools here at the right time of year but even though I have looked I have yet to see one at the time and place he specified.
I can only conclude that there just aren't enough around now to be able to spot them without investing inordinate amounts of time to the quest.
But if that's the case, what happened to them ? Nets and angling clearly are not the reason for their appearance scarcity.
The only thing I can find that might explain the apparent decline is development. There has been a huge amount of oilfield activity in the upper reaches of these rivers which is apparently where the Grayling breed and spend their summer.
Thing is, I can only guess and no one is doing any research into the situation because there is no public interest in the matter. Few even know that Grayling occur here.
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Keg...
I recall being at a ACA meeting where the ACA described how they spent our money. One presentation talked of fish passage issues in the Swan Hills grayling streams. The presenter described how 700 of 900 culverts/bridges checked didn't allow fish passage. For a migrating spawner like grayling, this means death. When I asked representatives of Fisheries and Oceans & Alberta Govt what they were going to do with the evidence, they replied "nothing".
It seems like the only response by Govt is to limit angling rather than deal with the issues really effecting fisheries. No one ever sold a license to cows, pipelines, clear cuts etc.
And regarding Grayling. The Northern Lites/Trout Unlimited guys have a grayling project ongoing.
See:
http://www.nlft.org/category/conservation-projects/
Regards,
Don