My (nearly) annual Classified waters rant. :)

[Bushrat]

Some thoughts for discussion.

Propose a moratorium to ban new guide licences on east slope flowing waters. Over time guides with current licences will disappear through attrition, those licences made non transferable. Or at least limit the number of guides. Non resident angler licences must become expensive, limited to 5 or seven days per season, curtailing many non resident, and non resident aliens from parking there RV for weeks or spending months travelling the trunk road and fishing daily every prominent east slope stream and river.

Guessing 10%-20% of fishermen catch the majority of fish over a season. These fishermen tend to be hardcore experts, actively fish a lot and generally are the ones complaining about crowded fishing, pin cushion defaced fish, etc. I'm guilty of this...well all but the expert part We need to address this issue, look within and show a little restraint.

I fish the Blackstone, North Ram and Ram rivers and other area streams, not that I don't like quads and side by sides, I do but if we restricted quad access within 1/4 mile of these and many other streams it would take away a lot of pressure on these streams or at least some sections of them. Most people are lazy and couldn't be bothered if they had to actually walk down the river a couple miles instead of a 10 minute quad ride. I notice a vast difference in fishing pressure on streams that are without quad trails along their length.

No Helicopter drop off fishing. These places are getting pounded by expert fishermen daily throughout the season, 50-100 fish days are not uncommon, even with 0 bag limit the sheer volume of fish caught most likely causes a higher mortality than a two fish daily bag limit.

Anybody else have any ideas.

[ÜberFly]

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a "guiding license" in Alberta (which is a BIG issue). Most legitimate guides, myself included and most that I work with are in favour of this!! And though the AOGAA (as grassroots as it is at this stage) we advocate for this!

Originally Posted by Bushrat

Propose a moratorium to ban new guide licences on east slope flowing waters. Over time guides with current licences will disappear through attrition, those licences made non transferable.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by ÜberFly

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a "guiding license" in Alberta (which is a BIG issue). Most legitimate guides, myself included and most that I work with are in favour of this!! And though the AOGAA (as grassroots as it is at this stage) we advocate for this!

When I first learned about the lack of guide licensing and no cap regulating the number of guides on each body of water I shook my head. This is just poor management of the industry and Alberta’s fishery

[Flymph]

For over 30 years my wife and I have been traveling to your beautiful province where I do a little catch and release fly fishing. We have always felt very privileged to spend time here and take extra care to leave as small a footprint as possible. We have always been treated like good neighbors and return that respect when ever possible.

We are booth teachers and thus do not command a large income. We started our treks here, years ago, in a small camper, and gladly paid the daily fees to camp. We are now, much older and can no longer handle camping. Our Prius, combined with, the cheaper motels, is all we can afford on a retirement budget.

Our teaching jobs brought us to North Central WA in the states that is primarily desert country with only some lake fishing. That said, the only stream fishing we do is what ever the Alberta alien license will allow.

I completely understand the overpopulation issue when it comes to fishing and don't blame any of you for trying to save your waters. Just saying we are both deeply saddened at the prospect of not being able to afford a daily classified license.

We are both Senior citizens and have probably become more emotional than necessary here. Saving the habitat and your precious stream inhabitants must come first. We wish you the best of luck and are forever thankful for the quality times we have spent in Alberta.

[Bushrat]

Originally Posted by Flymph

For over 30 years my wife and I have been traveling to your beautiful province where I do a little catch and release fly fishing. We have always felt very privileged to spend time here and take extra care to leave as small a footprint as possible. We have always been treated like good neighbors and return that respect when ever possible.

We are booth teachers and thus do not command a large income. We started our treks here, years ago, in a small camper, and gladly paid the daily fees to camp. We are now, much older and can no longer handle camping. Our Prius, combined with, the cheaper motels, is all we can afford on a retirement budget.

Our teaching jobs brought us to North Central WA in the states that is primarily desert country with only some lake fishing. That said, the only stream fishing we do is what ever the Alberta alien license will allow.

I completely understand the overpopulation issue when it comes to fishing and don't blame any of you for trying to save your waters. Just saying we are both deeply saddened at the prospect of not being able to afford a daily classified license.

We are both Senior citizens and have probably become more emotional than necessary here. Saving the habitat and your precious stream inhabitants must come first. We wish you the best of luck and are forever thankful for the quality times we have spent in Alberta.

Flymph, I sympathize with you. If all fishermen were as you describe yourself it would be a better world. We're all in the same boat be it WA, Alberta, MT, Yellowstone or anywhere else in North America. Overcrowding is becoming a problem on all our streams and rivers. As each place reaches a saturation point where increasing crowds diminish the fishing experience fishermen expand farther to waters less crowded and so on it progresses. We are running out of places to go where one can enjoy peaceful solitude.

In Alberta we have one narrow band of the province where the east slope trout streams are in the southwest corner of the province, only about 10% of Alberta's land mass. With a resident population of 4 million, those who want to stream fish for trout are crowded into this small area with a limited number of trout bearing streams.

Something should be done. The conundrum is not everyone, residents and non residents alike, will be happy about it. If we continue with the status quo the fishing experience will continue to degrade as it becomes more crowded and the option to relocate to wilder places become fewer or non existent.

I hope there is a trout stream for everyone in Heaven!