Is SRD attempting to raise pygmy trout?

[Don Andersen]

Pope,

Fish fighting ability is related to body condition that is all related to the environment in which it lives. Good supply of groceries usually translates to good body condition.
A fish that is like the 14" one Duffy posted from Struble shows poor body condition. Here is a picture of a fish with good body condition. And no - the fish was not caught in Alberta.

[nof60]

[QUOTE=Don Andersen;850434]nof60,

What is really wrong with your thinking is that lots of fish mean high catch rates. Not true at all. I'm frankly surprised as a Fly angler you are unaware of that. But the Govt thinks much like you - the more fish, the more fish you can catch. WRONG!!!

Fish eat only when there is something to eat. They, unlike people, don't hurry here and there with no return on the energy investment. To do so is to die! They only get excited to eat when something is available. Over stocking means that most of the bugs are gone. Hence the fish are in a stupor till some groceries show up.

Now Don you are only telling part of the story here. A lake is capable of supporting x amount of lbs of fish and whether those lbs are made up of many small ones or fewer big ones is really neither here nor there. Smaller younger fish are more aggresive in between hatches and also less spooky and less picky about "matching the hatch" and are therefore easier to catch. They are also typically found in shallower warmer water therefore easier for shore fisherman and children. I thought a a fly fisherman and wanna be biologist / policy maker you would know this. As far as fight, yes a fishes condition greatly affects fight as does water temp, time of year and many other factors. Stocking to the max capacity ensures that the fish are hungry and not overfed therefore harder for kids to catch. Why should children be relegated to a crappy trout pond to protect a crappy lake for elitists? You get in your "buggy" and go to a mountain stream or river or wherever you like but believe it or not you do not have the exclusive use of all the lakes within an hour of RMH. I

[Beerfish]

Originally Posted by Don Andersen

Sundan...


The corner will be turned when I hear some Govt guy say out loud.

"This fishing is better in this province than it was 30 years go".

Curiously BC, Sask and Manitoba guys can say that.


Don

In god we trust, all others must provide relevant data.

It would be nice to see how these other provinces are organized in regards to fisheries management and what kind of budgets and priorities they place on it.

Step one is for you to define 'Fishing is better' because you could talk to many different people independently and get different answers.

Trophy fish?
Quantity of fish?
Species of fish?

The next thing you have to think about is what is the mandate of fisheries management. I think many would agree that it is combination of quantity and quality.

One thing I can 100% guarantee you is that if there are problems or perceived problems with fisheries management in this province it isn't because the biologists or technicians are dough heads or don't care.

If a person strongly feels that a particular fishery should be managed in a very different way (especially trout) I would recommend that they get proactive, join or become more vocal in a fish and game club and or trout unlimited and lobby to make changes to the fishery.

A clear well thought out plan or suggestion handled in calm and professional manner has a lot better chance of succeeding rather than a 'You guys are all *******es' rant.

[Don Andersen]

Beer..

Been there done that.


A letter I wrote to the regional Biologist lamenting that I now have to drive 5+ hours or more to have the kind of fishing that was available in nearly every lake in the Rocky area resulted in 10 volunteers under a fisheries permit gathering just over 100 trout out of Struble Lake. The fish were frozen to be assessed later by SRD staff. Of the 100 gathered, none were over 14". Our catch rate was quite high for about 2 hours due to a small chironomid hatch however the other 4 anglers that we spoke to had got nothing although 2 of the 4 had been there for 2 days.
At any rate, the K Factor was taken - growth rate determined at best as poor and the SRD commented "we don't care what you find, we're not changing".

So Struble continues as it is - well kinda. After SRD determined the growth rate was lousy, they raised the stocking numbers and after the participants @ a SRD/Public meeting last winter raised the issue about the lousy growth rate, they raised it again.

And I wished that Struble lake was the only one effected by this level of SRD thinking. Nope - every lake and that includes the lakes SRD called Quality Lakes is going or has gone the same way.

And for nof60, I wish the fishing for your children the fishing I had and my children had. Clearly we differ on what that should be.

Don

[Geezle]

This thread makes me glad that I don't often fish for trout.