Worst spot I've ever seen on the NSR

Geezle · #1 08-26-2010, 06:42 AM

Okay, for anybody who might not know, I fish the NSR around Edmonton quite a bit. Some spots are a lot easier to access than others, so of course the easy access spots are usually busier and therefore dirtier.

Well, yesterday I went down to the first spot that I'll probably never go back to...it was *that* bad.

After going to the big sale at TFH and picking up two new reels I just had to try them out, so I stopped off at the Beverly bridge, since it was the first place I crossed the river, and is one of those very easy access spots. I'd been to this spot twice before, so I wasn't surprised with all the garbage I saw around, but still a little disgusted. I fished for a while and around 8 people came and went, and then a group of guys I'd seen down there before showed up. They sat down to my right and dug into their 3 bags of McD's and then when they were done they moved off to my left and started fishing.

Shortly after that I had to leave. I packed up my stuff and headed back out of the valley, and past where those guys had their 'dinner' and sure enough all their garbage was spread all over the ground in the grass. They also had a tackle box left over with all the trash, so I'm hoping that they went and cleaned their crap up before they left, but I don't have real high hopes. I'm going to try to drop down there tonight after work just to check it out again, and if they didn't I'll bring a bag and clean it up myself.

So if you're looking for a place to fish in the city, under the Beverly bridge isn't a bad spot as far as the fishing goes, but it's also freakin' disgusting with garbage. I caught a couple nice little walleye on one of my new reels (which works wicked!) and saw the other guys pull out a few red tail suckers.

PoorTurtle · #2 08-26-2010, 07:25 AM

Geezle, we need more true outdoorsmen like you. I don't know if I would do a return trip just to pick up their garbage but I always bring a large garbage bag with me when I fish the NSR. Last time i was down at the legend hole, I filled the barrel. Like really, there is a ****ing garbage can right there, USE IT!!

Geezle · #3 08-26-2010, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoorTurtle

Geezle, we need more true outdoorsmen like you. I don't know if I would do a return trip just to pick up their garbage but I always bring a large garbage bag with me when I fish the NSR. Last time i was down at the legend hole, I filled the barrel. Like really, there is a ****ing garbage can right there, USE IT!!

Honestly I'm mostly just curious to see if they picked their crap up or not. However I can't feel right about going to look at their garbage and then leaving it there. It would be nice if they could put out a few more cans at the busier spots...maybe things would get *a bit* better.

The trash out at Legends is nothing compared to this place (and that's sad)

timsesink · #4 08-26-2010, 08:07 AM

I as fishing near the Henday bridge and low and behold a garbage bag comes flying off the bridge and lands not 10ft from me. To say I was angry would be an understatement. However seeing people and encouraging and educaiting people is never a bad thing. Great ide to carry the bag, however sometime I don't know where I'd start

tonypower · #5 08-26-2010, 08:19 AM

I have been fishing the nsr for many years. I have three kids that I take to the river all the time. Since they were old enough to walk the have been fishing that river and no matter where you go there is other peoples crap around. We ALWAYS bring a big green bag with us and while we are waiting for the rods to start moving we walk up the shore line and clean it up. It takes no more that a half hour to fill the bag. I feel your anger.

Dr. Fish · #6 08-26-2010, 12:02 PM

I have never understood why alot of shore fisherman are such litter bugs. I've fished the NSR all the way from Edmonton to Prince Albert and its the same everywhere. Every local easy access spot is covered in garbage, its absolutley disgusting. No respect!

valve god · #7 08-26-2010, 12:55 PM

I fish the Pembina river and find messes just about everywhere I go. I bring a small garbage bag with so I can clean up the mess before I start fishing. Old line,diapers,Mc D's bags etc. Went to on spot this year and took my dog with me and he started to yelp so I found him tangled in old line

I carried out 2 bags of garbage (white kitchen catchers) I went back about 2 months later and it looked like I hadn't cleaned that spot

It gets annoying cleaning other peoples mess but at least I did my best to keep the great outdoors clean!!!

Safety D · #8 08-26-2010, 02:27 PM

thats why its better to fish out of the jetboat !!!

Geezle · #9 08-27-2010, 07:21 AM

Pity I don't have a jetboat

Either way, I didn't manage to make it down to that spot yesterday...by the time I was done with work the wind had picked up like crazy and it was starting to rain, so I just went home.

I highly doubt I'll be back to that spot again...the fishing was decent but the atmosphere leaves something to be desired

billycap · #10 09-03-2010, 02:22 AM

aaahhh gotta love getto fishin.... thats actually my favorite spot... its dirty stinky and quite unsafe later in the evenings.. closed toed shoes are a must unless you want a dirty syringe stuck in your foot... in past years ive seen some nasty things down there from junkies to burned out cars... watched a hooker get out of a johns car and wash her hair in a foamy back swirl once.. no really! A few years ago i was shore fishing down there.. it was almost dark..getting kinda scarey... i hear a crunch in the grass right behind me... i spin around expecting to see low lifes looking for trouble.. a large buck white tail is standing about 6 ft up hill from me... he has his head down and is pawing the ground.. i tried to side step...he matched me... we do this dance for a couple of minutes... and all i could think was how ironic it would be to get killed by a deer in this of all places. Finally with alot of yelling and flailin of the fishin rod and a loud banging semi on the bridge it managed to spook angry bambi into not feeding me the horns..

now with that being said... ive also caught hundreds of goldeye (most 2 at a time) and by far the biggest walleye and sauger i have ever seen in my life in that nasty trash filled back eddie...

its the time of year to catch the big ones... but theres a real trick... and involves a lil danger factor.. anyone up for this?
no joke!

Geezle · #11 09-03-2010, 07:39 AM

I'm intrigued...do tell.

I do have to admit that the fishing there was pretty good the couple times I went down. It's just the atmosphere that's a turn off. Didn't come across any junkies or whatever down there, but one the one time I was down there was a truck parked down there with just a guy sitting in it...I started to get my fishing stuff out of the Jeep and suddenly there was a girl there with him

Pretty sure she just popped up from down on the passenger side

They left very shortly after I showed up.

PoorTurtle · #12 09-03-2010, 08:40 AM

UMMM....she was just picking up my ligher I droped under my seat.......lol

PoorTurtle · #13 09-03-2010, 08:43 AM

I float the Bow quiet a bit and the shore line is spotless compared to NSR, even with all the campers. I have never even seen a messy camp site either.

RedHeadedFisherman · #14 09-03-2010, 09:00 AM

I used to live in Edmonton 3 years ago. 118th and 20th ne. and been to the river many times.. just as bad as you all say..

my 2 cents is, why couldn't you take a few pics of the area ( or the guys eating the Mc'd's. and maybe the local paper would publish them in like a river of Shame column.
might make other think a little if they knew the mugs might get published in the River of Shame in the paper for all to see.

billycap · #15 09-03-2010, 11:24 AM

the big problem with the nsr is the fish are almost glowing... anyone who eats fish from anywhere in that river is crazy.. So id have a hard time taking pictures and pointing the finger at some shore garbage when the water is so nasty it stains your line and makes your hands and feet smell for hours.. The truly sickest part about fishing there is when the water touches ya! Ive seen much junk tossed over the edge of the bridge... often wondered how many crime weapons one would find with a strong magnet dragging on the bottom as you boat the length of that bridge. I have put my 12 ft aluminum down there a quite a few times and found that the train trussle bridge has a nice flat pad on the back side where you can break out a lawn chair. Then just tie a few flies directly to your line about 2ft apart then put the bobber on the very end of your line and flip into the fast current. Open your bail and let about 30- 40 ft of line out and watch as the bobber keeps the line tight and the flys right on the surface and the water drag makes the bobber zig and zag. a single maggot seems to help alot for double slamming goldeye this way.
As for the monster wallys n saugs lets just say its not so much about presentation as it is time of day....

greylynx · #16 09-03-2010, 03:55 PM

[QUOTE=billycap;671340]the big problem with the nsr is the fish are almost glowing... anyone who eats fish from anywhere in that river is crazy.. So id have a hard time taking pictures and pointing the finger at some shore garbage when the water is so nasty it stains your line and makes your hands and feet smell for hours.. The truly sickest part about fishing there is when the water touches ya! Ive seen much junk tossed over the edge of the bridge... often wondered how many crime weapons one would find with a strong magnet dragging on the bottom as you boat the length of that bridge.

And those guys in Calgary think their Bow River is so darn great. Where can you go fishing and come home with a slightly used handgun, or short barreled shotgun?

And if you want to find a "girlfriend" you don't have to go down to that Palliser Street in downtown Calgary. Just look around who is washing their hair and brushing their teeth in that water that just came out of the sewer processing station.

As for the deer with an atitude. Use the handgun or sawed off shotgun you just snagged before your line disintegrates, and let him know who's running this hood. Throw the gun back in the river, and the coroner will think that there was deer versus gang war when the autopsies and necropsies begin.
Don't forget to take the back straps off the deer for supper with that switchblade you snagged.

And always remember to run when hear someone saying over your shoulder "I'm gonna git you honkey". In Calgary that means someone has the intent of goose hunting. In Edmonton, that has a slightly different interpretation.

And they think fishing is so darn good in Calgary.

Please don't take this posting seriously.

billycap · #17 09-03-2010, 06:38 PM

Finally someone who knows the finer points o getto fishing!

Geezle · #18 09-04-2010, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billycap

the big problem with the nsr is the fish are almost glowing... anyone who eats fish from anywhere in that river is crazy.. So id have a hard time taking pictures and pointing the finger at some shore garbage when the water is so nasty it stains your line and makes your hands and feet smell for hours.. The truly sickest part about fishing there is when the water touches ya! Ive seen much junk tossed over the edge of the bridge... often wondered how many crime weapons one would find with a strong magnet dragging on the bottom as you boat the length of that bridge. I have put my 12 ft aluminum down there a quite a few times and found that the train trussle bridge has a nice flat pad on the back side where you can break out a lawn chair. Then just tie a few flies directly to your line about 2ft apart then put the bobber on the very end of your line and flip into the fast current. Open your bail and let about 30- 40 ft of line out and watch as the bobber keeps the line tight and the flys right on the surface and the water drag makes the bobber zig and zag. a single maggot seems to help alot for double slamming goldeye this way.
As for the monster wallys n saugs lets just say its not so much about presentation as it is time of day....

I do have to say that the NSR isn't *that* bad. I fish a number of different spots on the river and some are just better than others.

Much of it comes down to access. The easier a spot is to access, the more people go there, and the more crap gets left behind. And going with that, spots within the city are *usually* but not always, on the messier side. I do know of a couple spots outside of the city that are a little tougher to get to, and they tend to be a lot cleaner.

I did get myself on to a little island yesterday though, and I couldn't believe just how many beer cans were out on this island. I dug a garbage bag out of my backpack and started filling it with cans, and probably filled it half way in about 5 minutes, and then I bailed because it was getting dark out. I'll probably go back there today to do some fishing and get the rest of the cans. When I bring them in I bet I'll have enough money to buy at least a couple tubs of worms

biggamehunter · #19 09-05-2010, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoorTurtle

Geezle, we need more true outdoorsmen like you. I don't know if I would do a return trip just to pick up their garbage but I always bring a large garbage bag with me when I fish the NSR. Last time i was down at the legend hole, I filled the barrel. Like really, there is a ****ing garbage can right there, USE IT!!

where is the legend hole? pm me.

fishmania · #20 09-05-2010, 03:56 PM

It doesnt seem to matter were you are.A lot of people just have no respect for the environment.From easy access like the Cardiff pond were there is garbage all along the shore and one time the last time I was their in the spring pulled in to the parking lot and on one of the post was a used tampon for everyone to see(like I said the LAST time I was their)
I was hiking a back county trail last week in south central BC the trail was litter with beer cans
What the H*LL is wrong with people

Geezle · #21 09-05-2010, 08:44 PM

Wow. Today I was driving down the Yellowhead going East heading out of town. Got an important phone call and important phone call and had to pull over to take it. It just so happened that I was right at the Beverly bridge, and I pulled over on the West side of it where there's a path between the Yellowhead going east and west. After I was done with my phone call I figured while I was there I'd wander down to the river and see what that side was all about.

Well, as soon as I got under the bridge I noticed a spot where it looked like two people had made themselves a home under the bridge. Nobody was around, but it still gave me the heebie-jeebies

I did take a pic and I'll post it later.

Went down across the bike path to the river, and it does look like another interesting spot to fish, but I don't think I'll be going back down that way again

It was a lot cleaner on that side though...