Feb. 20, 2010

A while back, I spent a delightful couple of hours on the Crowsnest River casting my four-weight fly line toward usually productive runs and holding pools just upstream of the Highway 507 bridge.

Other than the unusual warmth of a winter day, most memorable were the two river otters bobbing in a corner pool about 100 metres upstream. They were in shadow, too fast and too far away for me to record their presence with my camera.

Turns out other anglers have spotted them recently. The otters, efficient predators of mainly bottom feeders such as suckers, will occasionally prey on trout during spawning. But it would seem the otters are no threat to rainbow trout, the main attraction for Crowsnest River anglers from across North America and beyond.

The river has been described as a world-class trout fishery for at least the past 25 years, since outdoors writers began describing its appeal. Local anglers had been well aware of its productivity for decades. So, area fisheries biologists have a stake in the health of the river and monitor fish abundance and catch rates through occasional electro-fishing and creel surveys.

Preliminary results of a creel survey last summer show trips to fish and total number of hours anglers spent on the river appeared to have dropped 50 per cent from 2001, says Matthew Coombs, a fisheries biologist at the Sustainable Resource Development Blairmore office.

Coombs told about 30 fishing enthusiasts this week at a Trout Unlimited Oldman River Chapter meeting the decline is significant, but more study is needed to determine if the survey showed a trend or whether it was a one-time dip.

Some anglers observed the numbers could indicate a difference in the weather or the economy. Others suggested interest in the river increased after the 2001 Alberta Environment survey, then anglers started to feel the river was crowded and moved elsewhere to fish, on the Livingstone and Oldman River at the Gap and above for example.

Matthew noted 102 mm of rain feel last summer, compared with only 37 mm in the summer of 2001. As well, flow rates were higher later in 2009 and the river showed more turbidity.

To the suggestion more of the river be put under catch and release regulation, Matthew responded it basically functions that way now, since only one per cent of the anglers harvested fish. The rest were released.

The survey, conducted between mid-June and the Sept. 30 by Leda Kozak and Michelle Wells, showed 34 per cent of anglers were from Calgary, 14 per cent from Lethbridge, and 12 per cent from out of the country.

As well, most anglers said they were of average skill, while 24 per cent said they were expert, 19 per cent novice and one per cent professional.

They did report about the same catch rate – around 1 per hour – as in 2001.

Matthew says surveyors rely on angler reports as early warnings something could be wrong, although he’s not ready to form that conclusion. Alberta Conservation Association biologists will be conducting further studies this summer.

Whatever the results, seeing otters as well is a real bonus.