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Regional Report for Southern Alberta – Jim McLennan
Originally Published in
August / October 2007 Issue
Editor’s Note: You’ll notice that the title of Jim’s
column for this issue is “Southern Alberta. That is because
we’ve decided that Alberta deserves two field editors to
adequately cover the rich diversity of fly fishing in the
province. The plan was to make the change this issue, with
Duane Radford taking up the mantle as the new Northern Alberta
patch, and having a new writer take over from him to cover the
True North . However, like many best laid plans, we couldn’t
make the arrangements in time. Jim had already written his
column exclusively on Alberta south of the North Saskatchewan
River, so Duane stuck with the North for one last issue, and
northern Alberta was short changed. My apologies—I’m entirely
to blame for the screw-up. Look for the completed new
arrangements in the November/January issue.
We’re also planning to
focus Bill Charles field editor assignment exclusivelyon
Manitoba. That means we’re looking for an articulate and
experienced Saskatchewan fly fisher to take up another new
field editor role for Saskatchewan. Interested candidates
should E-mail their resumes to me at
info@canflyfish.com C.M
Bow River fly fishers are anxiously
awaiting re-construction of the boat ramp at Policeman’s
Flats, just downstream of the city of Calgary. The previous
ramp was a casualty of the 2005 flood when the river breached
a retaining wall and made off with the access road to the
parking lot. The new ramp and parking lot will be located a
few hundred meters downstream of the old one and is expected
to be completed sometime this fall. This is badly needed,
because without it there is no boat access between the Highway
22X bridge in Calgary and McKinnon Flats 32 kilometers
downstream. Many fly fishers, including this one, find the
22X to McKinnon’s float too long to allow enough time for
stopping and wade-fishing.
Many fly fishers who fish the Bow regularly use one of several
vehicle shuttle services operating from Calgary. Bow River
Shuttles distributes a monthly free email newsletter called
The Stimulator to interested people. The
newsletter has become much more than a river report and
includes suggested flies, conservation project notices, fly
fishing club activities, and information on drift boat sales
and rentals. The Stimulator has become an
important resource for southern Alberta fly fishers and you
can get on the mailing list by sending them a note at
michelle@bowrivershuttles.com.
Well-known Alberta fly fisher Neil Jennings had his second and
third wild-flower identification guidebooks released in spring
of 2007. Called Prairie Beauty and Alpine Beauty,
these full-colour books provide great information for the
layman on identifying the wildflowers that grow and bloom near
the places we fish.
The Alberta fly fishing community has lost another of its
popular characters. For the past several years, Al
Crandlemire was employed at Vic Bergman’s Crowsnest Angler
shop. Al passed unexpectedly at his home in the Pass in
April.
Some southern Alberta fly fishers will have already noted that
the Crowsnest Café and Fly Shop has moved from downtown
Blairmore to Coleman. Now located on Highway 3 at the
southern terminus of the Forestry Trunk Road, the shop is a
great place for lunch and trout-talk.
Hector Lake, on the Stoney Indian Reserve west of Calgary,
was restocked with rainbows in the spring of 2007. In the
past this lake has provided exceptional fishing for big fish,
but has frequently succumbed to winter kill. If the lake is
aerated through the winter as planned, it should regain its
stature by the spring of 2008.
Alberta’s cyber-flyfishing community experienced change in the
spring of 2007 when Dave and Amelia Jensen discontinued the
forum component of their Flyfish Alberta website. The forum
had been a popular gathering place for fly fishers for ten
years. Other websites are filling the void, including
www.flyangler.ca, and
www.flyfishcalgary.com. The remainder of the Flyfish
Alberta website is active and continues to be an excellent
resource for Alberta fly fishers.
Okotoks fly fishers, Rick Harding and Russ Webb (featured in
the The Canadian Fly Fisher’s “Great Canadian
Tyers” series, Feb/April, 2006) are launching a new web-based
flyfishing business this fall. Named The Fly Fishing
Life.Com, it is a fly fishing TV series
delivered by the Internet. Four 10-minute programs on fly
fishing and fly tying will be put up each month. You can find
out more at their website,
www.theflyfishinglife.com.
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