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Sept 13 Grayling Round-Up


kemo99

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We've had lots of successful angling results this summer. On Sept 13, we plan to send crews out to the locations on Dismal Creek where grayling were previously PIT tagged.

 

We have 5 tag readers available, and have a variety of sites ( difficult to easy access) to visit. We'd like to re-capture as many fish as possible. One crew will be headed back to the logjam, another to the crossing at Wolf Lake Road, and another to the confluence of Dismal creek and Pembina River. We'll select more sites based on turnout.

 

Please let us know if you can join us on the 13th. We'll be leaving from Tim Horton's in Spruce Grove at 8:15.

 

There may be groups going out on Friday or Sunday as well. Please let us know.

 

Jim and Ken

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Great fun Yesterday !!!!!

We hit the old Honey hole and she did not disappoint. We caught a wide range of sizes from 7" to 13.5" . That was great to see, because when we first arrived it was quite, 1 o'clockish. We landed a couple of smaller grayling. It was slow, time to check up stream , new water.

We ventured up stream, the water seemed to get more rocky and pebbles , than silty , then bolder's, big rocks and pebbles , then slow and silt. The silt seemed to continue , we turned back .

When we got back to the Honey Hole , we noticed some feeding on the surface. Paul and George tried dries and I wasn't set to go there , prince nymph style was my choice .... Water levels were lower and due to spring flooding some big trees had fallen in to the riffles where we had drifted our flies in previous trips.

We had to change our approach.The pool was fairly long ,so we found a couple of spots lower down . The roll cast was what we had to do , the alders surrounded us. .

Not that much surface action ,so I put the prince into action . Bang , fish on , 8" nice grayling . Bang, Paul gets one on, ( guess what , orange butt pheasant tail ) its George's turn and he pulls a nice 11" Rockie out. Wow , first we have seen here and that big! Nice!!!!!

I landed one we could tag so Paul and Geo changed to nymphs and it was catch, tag and release .The recording takes a bit more time now with the pit tagging , We had times when we had 2 fish in the pail.

OH Yeah!!!! we had fun yesterday......

DSCN4043 (800x600).jpg

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Nice work guys! The fact that you confirmed the presence of grayling this high up in the system in mid-September is interesting. Maybe they are going to overwinter up there. It is apparent that there are deep pools and good flows in the area. The capture of an immature whitefish up there is also of interest. Once we obtain the fish collection data from ESRD Edson for our project area it will be fun to sit down and analyze it, I mean, try to make some sense out of it all! Enjoy the summer-like weather.

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...this might be an area that one would want to do snorkeling in...the school of fish was huge that we witnessed...guessing, I would have to say at least a hundred fish if not more...when the sun was just right, the bottom of the pool came to life with nothing but fish...first I have ever witnessed this...took some pictures, hope that they turn out...have not had a chance to look at them yet...

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I am looking forward to seeing your photos fellows. You are right it might be an excellent spot to do some snorkeling and underwater video in late September, early October. How deep would you say this pool is? Any estimate of pool dimensions (length, width)?

 

Jim

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As you know, part of our project this year is do a Stream Crossing Assessment on bridge and culvert crossings on Dismal Creek. A couple of us went out on August 28 and started the survey. Based on the results so far there are erosion and sediment input issues at several crossings. One crossing in particular is a serious concern and needs to corrected soon. I hope to go out this week to finish off the remaining crossings. If anybody is interested in going out let me know. I will post some photos in the next couple of days.

 

Jim

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Glad to hear you guys had a good day fishing. You got some great pictures I like the one with the 3 of you very nice.

We had a great day but not in fishing just being out and the comrodery of fishing with a new partner very enjoyable for sure. May have gained a new member out of it.

 

We did the confluance of Rat Creek and the Pembina started at about 11:45 water temp 10c. We fished up stream for a km or more very silty very few pebbley runs in this area. Water seem pretty flat and slow. I manage to catch one 8in grayling on a hopper dropper(caught on princish nymph)olive body purple thorax. Clipped fin but thought to small to tag. caught just below beaverdam with pebbley riffle. Did a kick sample for bugs here and came up with 2 nice sized dragon fly nymphs and a vew caddis cases on the rocks. We stopped here becasue the river was very slow above the beaver dam and again very silty. We decide to head back to do some fishing in the Pemina itself. Took another water temp and the read out at 12c at 2:30

fish both up stream and down stream of Rat Creek no grayling caught my partner manage a couple of RMWF about 10in at fairly fast run on a Humpy.

It was enjoyable and fantastic company and one beaufiful day for fishing. Saw new country and new water. First time I actually fished the Pemina

 

Wish I had a better fish report.

 

Tight Lines Always

Dennis S

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We had 2 crews at the logjam, 3 upstream and 3 down. The roads were quite wet and I was worried about getting in to the spot. The weather cooperated and the roads dried out so it was smooth sailing.

 

Dismal was quite clear, but the water level was down quite a bit. The big pool right above the logjam was only 1.5 to 2 feet deep and we could see the bottom easily. There was a lot of silt and no rising fish. Further upstream there are a couple of nice pools. One was quite deep, just below a riffle. We tried almost everything in there - no hits. Finally late in the day, Lewis found a spot with some fish. I found him above a hole (literally-on the bank) dapping a small BWO. He caught 8 or so from this spot and we saw more on the bottom. I hooked a couple more there, but only landed one.

 

The group that went downstream from the logjam had one hit, but found no other fish. It was a slow day in this area. I'll post pictures when I return from my current adventure.

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Beautiful piece of water Paul. It appears to have all of characteristics needed for overwintering grayling, including adequate depth, low current velocities, food bearing riffles at the top and bottom ends, and stable flows. I think we will mark this spot for a snorkeling survey in early October and maybe an under-ice survey in February or March. How is your snowshoeing?

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Below are a couple of photos of a bridge crossing on Dismal Creek that is in urgent need of repair. The bridge has been damaged and erosion prevention structures (sediment fences) are no longer functioning as designed. We need to lobby for action because sediment entering at spots like this will prevent us from reaching our goal of conserving remaining grayling stocks in Dismal Creek.

 

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post-2073-0-06506900-1411008127_thumb.jpg

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