PeterSL Posted April 2, 2015 Posted April 2, 2015 The Northern Lights club and others have been advocating with Fisheries for the stocking of tiger trout somewhere close to Edmonton in addition to other locations. Tiger trout have been approved and added to the fish stocking list for 2015. There are about 22,000 of them available to stock this year, about half of them 20cm+ for stocking this spring and the rest smaller for a fall stocking. Ideally the chosen locations will have reasonably good water quality, be aerated to provide greater chance of over-wintering, have a healthy minnow population, be a destination fishery and have some degree of protection so that they don't all end up in the frying pan by season's end. Fisheries would also like to see how they do in a mixed trout population. One obvious possibility is Muir Lake. It meets the criteria probably better than any other lake in the area. The current recommended Muir stocking, based on feedback from anglers, for this year is:3000 RNTR 14 -17 cm as in last 2 years400 RNTR approx. 30 cm to try to reestablish what seems to be the missing or severely depleted 2014 year class450 BNTR 14 -17 cm as in 2014.A possible alternative is to substitute 400 or so of the larger tiger trout for the 400 larger rainbows requested. However, Fisheries management would be interested in input from anglers on this proposal. I don't know of a better way to get this than to ask on this and the Alberta Flyfishing forums. Many of us fish Muir regularly, value the fishery, and would be able to provide reliable reporting on growth rates, body condition etc. There was a discussion about this at last night's Northern Lights Flyfishers/ Trout Unlimited Edmonton meeting and the proposal received total support from those present. Please post your thoughts asap as I believe that Fisheries Management has an increased interest in meeting anglers' requests.Peter Quote
Pierre Posted April 9, 2015 Posted April 9, 2015 2015 Regs just came out and not a mention about tigers being stocked Quote
PeterSL Posted April 9, 2015 Author Posted April 9, 2015 Pierre, The Introductions Committee didn't approve the stocking of tiger trout in time for them to be added to the stocking list and included in the regulations. As a result the regs for 2015 don't apply to tiger trout and so if they're stocked, there are no catch limits, bait bans etc for tigers. That's one of the problems holding up the decision on stocking locations - will special signage at the chosen locations be sufficient to limit slaughter? Where and how can they best be protected? I know ESRD is working on it and should be making a decision soon. Meanwhile please encourage as many as possible to provide their feedback on adding a few tigers to Muir. The more support we can document, the more likely it is that it will happen.Peter Quote
vince Posted April 10, 2015 Posted April 10, 2015 PeterI, for one, think stocking tiger trout in Muir would be awesome. Special signage would help along with club members and others telling people that tiger's are catch and release only and then we hope for the best. Great job Peter on keeping us informed. Vince Quote
Rainbow Posted April 10, 2015 Posted April 10, 2015 At our April 1st club meeting an over whelming majority of our members voted to supported the stocking of Tigers in Muir. I hope that ESRD considers Muir as well as a few lakes in the Rocky Mt. House area as well. Quote
PeterSL Posted April 10, 2015 Author Posted April 10, 2015 Vince, we can do our best to persuade others that release is the thing to do but maybe a better option is to adopt and modify one of Don Andersen's tactics for protecting rainbows in lakes he likes to fish i.e. actively spreading the rumour that the consumption of tiger trout leads to early onset of severe erectile dysfunction and the sterility if tiger trout is catching!Peter Quote
dipperdan Posted April 11, 2015 Posted April 11, 2015 I would agree with Peter, Don, Vinny, John and all the club members that voted to request for Tiger trout stocked in our Alberta waters. In the past I have ventured to Manitoba/Saskatchewan to fish for chance to catch Tiger Trout . This did bring funding to the areas fished . I believe by stocking Tiger Trout we would be keeping and drawing others to fish our area . Muir Lake has provided many fishers with the opportunity to catch quality fish . Now with being able to catch Brown trout will bring more fishers to the area. And providing Tigers would solidify the Quality fishery Muir lake is . Thanks for a Great Fishery........ Quote
PeterSL Posted May 11, 2015 Author Posted May 11, 2015 The hatchery truck is scheduled to pull in to Muir on Wednesday, 13th May bringing 3000 AF3N rainbows 15 to 20cm and 300 browns averaging 22cm, apparently the best brood of browns they've ever seen at the hatchery. No decision on Tiger Trout yet but should be soon. The area bios are doing some sort of social survey to see if anglers want them in Muir. Please let me know if you've been given chance for input on this other than at the club or on the forum. We've requested 400 of the 30cm tigers they have at the hatchery.Peter Quote
Chadillac Posted May 12, 2015 Posted May 12, 2015 Hey folks,From what I have heard, no decisions will be made on Tigers until October(ish). The area bios have requested some time to deliberate on where to put them. It's pretty exciting. Quote
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