FISH ALBERTA FOR
NEW ANGLES
Fishing is very popular in Alberta, both with
Albertans and visitors and with good reason. The province has
beautiful lakes and rivers, fantastic scenery and productive
fishing offering 50 species of fish. You could get hooked on
any of Alberta's 600 lakes, 245 named rivers or 315 named creeks.
Rated as one of North America's top 10 trout
steams, the world-famous Bow River is loaded with brown and
rainbow trout.
Most of Alberta's fly-in fishing lodges are
in the north, on pristine lakes full of back snapping northern
pike, perch, walleye, lake trout and Arctic grayling.
In central Alberta, on numerous lakes from
Gull to Buck, you'll catch northern pike, walleye, perch and
lake whitefish.
Easy spots to haul in trout, burbot, northern
pike and yellow perch are in the south - the Crowsnest River,
the Oldman River, Travers Reservoir and West Castle River.
The more popular fish species in Alberta are
lake trout, northern pike, walleye, Arctic grayling, rainbow
trout and yellow perch. Many additional trout species are available:
brown trout, bull trout, brook trout, cutthroat trout and golden
trout. Add to that list the following and a great selection
of opportunities are available: burbot, lake sturgeon, mountain
whitefish, lake whitefish, goldeye, mooneye and sauger.
Albert is divided into three (3) Fish Management
Zones with four (4) national parks within the boundaries of
the province. Each zone is divided into watershed units to expand
on specific regulations established to meet water body and fish
population needs.
(1) Eastern Slopes Zones: Zone One (1) consists of the mountains
and foothills that form the "Eastern Slopes" along the
Rocky Moutons from Montana to the Grande Prairie Region. throughout
this zone, tributary creeks flow into larger streams, which in turn
are tributaries to major rivers. These watersheds, with their alpine
and foothills lakes, their clear, cold rivers and tributaries support
numerous trout and mountain whitefish populations, as well as Arctic
grayling in the north. The four Watershed Units in this zone are:
(1) The Oldman and Bow Rivers, (2) The Red Deer and North Saskatchewan
Rivers, (3) The Atahabasca and Pembina Rivers, and (4) The Smokey
River.
(2) Parkland Prairie Zone: Zone Two (2) consists of approximately
the southeastern quarter of the province, east of Highway 2 from
the Montana border to the North Saskatchewan River. Four major rivers
that start in the mountains flow through the Parkland-Prairie. For
most of the summer, these rivers are large, silty and warm. Shallow
lakes and reservoirs are also found in the Parkland-Prairie. The
most common game fish of the zone are yellow perch, northern pike
and lake whitefish, although walleye have been introduced into several
reservoirs. Rainbow trout are stocked into many ponds and small
reservoirs throughout the Parkland Prairie. Zone two is subdivided
into two watershed units.
(3) Northern Boreal Zone: Zone Three (3) A
vast area of central and northern Alberta consists of boreal
forest. Throughout the boreal forest, many of the streams are
low gradient brown water streams from muskeg drainage's. These
streams are tributaries within larger watersheds, which in turn
are part of the major drainage basins of the Athabasca, Peace
and Hay Rivers. The majority of the lakes in Alberta occur in
the boreal forest zone. The popular game fish of the zone are
yellow perch, northern pike, walleye, lake whitefish, Arctic
grayling and lake trout. Zone three is subdivided into four
watershed units.
Dive the un dived, paddle the unvisited or
fish for new angles - Alberta lets you make ripples or roars
in its waters. Visit Alberta for a new angle.
ALBERTA MAPS
AVAILABLE
Selective harvest, with a strong foundation
of "Catch and Release", is the policy we advocate
at FISHING MAPS "PLUS". Many anglers wish to eat some
fish, and why not? They are nutritious and "umm",
good tasting. If selective harvest is practiced, then the resource
is renewable. The modern-day approach is to keep more numerous
pan fish before less abundant larger predators, and keep smaller,
more abundant fish of a species before larger, less abundant
ones.
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