Alberta Fishing Maps: Don't Fish Without Them
There are several types of Alberta fishing maps, both in libraries and on the internet. These maps cover popular fishing waters in Alberta. Each map covers a larger or smaller area, depending on how many details you want to be present. They can also be double-sided maps, which is usually better. The best maps will show you the fish species in each water, the access trails, roads, paths, wetlands and utility corridors. A fishing map may also contain campgrounds, a hatch chart, a fish species guide. They can be in colors or in black and white, depending on how much you are willing to give (the Alberta libraries are proposing both of them although most people choose the colored ones). A site proposing a large range of Alberta fishing maps is http://www.maptown.com/albertamaps.html . This site, called the Map Town, offers several type of maps including Alberta base maps, Alberta topographical maps, Alberta lakes, and of course Alberta fishing maps. For example you can find the Lower Bow River Fishing Map, with a 1:200,000 scale, a width: 24.00 and a height of 38.00. This is a fishing map from 1999 that basically follows the Bow River downstream from Calgary. It includes an index of lakes, rivers and streams, campgrounds and facilities, stocking programs and Alberta sportfishing records and it costs about less than $8. As general information, Alberta is divided into three Fish Management Zones. Each zone has its own specific and unique assemblage of water bodies, species of game fish and management regimes so usually you will have different fishing maps for each zone.
The first Alberta fishing zone: Eastern Slopes This zone is composed of the mountains and foothills that form the 'Eastern Slopes' along the Rocky Mountains from Montana to the Grande Prairie region. The zone ( and most of the fishing maps) are divided in four watershed units separate sportfishing regulations : · the Oldman and Bow rivers (ES1), · the Red Deer and North Saskatchewan rivers (ES2), · the Athabasca and Pembina rivers (ES3), · the Smoky River (ES4). Specific to this Alberta area is the fact that creeks flow into larger streams. These cold and clear waters are full with numerous trout and mountain whitefish populations, as well as Arctic grayling populations in the north. The socond Alberta fishing zone: Parkland Prairie On your fishing map you will find this zone devided in two watershed units · the Milk and South Saskatchewan rivers, including portions of the Oldman and Bow rivers(PP1), · and the Red Deer, Battle and North Saskatchewan rivers (PP2). The area contains the southeastern quarter of the province, the east of Highway 2 from the Montana border to the North Saskatchewan River. There are four major rivers which start in the mountains and flow through the Parkland-Prairie. For most of the summer, these rivers are large salty and warm. In the Parkland-Prairie, you can also find shallow lakes and reservoirs. The most usual game fish of the zone are · The yellow perch, · The northern pike, · The lake whitefish · Walleye have been introduced into several reservoirs You should check your fishing map for additional information on fish species, because there are a lot more. Rainbow trout are stocked into a lot of ponds and small reservoirs throughout the Parkland-Prairie. The third Alberta fishing zone: Northern Boreal This one is a very vast area in central and northern Alberta and contains the Boreal Forest. Here many of the streams are low gradient, brown water streams from muskeg drainages. These streams are tributaries within larger watersheds, which in turn are part of the major drainage basins of the Athabaca, Peace and Hay rivers. The interesting part is the fact that the majority of the lakes in Alberta occur in this zone. If you look at your fishing map you will discover two watershed units (NB1 - NB4). |
