Bow System Bull Charr

Although it sounds like another big fish story, Great Big Nature’s naturalist, Brian Keating, recently snorkelled with about 100 big mature Bull trout out near Banff, Alberta., Canada! The Bull trout is Alberta’s official Provincial fish. Its populations have been in serious decline for decades and are now a threatened species. “It was tricky ‘sneaking’ up to the fish to observe them (they were easily spooked), but we found the best way was to swim up-wind, and allow the breeze to gently blow us into position”, Brian said. Bull trout are what fisheries biologists call ‘fall spawners’. The fish will migrate up a chosen creek, find the perfect gravel bed, & dig out what is called a ‘redd’ where they lay & fertilize their eggs they then leave them hidden in the gravel for the winter. Biologists count fish redds to monitor the population health. There were an incredible 1,403 Bull trout redds counted in a survey in one very productive drainage in Kananaskis the years ago! This is a good…