The rivers of Saskatchewan have long fascinated me. I have spent much of the last decade poised nicely between both the North and the South Saskatchewan, and for the vast majority of that time quite honestly I favoured the South. A magnificent river with a jagged course, great structure and back eddies, rocky shoals transitioning into deep channels, there always seemed to be something enticing me to throw a line and put in some time to unlock the secrets of an area. I hardly touched the North, and when I did I was confused, disappointed and all but willing to give up on that river. These two rivers have distinctly different personalities. The South is a bit wilder; jagged, rough around the edges with its flows controlled by the needs and demands of Lake Diefenbaker. The North however settles into a mellow, natural pace. Without a single dam after the river leaves the Rocky Mountain it is allowed to respond to nature as it sees fit. With islands, beaches, sandbars and an overall shallow disposition the North Saskatchewan is a soft, sandy river with small, deep channels snaking their way down stream beneath the surface.
I had all but given up on the North. But then two years ago, with a career change and a little bit of relocation I found myself staring off my back deck at the very river that had baffled me. I timed it, I could kiss my kids good night and be casting my line into the water 15 minutes later without having to turn a key. This could only mean one thing, I would have to figure this river out!
The thing I love about the two rivers is the variety of species that may very well bite. On any given day you could tangle with a walleye, sauger, saugeye, goldeye, pike or even a burbot or sucker. While fishing for these species there is also the opportunity to catch a sturgeon. By far the largest species in the river during the recent century sturgeon were overharvested and their populations were decimated to the points where we ran the risk of losing this magnificent fish from our waters. In Saskatchewan all sturgeon must be released if caught..
The North Saskatchewan River is a healthy river system with a wide variety of fish available in good sizes. I have maintained for a number of years that the two rivers are quite possibly the most underrated fisheries this province has. Fall is a time when the North really comes into it’s own. Big walleye and a good number of them are a distinct possibility on every fall outing. I was day dreaming of these cooler months to come when I first heard of the oil spill.
Along with many I had heard of oil spills before and seen the devastation it had caused, but never before had it hit so close to home. It was not a terribly big spill but it was big enough to cause the two major cities on it’s banks to cease drawing from the river and for all who utilise the river for any sort of activity to immediately bring those to a halt. Where I am we saw some evidence of the oil, but mostly it is just the knowledge of the contamination that is forefront in our minds. I receive the cleanup reports daily and I continue to monitor with interest the reports. Part of the assessment and cleanup process is to try to deter animals, birds, amphibians and other creatures from utilising the river and its banks. In the most affected areas deterrents have been setup to try and discourage these creatures from occupying these areas. But what about the fish? As an angler that was my first thought and concern. What effect will the spill have on the fish population and the overall health of this remarkable river system? There has not been much discussion about this point, and really we can only speculate. The only clue we have is that the public has been advised that they should not eat any fish from the North Saskatchewan.
Any information that we have now is purely anecdotal and really it is incredibly difficult to assess. In time we will know more, but really the state of the fishery will be determined by the ongoing success, or lack thereof, as we anglers continue to do what we love to do. In the weeks that followed the spill, as soon as it was deemed safe to boat on the river I headed out to see what I could see and catch what I could catch. Coinciding with the spill came a rise in river levels with the river surging from flows of 150CMS to almost 600CMS almost overnight. As the high water began to subside the fishing was expectedly slow but I am happy to say that we did boat a couple healthy looking sturgeon. What was worrying though was that we caught a couple of the palest, sickliest looking walleye I have seen. In subsequent outings as the river has begun to stabilise though I have been happy to catch the same variety of fish as I have been used to. There have been good numbers of juvenile walleye, goldeye and even the occasional juvenile burbot. As for the larger specimens, time will tell, and hopefully the first signs are just a few weeks away.
If there is one thing that always assures me is that nature is incredibly resilient and, while we won’t know what the actual impact is, I feel confident that our precious fishery will continue to thrive, I would however prefer to not see too many contaminants poured into it in the future.
Sturgeon were a highly sought after source of food from the 1920’s onward. As a result of the commercial harvesting of these fish as well as the incredibly slow growth rates and the time it takes to reach sexual maturity the lake sturgeon populations of Saskatchewan were decimated. As a need to protect these fish was identified, in a time before catch-and-release was common, a 0-limit was applied to sturgeon in order to protect the species. It was made illegal to target sturgeon in the province of Saskatchewan.
The trickiest part of a law such as this is that sturgeon are most often caught utilising the same techniques as one would use to fish for most river species. The most common setup is using a pickerel rig with minnows or nightcrawlers as bait. Many sturgeon are caught this way, along with walleye, goldeye, suckers and the other species of the river. It is possible to specifically target sturgeon utilising specific gear, techniques and baits, but it becomes incredibly difficult to monitor and police.
What this really becomes is an ethical dilemma. As these fish are the biggest and the strongest in the river the desire to tangle with them taps into that most primal reflex which makes us anglers. However, as conservationists who are concerned about the future of our fisheries, we know that the responsibility to manage our resources begins with us. The river is a close and valuable resource to us that provides an opportunity for anglers, families and all people to engage with a wide variety of sport fishing species. So how we do we keep the balance? Knowledge and understanding is the first, vital step.