A conversation near the river offers a chance to consider why separation appeals to some Albertans, and why staying in Canada is worth showing up for. On the way back from the Smoky River recently, my new fishing buddy brought up a subject I’d hoped we’d be able to avoid. Not the fact that we’d been...

For millennia, the high-elevation lakes and rivers in Jasper knew not of fish. This may have been due to the hard, mountain winters. Or perhaps to waterfalls that prevented the abundant fish of Jasper’s valley bottom lakes and rivers making it upstream. Regardless, for all that time, most of Jasper’...

Canoe-accessed facilities on Maligne Lake are open again after a camper’s close encounter with a grizzly bear family precipitated two campground evacuations and subsequent closures. Last Friday, June 7, a camper at Coronet Creek campsite , a backcountry tent site on the south end of Jasper National ...

“Bring a floating line for chironomid fishing and a sinking line for casting big streamers to lakers. This is gonna be epic!” So came the text from Ryan “Rye Rye” Catherwood on the Friday before the May 20/21 weekend. Few dates are anticipated as highly by Jasper National Park anglers—it’s May Long ...

Opening weekend, 1995: Jasper National Park fishing guide, Mike Merilovich, had two clients for a half day on Pyramid Lake. Merilovich, the owner of On-Line Sport and Tackle, had a good feeling about the trip. He’d already landed one lake trout first thing in the morning—as he tells it, the fish hit...

Stocked fish poisoned to protect native trout in Banff’s high alpine From the August 15, 2021 Jasper Local Hunkered down on a flat rock high above Dolomite Pass in Banff National Park, I dig through my pack and locate my cheap pair of Bushnells. Chomping a sandwich and glassing the surrounding mount...

A freshwater ecologist specializing in Alberta’s native fish says a recently-issued Critical Habitat Order to protect Bull Trout in Alberta does not actually protect critical habitat or Bull Trout. David Mayhood is a director of the Timberwolf Wilderness Society , based in Pincher Creek, Alberta. Ma...

It’s hard to think of spending the night in a tent when it’s minus 45 degrees Celsius outside, but if you want to camp in Canada’s mountain parks this summer, that’s exactly what you were doing earlier this month. At least that’s what you had hoped you’d be doing: online camping reservations opened ...

University of Alberta undergrad students are testing the collective memory of residents affected by the 2013 Obed Mountain coal mine tailings pond disaster. Biology students working with researcher Dr. Daniel Barreda, who is developing tools to measure the impact of contaminant spills in sensitive a...

Talbot Lake is ultra-clear, shallow, and full of fish. Located 30 kilometres east of Jasper, Talbot offers the ideal day trip for a fishing adventure of the toothy kind. And while the park is chalk-full of opportunities to catch all manner of trout, Talbot represents the only readily accessible body...

One of Canada’s premier fishing experiences is Maligne Lake. Surrounded by snow peaked mountains, Maligne’s glacier-filled waters boast an abundance of mint-silver rainbow trout and highly colourful eastern brook trout. The fishing can range from challenging to magnificent, and the relationship betw...

Every year I anticipate the May long weekend fishing opener in the Mountain Parks. While there are a number of optio ns available for fishing, my sights are always set on one place: Pyramid Lake. There are so many things that draw me there. I love that Pyramid Mountain stands sentinel directly to th...