A Creel-Based Assessment of the Upper Bow and Elbow River Sport Fisheries
Author(s)
Kevin Fitzsimmons
Summary
We estimated angler effort, trip length and fish catch by conducting angler interviews and
instantaneous angler counts on the upper Bow River from Banff National Park to Bearspaw
Reservoir. We also conducted instantaneous angler counts on the Elbow River from Canyon
Creek to Glenmore Reservoir to estimate angler effort. Between May 1 and October 31, 2016, we
interviewed 369 anglers and estimated anglers fished for 20,904 hours (17,389 – 24,615) and made
10,055 trips (8,025 – 12,331) on the upper Bow River. Between June 16 and October 31, 2016, we
estimated anglers fished for 9,699 hours (7,031 – 12,503) on the Elbow River. We estimated total
release of all fish in the upper Bow River was 10,291 (8,201 – 12,536). Over all seasons and reaches,
brown trout were estimated to be the most abundantly released fish species at 5,343
(4,023 – 6,950), followed by mountain whitefish at 3,900 (2,847 – 5,000) and rainbow trout at 874
(615 – 1,140). Releases of lake trout and cutthroat trout were estimated to be fairly small.