alberta vs ontario

[tyeflyer]

a friend of mine may have an opportunity to move to alberta, but the rub is fishing. he primarily fishes migratory salmon & steelhead in rivers in ontario, and weather dependent, fishing is available almost 9 months out of the year. he does a bit of river fishing for bass, pike, etc, but the main focus is salmon/steelhead.

 

the job is actaully a transition from the manufacturing sector to the exploration sector. and with 4000 manufacturing jobs being lost a month in canada, this is a major consideration.

 

other positives include scenery (rocky mountains, NWT terrirorties is a days drive etc, more wildlife) so photography possiblities are greatly increased.

 

now he has a copy of the Alberta fishing regs & a fishing guide. from the west border of alberta to the east border of alberta, it has over 500 lakes, rivers & streams listed. lots of residental trout opportunites, lakes with pike, pickeral, etc (though he does not own a boat)

 

looking for opinions on as weather you would move or stay in ontario. would also be interested in hearing from anybody who does fishing in the edmonton area

 

thanks in advance

[ch312]

ive also been debating heading west for a few years. rent out my house and kick the tenants out when i come back so ill have a nice chunk of change in my bank and almost no mortgage at all.

 

tell him to get out of this hurtin province while he can. alot less liberals out there

[Joey]

I lived in Calgary and the Bow river is a great fishery. I preferred upstream of the city, a 20 minute drive to the foothills of the mountains where it holds many different species of fish, among them rainbow trout. In other rivers in or around Calgary I've fished for bass and whitefish. I've never lake fished in Alberta so can't help you there.

 

I'd move just for the experience if I were him. It is beautiful country and he can always move back if he doesn't like it. Anything's possible

 

Joey

[holdfast]

One of my all time fishing lakes is Wolf Lake. A couple of hours from Edmonton. Its a trophy lake and easy to get to and launch a boat. Theres the Provincial park and thats it. NOBODY OWNS ANY SHORELINE. The lake is between Cold lake and Lac LaBiche. Another fantastic fishery. The only problem is you cant keep the Walleye as most lakes are Catch and release for that fishery. Whats good is the walleye are allowed to grow big. You have a good chance to catch a 25lb plus Jack also. Tell him to check the Fishing Alberta website. Also the forum, excellent forum. Just thought that Id mention is the housing in Saskatchewan is crazy because Albertans are buying because its so expensive there. 13 dollars an hour in Lloydminster to start at Timmies.

[Musky or Specks]

NO MUSKY =no alberta

[topraider]

I used to live in Edmonton years ago.

 

Due to the general lack of water in the province, there is a lot more fishing pressure on the available resource. On the other hand, the Alberta government funds their MNR, unlike Ontario.

 

The fishing is way better in Ontario. Cottages are much cheaper in Ontario. We don't know how good we have it here.

 

Forget about Muskies or bass. The North Saskatchewan, which runs through Edmonton, has pike, walleye, sauger, and goldeye.

 

The river trout fishing is limited and highly regulated, but can be good. You won't see 10 pound steelhead being caught. No salmon. There are browns, rainbows, cutthroats, speckles, bulltrout, and rocky mountain whitefish for good measure. Some of the pothole lakes (sloughs) are stocked with rainbows that can grow 5 pounders in two years, the water is super productive.

[Uncle Buck]

My brother moved to the "Promise Land" Alberta...

 

Check the price of housing before you decide to move there...

[ccmtcanada]

If I was younger and single, I'd probably move for the experience (as Joey said). One thing to keep in mind...may or may not be a big deal to him...you MUST use barbless hooks in Alberta.

[JohnAB]

Okay as an Albertan I will respond. For fishing Ontario kicks our butts out here. We have maybe 800 fishable lakes in the province and they get fished hard. Pigeon Lake about 1 hour south of Edmonton though is a fantastic walleye fishery. Can catch some real beaut's there and if you have a tag (by draw) you can keep up to 3 fish. As stated by another poster, up by Lac La Biche there are some terrific lakes for pike and walleye. As for stream fishing, I do not partake so cannot really comment. If you are a hunter, then Alberta shines, especially if you bow hunt. I can hunt elk, moose, mulies, whitetails, black bears and cougars out my back door with fairly good success.

 

Housing, now there is a rub. Expect to pay $300000 plus for a new home in the 1500 sq ft mark. 5 acres of land with no services will set ya back $60000 easily and you still have to build and get power in etc.

 

The Columbia Icefields parkway is one of the most beautiful drives in the world and the rockies do rock. If you snowmobile, Valemount is accessible and the mountain riding there is very good.

 

I am in the other boat as when i retire I am looking at Ontario as my destination as we have a cabin by Sioux Lookout and housing is much more reasonable although I will miss the hunting oppotunities here.

[Cookslav]

My brother is in Grande Prarie....

He's got fish pics to prove Alberta has a great fishery.

 

Rainbow Trout are Prolific(not steel head) in some of the lakes around there, and most other lakes are chalked full of Pike & pickeral...

Like anywere in Ontario...You just have to know were to go

If its trophy fish your after I suggest Lesser Slave lake...my bro's got some real brute outta there

[Carpe Diem]

Visited Calgary last summer. If you move to Alberta it seems you have to be prepared to buy. There is very little rental property and no rent control. There was a man on the front page of the newspaper because his rent went from $800.00 a month to $2000.00 overnight, and to make matters worse he was an old age pensioner. His biggest problem was nowhere to move to.

 

My cousin bought a house that cost him close to $700,000 for 3 bedrooms, and virtually no yard. Lots of work out there, and higher wages than Ontario, but given the cost of living it probably works out about even.

[ilario]

once oil and other commodities return to normal, Calgary will go bust again just like it did 25 or so years ago

 

ontario's economy, especially the gta, is far more diversified and less suseptible to fluctutions in commodities like oil.

 

 

we have a far more diversified fishery as well!!

 

vive l'ontario libre!

[fliptheslop]

Being from Alberta myself fishing access is much easier there as the goverment owns all the lakes, therefore the people have access to them all, southern Alberta has probaly the best pike fishing anywhere as fishing pressure is very low, I never needed a boat there as shore fishing is very easy to find, the lakes guys are speaking of that get alot of pressure are the ones very close to the cities, the Alberta Goverment stocks a great number of lakes with rainbow trout, and if you want steelhead and salmon take a four hour drive from Edmonton and see what real steelhead and salmon look and fight like, the walleye fishing in some areas now is seconnd to non as out there,as they close lakes for some species, stock them, let them grow and take hold, than open them up, not like ontario where they let them get fished out than put limits on, word of advice, if your akin to trees,youll get lonely but if you like wide open spaces where you can see the world for miles, than you will love it.

 

Also you will never hear a debate there about what to do if you see a poacher or someone breaking the law well fishing, they take their land and wildlife very seriously and youcan bet if you call a game warden will come, and will come fast,