I think its naïve to think and believe Whirling Disease is only contained to the Bow River Watershed. Its likely widespread throughout the province due to what we know about its ability and relative ease of spread/transfer etc. Hell, its been found in Provincial Hatcheries and likely already stocked throughout the province...It is not just infected watercraft and wading boots that spread the disease, it has also been shown that it can be spread by birds, animals, and so on. How do we know it hasn't been present here for many years? Maybe our populations have already seen the worst of it, and we are on the rebound already. We don't know. When Whirling Disease first presented its ugly head in the states 50 odd years ago, and more specifically its destruction in Montana in 1994 it is very possible due to our close vicinity we here in Alberta were infected then. Or close to that time. Ive said it before, and I'll say it again...I find it hard to believe a Parks Official in BNP just happened to stumble across a Whirling Diseased trout in Johnson Lake that happened to be JUST RECENTLY AFFECTED igniting the big province wide knee jerk reaction. We haven't tested for years, so its next to impossible to pinpoint a timeline. The point is its here. And here to stay. We don't know enough about its history here to start panicking. There is also a chance it will have slight to little effect on our trout populations. It sucks, no doubt about it, but maybe its not all doom and gloom. Stocking waters Province wide with warm water species like pike, perch and walleye isn't an option, and extremes like "lets all hang up our rods for the next 10 years" is a dramatic overstatement on something we have little control over at this point. Lets all take a deep breath, do our best to clean our gear to the best of our abilities in attempts to minimize risk, but all continue to enjoy the sport we love, trust that nature to work itself out and keep on fishin. Latest studies and research have also indicated there is no evidence the population has been affected thus far whatsoever. Just my 2 cents.
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