South Saskatchewan River Access site closing!

lippy · #1 03-04-2013, 06:10 PM

The Cypress Courier newspaper has an article in it from the Town of Redcliff in which it states that they will be closing the access to the popular South Saskatchewan fishing hole in town. The Town is upgrading its pump system..construction will start in early spring. The bad thing is that the way the article is worded it looks like they will be installing a gate denying foot access after the construction is finished!!They also state that the road into the pump house is not really a road

so I think they may close the road altogether...too bad as it was a good place to get to the river.

BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES · #2 03-04-2013, 06:28 PM

How can the city close off crown land , I'd be calling fish and wildlife , they attempted that to a place I fish made a call 5 minutes later I was driving down there freshly traveled road .

lippy · #3 03-04-2013, 06:43 PM

I hope to look into it more..The town apparently owns the road that leads to the Pump house and they have liability concerns about access during construction, however I believe they plan to gate the road and lock it after they are done. This is far from over..a lot of people fish there. The article is about half a newspaper page long trying to explain the closure...read it twice and still not sure what the person was trying to say

madatter · #4 03-05-2013, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES

How can the city close off crown land , I'd be calling fish and wildlife , they attempted that to a place I fish made a call 5 minutes later I was driving down there freshly traveled road .

They can close off access to river from their property.
At high water levels you can't get to this particular spot walking the river.
Crown land starts at high water mark...doesnt it?
Closing the road to it,well there's houses along that road,and farmers access their field right at gate.
Personally I think it's a stupid idea on their part....

lippy · #5 03-05-2013, 07:23 AM

If you want to read the article google Bow Island Commentator and click on local news.Reading between the lines tells me they are going to close the fishing spot permanently! It is a dumb move on the towns part...it isn't their first "dumb" move! The Town built a park down there which was fine but then in all their wisdom did not replace the area to launch boats from..instead they put up bullards to block access! You can still launch a canoe with some effort but thats about it. You would think they would encourage people to use the area rather than give them the shaft!

madatter · #6 03-05-2013, 07:33 AM

You are limited when launching a boat around the Hat.
Strathcona Park and Echodale.
Upstream you can launch at Suffield pump house.
Downstream there's a few spots farther out.
Redcliff was definitely dumb to not make canoe access easier at least at the park.

Kokanee9 · #7 03-05-2013, 03:17 PM

Losing any kind of access to the very limited water that we have in the south is always a sad thing.

pikergolf · #8 03-05-2013, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by madatter

You are limited when launching a boat around the Hat.
Strathcona Park and Echodale.
Upstream you can launch at Suffield pump house.
Downstream there's a few spots farther out.
Redcliff was definitely dumb to not make canoe access easier at least at the park.

Might be time to lobby the town for access, I know they have a launch but keep it locked because people were using the launch to access the coulée's below the golf course. Seems a little bit of an over the top reaction. The other point I'd like to make is that you can access the river from the park and walk up the shore line to the pump house area.

lippy · #9 03-05-2013, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Might be time to lobby the town for access, I know they have a launch but keep it locked because people were using the launch to access the coulée's below the golf course. Seems a little bit of an over the top reaction. The other point I'd like to make is that you can access the river from the park and walk up the shore line to the pump house area.

The launch does not exist as a launch and is inside the park...the park is gated...open 7 to 11.. I believe. Yes they did put up bullards to keep vehicles from driving in the environmental protection zone as some idiots at the time were driving through the water and heading downstream and tearing up everything. When this was going on there was a natural place there to launch boats and the river was shallow which isn't the case anymore. There is a very steep embankment there where people launch rubber dingys and canoes but it is not an official launch or so they say (hundreds of people use it as one all summer long)

. The road in question is before the park and has been open to the public 24-7 since the 70s. You could drive up to the gate and walk a short distance through a turnstile to the water..great for older folks and kids and easy to pack your gear into.I guess you could walk from the park after it opened at 7 am and then haul your gear 3/4s of a mile upstream to the fishing hole I suppose

but you couldn't during high water..which is when some of the best fishing occurs! If they do this they won't be very popular with the fishing crowd in the area that's for sure.

madatter · #10 03-05-2013, 07:52 PM

[QUOTE=pikergolf;1875786]Might be time to lobby the town for access, I know they have a launch but keep it locked because people were using the launch to access the coulée's below the golf course. Seems a little bit of an over the top reaction. The other point I'd like to make is that you can access the river from the park and walk up the shore line to the pump house area.[/

You cannot walk up the shoreline from park at high water levels without going past high water mark ....essentially trespassing.
At least not dry you are not.
One other thing....there are now multiple houses down there,probably with yards going right to high water mark.
Call me crazy but if I lived there and invested that much $$$ I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy with fishermen wandering thru my yard.

pikergolf · #11 03-06-2013, 07:49 PM

[QUOTE=madatter;1876161]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pikergolf

Might be time to lobby the town for access, I know they have a launch but keep it locked because people were using the launch to access the coulée's below the golf course. Seems a little bit of an over the top reaction. The other point I'd like to make is that you can access the river from the park and walk up the shore line to the pump house area.[/

You cannot walk up the shoreline from park at high water levels without going past high water mark ....essentially trespassing.
At least not dry you are not.
One other thing....there are now multiple houses down there,probably with yards going right to high water mark.
Call me crazy but if I lived there and invested that much $$$ I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy with fishermen wandering thru my yard.

Did not think about the issue of high water, I know many years ago a landowner there, got ugly a few times with people, I would imagine that he has passed by now. I wonder how much of this is being driven by said house owners. In the Hat there is a trail that wonders along the river by First St. north. Apparently someone that lives there tried shutting that down, but it didn't fly. I can understand people wanting to keep yards safe, but the river should be accessible. Having read the article, it sounds like butt covering. Nobody gives people credit for being able to use their heads, but they are probably very used to dealing with the lowest common denominator, hence the closing of the launch.

Still a small town and maybe they will let things go, although I'd bet they get complaints from the locals. Sad to see it go if it does.