Ice Fishing- Lack of Snow Pack-Global Climate Shift

[troutbum]

I know this may be an ugly topic,but one does need to get back on the lakes,if nothing else to watch the fish swim by,has anyone noticed,that on several Interior Lakes, ice fishing has been extremely poor,since ice on.

Doesn't seem to matter have fished lakes in the Cariboo this year,to lakes in the Le Juene,Tranquille area same thing very slow,temps have been very warm so far this year,so much so that have stopped fishing until Colder weather arrives,which may or may not happen.
Also have a concern that we may not see too much more inb the way of snow,only time will tell,very low snow pack so far,was just up in the Red Lake area(interior of B.C. north of Kamloops) roads bare, and not much snow in the bush,ranchers in the Nicola valley area also suggesting that several of them may go out of business,due to lack of water for cattle if things don't improve !!

Of course to the north of B.C. record amounts of snow this year in the Yukon,N.W.T. area,where I work most of the year,is the name of the game,some spots already have in excess of 15-20 feet of snow, with 6-8 feet of ice reported as well,great for water levels in the north,but not so for down here,can only hope that it's another rainy wet spring to bring lake water levels back

Sorry haven't been on the forum of late been very busy with home projects,have installed Solar Hot water on my own house (one 25 tube collector,and a 40 gallon electric back-up tank, good for low sun days) 60 gallon main glycol mix tank to look after system requirements,working very well,has reduced gas,and electrical consumption by $70/month,with No shortage of hot water.
Building a cold storage room in the basement to look after this years fruits,and vegie crop,also will add Solar Photo Voltaic with an invertor to the roof this year as well,be very nice to see the Smart meter run in reverse

Thats the news for now,soon off to the sunny cold frozen north for another season of mining exploration

Tight lines,once the ice/snow melts,which by the looks of things down here won't be long,up there ice off usually JUNE

Troutbum

[Coastrider]

I know the ice cap melting is a real sad happening but on the other hand, if this si global warming......i'll take it. Not many times one can fish in January with near 10 degree weather. Not much I can do to afford to reduce the global warming. I recycle EVERYTHING and buy only recyclable products.Otherwise, I cant afford solar heating and such.

[BCBound]

Troutbum,

Sounds like you've had some very cool projects to keep you busy with this year. Very worth while as well. I think Ed raises a very good point, not everyone can afford to create themselves an energy neutral home, but as long as we all do everything that we possibly can to help reduce impact, it's all anyone can expect.

I find it amazing that there are people who still WON'T recycle, simply because it's popular oppinion or because they feel they are being 'told they have to'. It's going to be an interesting world our children raise the children in.

[Coastrider]

Guys at my work(a few) walk past the pop can recycling to chuck there can in the garbage, I have confronted them with no luck in convincing them

[Zane]

When it comes to improving the planet, some people just don't give a fat rats a$$. I was walking across the street the other day when 2 people both threw garbage on the road. When I told them there was a trash can on the corner, I was told to F off. Would have been nice to stuff them into the trash can. If they were to do that in some parts of the world, they would go to jail. Sorry for the hijack.

[arrgh]

Wasn't this winter supposed to have been the 'coldest for 20 years'?

[Coastrider]

yeah thats what I remember hearing too, maybe we'll have no summer like last year

[troutbum]

Hey some interesting news

Not that I am thee organization that I am a member of BCSEA,which is currently looking into having companies like Fortis,BC Hydro,etc provide loans or mortgages on your homes for things like energy improvements,Solar Hot water,Photo Voltaic etc, the concept is receiving broad support now in 10 states across thee U.S. including California. It works like this your equipment is installled on the house you currently live in,Solar hot water,Photo cells on roof,wind power etc,you sign an agreement to repay power utility,the catch is Loan becomes a capital cost to the property,if you sell before the improvements are paid for then the next homeowner picks up the monthly payment,that way we get more buy in from the public,Utilities get lower operating costs as more and more homes come online and fed the system (Win-Win scenario).
The biggest problem that I see is that,like has already been posted,most people just simply Can't afford anything extra,usually both spouses are working to make ends meets,and unless your home is paid for (provided you are still working in today's economy) their simply isn't the money to put into these frills.

Government also needs to step up to the plate at all levels,the current thinking that Green jobs are just to High Tech and wil not put enough people to work is pandering to the Oil/Gas lobby which our current Federal Government ascribes to,most rebate programs provided are A) Too short-duration,B) Preaching to the choir who have the money and are already looking into installing,or making these changes to their own homes.
I have a perfect example in our own community of local government taking two steps back,and pandering to the construction industry,initiative was put forward to city council in Kamloops in early Dec 2011 to have all New Home construction made ready for Solar/ hot water,or cells,this would entail the framers to frame out chases for wiring conduit etc,also installing beefed up roof trusses to accomodate the added load of the solar panels,cost was estimated to be approx $ 1000 more per new house,which could easily be passed onto the new home buyer.

Bill came up for a vote 18th Dec,was passed 4-3 in favour(must tell you Builders ass0ciation was not impressed when they left the meeting) but right after Christmas another vote was taken,after some very heated lobbying by the same builders association claiming undue hardship,and the bill was turned down !! So here we have a building code change that would have made us the 36th community in B.C. to accept changes to become a leader,but once again council decided to step backwards and side with business,so this is the dilema we face as a country,embrace the changes we all know is coming to become a vibrant partner in the future,or stay stuck in the past clinging to oil until the last drop has been squeezed from the turnip !!

Cheers

Troutbum