MANITOBA
The angling season in the southern section of the province closed this past week, marking one of the toughest access years ever. Record snowfall in this part of the world, combined with extreme cold temperatures made it an ice fishing season to forget.
As we move into April there are still angling opportunities to be had in this province. Stocked trout lakes remain open for angling and the Duck Mountains has seen increased angler activity. Fishing in the northern divisions of the province do remain open until May 1st. Many of the lodges keep their accommodations open during April and it can supply some of the best angling of the year.
Or if you want to get outside you might want to try your luck at dip-netting suckers. Check out this video from Garther Cheung.
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
The walleye season closes April 15th in Ontario, and many anglers are enjoying the improved conditions on the ice. A break in the weather and some fortunate ice conditions have set us up for some great spring fishing here in Northwestern Ontario.
Jamie Bruce, who just finished in the Bassmaster Southern Open, is planning to get out for the next two weeks.
I have been down in Tennessee for the Bassmaster Southern Open on Lake Cherokee. I ended up with a Third Place finish in the field of 225 Pro’s and 225 Co-anglers. I caught them the same way that I plan to catch Lake Trout this weekend, and that’s on the BT Fishing Smeltinator Jig Head and BT Fishing Smeltinator Underspin both with a 5” Z-Man Jerk Shadz. It’s amazing how transferable a good minnow imitating lure can be, and how transferable reading your electronics while ice fishing can be to southern fisheries.
Jeff Gustafson also like to target last ice pike with tip-ups. He says this is absolutely the best time to catch a huge pike as they get ready for the spring spawn. The pike season remains open year-round in Northwestern Ontario.
I also like to head east in April and fish Shoal Lake, Ontario for lake whitefish. They grow big, fight hard and taste great. So, there are plenty of fishing options available for those who want to get out. Lake Whitefish could be the most spectacular ice fishing quarry that we have access to in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. Preferring cool clear water lakes with water depths in the twenty to fifty metre range, the lakes of the Canadian Shield make for prime habitat. These aggressive winter predators, though, are also more adaptable than the lake trout, tolerant to warmer water temperatures. This expands their range to a wide variety of lakes in this part of the world. Hard to catch? Not in the least, as long as you keep a few certain rules in mind.
Whitefish love transition spots between hard and soft bottom, preferring to feed off either insect larvae or small minnows in the winter. Mid lake shoals and extended soft bottom flats also provide forage opportunities for these fish.
LURE SELECTION: Small silver spoons like the Williams Ice Jig, and the Northlands Eye-Dropper work well. Small jigs with Berkley one inch power tubes or two-inch power grubs are also excellent producers. A small jigging Rapala can also be deadly along with Cicada’s. An aggressive jigging action with artificial lures will call whitefish in from a distance, important considering that they can be scattered over a fairly large area. If the fish do get finicky, rigging up a small hook below a couple of split shots with a dead shiner minnow can get you some jumbos as well. The use of a hydrographic map, if available, will allow you to find in advance areas that are likely to hold whitefish.
Since larger whitefish are usually very aggressive in the wintertime, it won’t take long to determine if there are fish in the vicinity. As the days get longer in April, whitefish get into larger schools with fifty fish days a real possibility.
SASKATCHEWAN-WES DAVID
The Parkland Outdoor Show & Expo was held on April 2 & 3, in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. This is one outdoor show that the community gets behind. Vendors and attendees from across western Canada were at the show and if you didn’t have a hotel room pre-booked for Saturday night you would have been hard-pressed to find a room. Everything hunting, fishing, camping, lodges, and local guides, were in attendance, including Hooked Magazine, which in my opinion, is the most informative Canadian fishing magazine for Canadian anglers.
Doors opened at 10:00am and by 11:00am right until 5:00pm, the aisles of the Parkland Outdoor Show & Expo were packed with avid outdoorsmen and women. During the show, you could look in any direction and people were talking about hunting and fishing. The ice fishing season had just closed, and anglers were reminiscing and showing pictures on their cell phones from their ice fishing season, anticipating the coming fair-weather fishing season. Hunters were making plans for the spring bear hunting season, while others were excited about the arrival of the snow geese.
The Parkland Outdoor Show & Expo in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, clearly showed that hunting and fishing are alive and well in the province of Saskatchewan.
ALBERTA-WES DAVID
March 31 triggered the end of Alberta’s ice fishing season. Aside from a few water bodies and stocked trout ponds that remain open, Alberta anglers will be in a holding pattern until May and the opening of Alberta’s 2022, fair-weather fishing season. However, I call the month of April, Preparation April. There are a lot of pre-fishing chores that can be done so an angler is ready for the new fishing season.
Anglers can pull their boat out of storage during the month of April and ready it for the season. I like to load all my fishing gear in my boat, re-spool rods, organize my tackle box is which is never-ending, make sure all my safety gear is in good working order, and I put a great deal of focus on my electrical system.
TRAILER LIGHTS A MUST
First, I make sure my boat batteries are fully charged, and I check and re-check my trailer lights. Nothing is worse than having a full month to go over your boat then when opening day arrives, you are sitting in your driveway working on trailer light issues when you should be on your way to the lake. Make sure everything is working mechanically, and I always have an extra prop in my boat and a spare set of wheel-bearing for my trailer. And, it goes without saying. Make sure you have the needed tools to make any repairs while on the road or on water.
Everyone has their spring routines to ready themselves for the new fair-weather fishing season and April is the perfect month to get a jump on them. Take advantage of Preparation April, so you can spend more time on the water fishing this season.