SASKATCHEWAN
ROGER & SUSAN GERES
We took our summer holiday to last mountain camping for 12 days. It was a great holiday and caught some big fish including my personal best at 30.5 inches!
The fishing changed with the weather, wind it seemed but we found the 26 to 30 foot depth range the best zone to find those big fish. In most cases we drove around until we marked a big fish, then dropped a jigging Rapala down to them. This produced most of the big fish. We also used bottom bouncers and spinners along with walking sinkers. We did use some live bait, tipping the spinners and rigs with leeches and nightcrawlers.
We spent a lot of time checking out different sections of this big lake and learned a lot in our stay there. It sure helped to be able to talk to Rob Schulz at G&S Marina. He helped point us in the right direction on numerous occasions.
SOUTHEAST SASKATCHEWAN
BRAD GRAHAM
The bite is very good on RafFerty. Catching number of ways bottom bouncing with leaches and slow death worms is working well. Fish have moved little deeper 20 to 25 feet.
On Boundary the bass have slow. Punch weed beds with a jig or Texas rig was working the best. Top water frog early morning or in evening has been working.
Alameda Dam good for a lot of smaller walleyes. Bottom bouncing worked well tipped with leeches with leaches. When I slowed it down and went with a Lindy rig I was picking up some bigger ones in 20 to 25 feet. Weather’s been great so if you get a chance get out fishing.
TOBIN LAKE
Fishing for both walleye and pike has been hot on this large reservoir. Anglers are using cisco rigs to catch pike over 40 inches on the big section of this body of water. Walleye fishing remains extremely good with a lot of fish caught in the protected slot size or “red zone” as friend Boyd Holmen describes it. He and his brother Wayne spent last week fishing walleye with excellent success. Boyd says he found the walleye in 12 feet of water feeding on crayfish. He was pulling a floating spinner rig tipped with a large nightcrawler.
MANITOBA
HOOKED EDITOR DON LAMONT
Continued hot weather has scattered the walleye between deep and shallow water. On a recent fly in trip to eastern Manitoba I found the walleye in three different areas. The most consistent area was one that included current flow. This is not surprising considering the warm water at this time of year. Current flow generates oxygen, attracting baitfish and predator fish both. Low light was the best time to find active fish and evenings were spent in this type of areas. We caught fish on several different lures, depending on activity level. When fish were off the bottom chowing down on an insect hatch, we cast out lipless crankbaits to work all levels of the water column. I was using a Rapala Slab Rap, while my son was using a Live Target.
That was on the first evening of our trip. The next day the fish were eating small perch near the bottom and a jig and a Berkley flatnose minnow did the job. On our final day, while fishing pike in a big bay with the wind blowing in I started marking fish in ten feet of water on my Helix 5. They marked like walleye so I quickly dropped a jig down tipped with a flatnose minnow. Forty five minutes of non-stop action followed until we spooked these shallow fish. They had been stacked on the edge of a deep cabbage bed. These types of areas will hold fish all summer long so make sure you check them out. To find out more on this pattern see Dave Shmyr’s article on weed walleye on this site.
LATE SUMMER CATFISH
The trophy channel catfish in Manitoba don’t take much time off during spring summer and fall but the weather gets hot, time to fish late evening. You might also want to change up your choice of bait. Join Big China and Matt Gelley on a recent adventure near Lockport.
Speaking of Matt Gelley, he loves to catch big smallmouth and Lac du Bonnet is a favourite lake of his. In this video Matt keys in on late summer smallmouth locations on mid-lake rock piles.
ALBERTA FISHING REPORT
WES DAVID, FISHING THE WILD WEST TELEVISION SHOW
The fishing in southern Alberta has heated up with anglers catching walleye using traditional techniques such as jigging and bottom-bouncing key summertime walleye structure with Big Bite Baits, frozen minnows, leeches, and nightcrawlers. With these traditional techniques being seen by the walleye every day and all day long, there has never been a better time to bottom-bounce hard plastics like the F-Bomb from Lucky Bug Lures.
I don’t believe walleye in southern Alberta waterbodies have ever seen fishing pressure like they are seeing this year and I believe they are seeing a lot of the more common baits such as frozen minnows, leeches, and night-crawlers.
However, walleye anglers that offering them the flash and vibration of hard plastics and giving the walleye the option of a larger more substantial meal and something they are not seeing on a daily bases are producing consistent hookups.
BC FISHING REPORT
WES DAVID
If British Columbia’s Fraser River and the prehistoric white sturgeon are on your bucket list, Tony with BC Sportfishing Group says the Fraser River is fishing extremely well this year with everything from juvenile’s white sturgeon to monsters weighing over 200 pounds are being caught and released on the Fraser River. An added bonus to this adventure is being apart of the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Societies sturgeon tagging program. Every sturgeon caught & released is tagged or scanned for an existing tag and the information is recorded for a wide variety of conservation efforts to monitor and protect this amazing fish species. You can even adopt a white sturgeon and receive future information on your new family member. This prehistoric fish species have lived through two ice ages, two World Wars, and countless other challenges and are the last remaining truly wild white sturgeon left. This is a true trip of a lifetime with the added bonus of being a part of conservation.
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
TOM ARMSTRONG
Summer is in full swing here in NW Ontario. As we get towards the end of July, it seems a little more tolerable, after a blistering heat wave in late June. It was great for making my pool and lake at camp pleasant for swimming, but unpleasant for fishing, yard work, and just about anything else outdoors.
This summer has been rather different for me. In a “normal” year, I would have made countless trips out in the boat by now, and spent most of my days off on the water chasing smallmouth, walleye and big brook trout and big lake trout in the Nipigon region (one of my favourite places to fish on earth).
However, with some construction projects at camp, renovating a cabin and building a sauna building, and having an almost 2 year old little girl at home (a super sweet, incredibly fun 2 year old girl), things are different. I find myself fishing close to home more than anything else. Trying to fit fishing between a regimented nap schedule is a challenge, but it’s do that or nothing, so that’s what we do!
LAKE SUPERIOR
I’m lucky living where I do, and have access to a multitude of fishing opportunities close to home. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to get out a number of times, both bringing my little girl along, and other times heading out for a couple hours in the evening, taking advantage of the extended daylight hours summer brings after my little girl goes to bed. I’ve been fishing several lakes and rivers nearby, where we can fish walleye and smallmouth, as well as chasing trout on Lake Superior. There are a handful of boat launches on Superior with 30 minutes of my house, so I can slip out after work or after bedtime and fish for a couple hours. We have access to salmon, lake trout, coaster brook trout and rainbows, and you never know what you may catch.
It’s a wonderful place to live, and I’m taking advantage of the opportunities close to home. I’ve been out with my wife and daughter, my parents and my father in law, getting an opportunity to spend time with them all on the water, exploring, seeing the spectacular country around us, and catching the odd fish. (the beauty of a boat is we can drive separately, and still maintain a 6 foot “social distance” in the boat!)
VERMILION BAY AND AREA
GLENN MCDONALD
As we head into mid summer in Northwestern Ontario water temps have stabilized and the fishing for all species has been amazing. Walleye fishing has been tremendous throughout the region with reports of 28-30” class fish being caught on all the major lakes. Walleye are set up in familiar summer spots, deep lake humps and reefs, or along well defined weed beds. Minnows, crawlers, leeches or artificial, right now the key seems to just be in the water. On Eagle Lake the jigging rap, or equivalent is a fantastic presentation at this time. The eyes’ are loaded up on mid-lake structure and are chasing jigging raps off the bottom.
Pike are in the shallow weedy bays, however the biggest pike can be found on the first or second break line heading out of the bays. Find some deep weeds and a good bet a big pike will be roaming close by.
Musky fishing usually gets good around the latter half of July, and this year is no exception. Mid summer brings maximum weed growth, leading to schools of baitfish using the weeds for food and cover. Find the bait and find the predators. During midsummer musky anglers pay close attention to the solunar calendar and moon cycles. Doing so can help avoid unproductive hours on the water and focus on key, minor and major fishing times. Personally, I had an amazing bite window last 15 minutes where I boated 3 musky, while solo just after a moon minor period. More on that in an upcoming article for Hooked Magazine.
Overall the fishing has been great, the weather has been very stable and with lakes seeing less pressure now is the time to visit Northwestern Ontario. Many lodges in my area are offering great rates, in Canadian dollars to entice Canadian customers. If anyone has ever thought of fishing in our scenic Canadian Shield area I would highly recommend coming this year. Most camps have guides on staff or can recommend a guide. A guide can help anyone, from novice to expert angler learn a new lake, consider it money well spent.
Heading into the second half of August fishing should remain above average. The end of the month brings the next full moon period, which historically brings cooler weather. Everything looks good for some big fish to be caught this summer, come out and join us in Sunset Country.
LAKE OF THE WOODS
Jay Siemens has been busy making more videos. In this most recent one, Josh McFadden joins Jay on Lake of the Woods for a slightly less traditional shore lunch. Yum, yum.