COLD WEATHER DOESN’T LAST
MANITOBA
A few cold nights has helped tighten up ice in most parts of the west, but a return to warmer temperatures for the next week will slow things down. Anglers have been walking on many of the lakes and rivers in the southern half of the province and ice conditions are good for the most part. Ice cleats are a must on some of the ones that have frozen fairly smooth. With no snow cover, it makes walking without them an issue.
In the last two weeks the three biggest stories have been the following:
RED RIVER
As most anglers know, there was a excellent late fall run of walleye into the Red. This has also translated into some good early ice success with a few Master Angler fish being registered.
Here is Nathan Sachtay with some beautiful green! With great weather in the forecast it is time to get out there.
IT IS A CRAPPIE TIME OF YEAR
Early ice produces some of the best crappie fishing of the year. Anglers have been catching crappies on many of the lakes in the province that hold good populations of these popular game fish. Those include Minnewasta and Mary Jane in the southwest and Caddy and Brereton in the Whiteshell.
It is extremely important when fishing crappies to release the larger fish. A 16 inch crappie can be 15 years of age. These big females are critical to the longevity of the fishery. Manitoba is on the northern range of these great gamefish and grow very slowly. If you want to find out more check out this article here.
I have spent time on Brereton and while it has some good sized crappies the population on this lake is fairly limited. Catch and Release of the large fish plays an even more important role.
PELICAN LAKE
The third interesting early ice story has been this big lake in the southwest part of the province. Pelican stretches for 11 miles and does hold good populations of fish including yellow perch. It can also be an extremely frustrating fishery, with the perch and other species well fed. It looks like the perch have decided to bite in the last two weeks and there have been some good catches of jumbo perch!
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
Anglers are starting to head out on quads on the south end of the Lake of the Woods. They Rainy River is also fishable in the slow current areas by walking on. There is some decent ice further north as you get up to Kenora. It will be a while before anyone is driving around though. Almost all the backcountry lakes have good ice on them. Local guide Jamie Bruce hit one of these lakes recently for early ice crappies. While he caught some smaller crappies, he also landed a memorable fish. Check out the video for yourself.
Jay Siemens decided to head out recently from his home in Kenora to a small lake that holds decent smallmouth bass. These fish can be challenging to find at this time of the year, especially if you hadn’t fished the lake in the fall time to locate wintering areas. Still, Jay managed to grind out a few nice fish.
SASKATCHEWAN
The ice action is really starting to pick up in the southern half of the province. Anglers are catching some nice walleye and pike on Last Mountain Lake and Lake Diefenbaker. Daryl Gilbert, who manages a waterfowl lodge near Saskatchewan Landing, also has ice hut rentals in the winter. He and his girlfriend Emily spend a lot of time on the ice and update their adventures on YouTube regularly. You can find them at Daryl Gilbert Outdoors.
Another hardcore Saskatchewan angler Kaiden Fletcher, caught his personal best walleye in the last week. It measured in at 32 inches! Check out the video at https://www.instagram.com/p/CXH4YkYF9RP/
Look at this beast! Congrats Kaiden for catching the fish of a lifetime.
Layne Maier was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan and grew up camping and
fishing with his family along Last Mountain Lake, Saskatchewan. He now calls that lake
home and runs an outfitter service specializing in trophy sized walleye and pike. Never
one to shy away from an adventure or a challenge, Layne frequently travels across western
Canada exploring new waters and competing in fishing tournaments. Find him on Instagram
and Facebook under @laynemaier and @mtnmanoutdoors.
Layne has also written for Hooked. He is back producing a series of how-to videos for Pokeys Tackle in Regina. Check out his video as he hooks into a bunch of Last Mountain walleye.
ALBERTA – WES DAVID
I can’t remember a time in my life when central and southern Alberta has experienced such a mild November and December. Although the northern portion of the province has seen colder temperatures and winter conditions, temperatures in central and southern Alberta throughout November have reached as high as +16C with overnight lows to only -3C. Instead of kids playing in the snow and playing shinny hockey on outdoor skating rinks, kids have been skateboarding to school. I personally, was fishing open-water rainbow trout on December 2nd. For most central and southern Alberta ice anglers, their ice fishing gear has sat ready but idle in the garage. However, it’s beginning to look a lot like winter.
December 4th, central and southern Alberta saw its first snowfall of the season that was worth talking about and the temperatures began to fall to the point where kids were putting their coats on and even zipping them up before leaving the house. While many complained about the cold weather and shoveling the driveway, a grin was seen on the faces of Alberta ice anglers as they have been waiting patiently for the colder weather to arrive and the ice to set up on their favorite waterbodies, and, the long-range weather forecasts are favorable for ice anglers. if the weatherman/women are even 50% right over the next week or two with their cold-weather predictions, I believe we will be seeing some fish come through the ice and a much different Hooked Magazine Alberta Fishing Report just before Christmas.
However, with the late ice, the question is. Will the fish be where you left them in the fall, in their early winter locations, or in transition?