MANITOBA
A bit of snowfall hasn’t hampered in the ice fishing effort in this part of the world. Ice conditions are good in most locales.The biggest story of the week were the huge crappies caught by a couple of anglers in Eastern Manitoba.
Su Mon Mok registered a 16.5 inch crappie from Caddy Lake, that qualifies the longest Master Angler crappie ever caught in that body of water. Meantime Genico Melegrito landed a 16 inch monster out of Star Lake, also the largest Master Angler crappie ever registered there! Congratulations guys. This body of water has been off the radar for a while but looks like things are starting to heat up in the Whiteshell Provincial Park! Check these beauties out.
Lake Manitoba, south basin, has smoothed out, allowing anglers to drive around without much problem. The east side including Twin Beaches and St Ambroise has at least 14 inches of ice. Fishing for walleye has been spotty, with most of the fish being caught the last hour of daylight and after. Depth of five to seven feet have been key. Lipless crankbaits, flutter spoons and jigging spoons have been the best. Glow colours help in low light conditions Some big fish have been caught but most range between 17 and 22 inches in length.
Don Stokotelny, who operates Sticky’s Tackle in Dauphin, said business is booming. He says Lake Dauphin has been on fire with UTV Travel only. Right now there is 12 inches of ice but not everywhere. Valley, Vermillion, Ochre, Turtle all kicking out good numbers with plenty of fish in the 17 inch range plus some bigger fish. He says the index netting they have been doing on walleye population numbers indicates a healthy fishery.
Jay Siemens is on the road again, this time up to Grand Rapids, Manitoba. Jay is staying at Moak Lodge so he can fish Footprint Lake, just down the road. Footprint is one of the best stocked lakes in Manitoba and Jay finds out first hand why!
Up in the Duck Mountains, Black Beaver has been good for brook trout, nothing larger than 17 inches. Beautiful Lake down the road has been hit and miss. In Riding Mountain National Park, Clear Lake is kicking out some jumbo whitefish. Anglers are walking on at the Aspens.
Out in the western section of Manitoba, Lake of the Prairies remains hot.. If you want to see how good, check out this video posted two days ago by Clayton Schick. It has some great underwater footage, showing walleye everywhere!
ALBERTA
Hooked Contributor Dave Shmyr has been out a few times. He lives in Grand Prairie and has this Ice report for northern Alberta. “In the beginning of November, we had some great cool weather to create a good base layer of ice 4-6 inches. Then we had a huge we had a warm chinook roll in causing rotten spots. It was followed by a huge dump of snow. This has added a lot of weight on the ice base. I strongly suggest walking out on lakes tell we have a few more weeks of cooler weather. The ice varies so much best to be safe and check the ice on your way out. Fishing wise the whitefish bite on the spawning beds is unbelievable as well as the perch bite on the edges of dropoffs.”
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
Hooked Contributor Tom Armstrong, who lives just outside of Thunder Bay, hasn’t been out ice fishing yet but he has been keeping his finger on the pulse while on a little winter vacation.
As I put the finishing touches on this ice fishing report, I will admit that ice fishing is the last thing in my mind. I sit staring at the Caribbean sea. I will admit though, now that I’m talking about it, I’m strangely excited for ice fishing. Just not right now!
Upon my return to Northwestern Ontario, conditions will be prime to get out on the ice. Winter has found us in the region, and anglers have been out on the ice for weeks, some as early as early-mid November. Many small area stocked lakes are often the first to freeze and can offer great angling opportunities. Some of these lakes are deep spring fed lakes that resist freeze up, but many often freeze over early, and can offer some great first ice action. There are plenty of these lakes that are frozen and safe to fish now, and anglers can take advantage of the stocked brook trout, lake trout and splake that the province puts in these lakes for anglers.
Hooked columnist Jeff Gustafson has been catching up on some home maintenance projects so hasn’t been out on the ice. He does live right by Lake of the Woods though and has this update.
“The East end of Clearwater Bay is glazed over (Monday night), the west end is still wide open but should seal up over the weekend once things cool down. Smaller lakes have fishable ice, just not the trout water. Anglers are catching walleyes on Darlington Bay on the Winnipeg River, just on the north side of Kenora.”