MANITOBA
Rain, rain and more rain is making a good rain suit a necessity these days on the water. This certainly has helped the forest fire situation in many parts of the province. and raised some low water levels in lakes and rivers.
Increased flow on the Whitemud River has brought in some larger freshwater drum and anglers have been catching some Master Angler sized fish. Check out this nice fish caught by Eric Wiens.
DUCK MOUNTAINS
There has been some outstanding stocked trout fishing on the many lakes that inhabit this beautiful provincial park.
Check out this beautiful brown trout caught on Laurie Lake by Jessie Belot. Over the years, Laurie has proved to be a lake that can be extremely hard to crack. Ten years ago I fished the lake for two days in early spring. On day one we caught seven fish, six of them browns and one lake trout. All were caught on a #9 black and white floating Rapala that dove to about six feet with a 100 feet of line out. All the fish were caught along shallow shorelines. The next day I fly fished with friend Ryan Suffron. While we didn’t land as many fish, we caught some big browns.
What impressed me as the day went along was how Ryan read the water and controlled his boat in the wind and with the wind. When the fish are in shallow he likes to cast but when the fish are along the first drop off like they were on this day, he uses a reverse drift to present our dropper fly rigs to the deeper fish. On this day we marked most of the fish along a 12 foot transition line from harder to softer bottom. By letting our flies drift down behind the boat we were able to cover all depth ranges with a very subtle presentation.
I spent a calm day on the enigmatic Persse Lake and witnessed lots of large rising fish, but only managed a Perch. A scouting trip to West Watjask (Musky) saw that lake levels had risen since my successful trip last Fall which should make the launch easier to maneuver.
BOWER LAKE
A hardy group of MFFA anglers descended on Bower Lake in the Turtle Mountain area in late April, just after ice out. The shallows produced quite a number of Master Angler fish, including at least one Rainbow Trout of 25”; there were more Rainbows than Browns caught. The fish wintered well and were very “football” shaped. Flies that produced well were Midnight Fire leeches and small minnow patterns. Water Boatman hatches have already started and the fish were keyed into them when then winds abated.
“FLY BITES” from members of the Manitoba Fly Fishers Association (MFFA)
The MFFA will add to the weekly fish reports available through Hooked as members are out and about this summer. Please note this part the fishing report will only refer to fly-caught fish only! We typically target the smaller lakes early season and follow temperature trends as most of us transition from Trout and Char to post spawn Pike/Bass/Musky. When the Hexigenia hatch (aka Fish Flies) happens in June, it is our time to shine as most species shut down on taking bait.
RED RIVER AND LAKE WINNIPEG
You will also find members targeting the world class Channel Cat fishery at Lockport. Viewing social media reports, the Channel Catfish have returned to the Red River at Lockport in a spectacular fashion. MFFA members are reporting multiple Cats in the high 30” range as well as Goldeye and Drum. The water is still high, so carful wading is advised. Small minnow patterns and nymphs are recommended.
EASTERN MANITOBA
MATT GELLEY – MG OUTDOORS
The angling in the eastern region of Manitoba has been changing day to day; hour by hour. Mother Nature has been dishing out wild, inconsistent weather. We are seeing surface water temperatures in the low 50F to 60F in many lakes out in shield country. Find the warmest water, and you’ll find the fish. The rule applies every year.
Smallmouth Bass – Marabou
The big bronzebacks are still in pre-spawn mode. Last week, we got on a hot shallow bite in 3-6 foot of water. Bass were really chunky and fat. The weather was nice; low winds and sunny. Water temperature was 52F. We found a couple schools of bass that just moved up on shallow rocks. The hot presentations were the marabou jig and NED rig. Gussy and I were chatting last summer about how effective hair jigs can be and it flat out catches them. The key is to swim the hair mid column. Kalin’s make a very economical black hair jig that is great to fun fish with. Unfortunately the pike also like them and they can disappear real quick.
You want a jig that’s 1/16-1/8 oz depending on the depth your fishing. Light 8 lb braided line and a long fluorocarbon leader. Finesse fishing is the name of the game this time of year.
Black Crappies – Bobbers
The spring crappie spawn has started but most of the fish moving shallow are still pre-spawn. With the overall daily temperatures being cooler, numbers are down in the shallows. Better to pick a warm sunny day. In the coming couple weeks, there will be more and more Tuxedo crappies in 4 to 6 foot of water. We hang a 1/16oz jig with a Kalin’s Crappie Scrub below a float and wait for the bobber to go down. Super fun and addicting way to fish em’.
Walleyes – Plastics
One of the best ways to catch walleyes in the spring is pitching plastics. Ned rigs and small paddle tails on a 1/8oz to 1/4oz jig head are a staple. I find plastic out produces live bait when the water is between 55-70 degrees. One important tip is to use high-vis yellow braid and “line watch” for the jig to make bottom contact. Look for the bow/slack and then start working the bait along the bottom. I usually do short lifts with the paddle tail and wait for the jig to hit bottom before lifting again. Quite often walleyes will hit on the fall. Pitching rocky shorelines in 6-10 foot are a great place to find spring walleyes in the shield. The active fish are usually the ones up shallow.
Tight lines.
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
MIKE CORRIGAN
With ice out in late April this year, the early season Lake Trout have started to move back to deeper water. Splake are still active in the shallows, with the recent cool weather. Try small leech or minnow patterns. Incidental catches of battle weary, and scarred, Pike and aggressive pre-spawn Bass are taking flies in the shallows; use small minnow patterns. Some Pike, however, are still paired up and in spawning mode. With the recent rains and wind, the surface water temperatures are still in the low teens Celcius.
For Lake of the Woods there have been changes to the regulations to this popular sport fish. Here they are according the new regulation guide.
New Lake of the Woods size restrictions for walleye and sauger, FMZ 5 Walleye and sauger combined. Ontario and Canadian residents: Limits: S-4; none between 43-70 cm, not more 1 greater than 70 cm, and C-2; none greater than 43 cm
Non-resident anglers: Daily catch and retain limit: S-2; none between 43-70 cm, not more than 1 greater than 70 cm, and C-2; none greater than 43 cm. Possession limit: S-4; none between 43-70 cm, not more than 1 greater than 70 cm and C-2; none greater than 43 cm.
For all the Ontario regulations click here.
SASKATCHEWAN
Walleye tournament season has started with a big event on Rafferty Reservoir near Estevan. Ralph Smart of Prairie Pro Outfitters is hosting this second year event. Walleye fishing in the shallows has been good with both numbers and size caught. It should be a shootout.
With rain and below seasonal temperatures fish of all species have been staying the shallows more than normal at this time of year. It is turning out to be a longer than normal post spawn period on many of the lakes and reservoirs in south and central Saskatchewan.
ALBERTA
WES DAVID – FISHING THE WILD WEST
It was a busy May long weekend across Alberta.
The Southern Alberta Walleye Trail (SAWT) made its first stop of the 2024 season at Crawling Valley Reservoir. Despite the wind and rain changing by the hour, 49 teams went head-to-head, over the two-day tournament, and the winning team weighed in close to 42 pounds of walleye and the victory. The next stop for the SAWT will be one of my favourite southern Alberta reservoirs to fish, 40 Mile Reservoir, on May 31 and June 1.
Leading up to the long weekend, I launched the Tracker boat on Pine Coulee Reservoir, west of Stavely, Alberta where I spent some time on the water familiarizing myself with some new electronics. The new Hummingbird’s were crystal clear and very user-friendly and worked great right out of the box. Although I had no luck landing a Pine Coulee Reservoir rainbow trout, the walleye fishing didn’t disappoint.
BAIT BAN
Pine Coulee Reservoir has a bait ban. No live or frozen bait and according to how the regulations read, no scent attractant or power baits. So, it was the perfect opportunity to test some new 2” Shad 5 crankbaits from Chubbs Lures. Casting the lures to any rock walls and rock points on the reservoir in eight to 14 feet of water and swimming the 2” shad crankbaits which dived to 4 and 8 feet back to the boat was more than the walleye could resist. The walleye would hit the Chubbs Shad 5 and do their best to retreat into the rocky cover. Pine Coulee Reservoir is not known for big walleye, but regardless of their size, it was a great spring day of crankbait fishing for walleye.
The next stop will be in the Lac La Biche Region, to fish three lakes in three days then east to Saskatchewan and Manitoba!
CHRIS FONOS