MANITOBA
With a high forecast today of plus 16 Celsius, it might be time to do some yard work. Almost all lakes in the south are walk or ATV on access only. A friend of mine tried to get on Lake Manitoba yesterday and spent half the day trying to get his truck out of the mud at the access point. Ice conditions are dangerous, especially around pressure ridges and trucks and snowmobiles have gone through on different lakes.
Last week we had a chance to get back out to the Shoal Lakes before the access points shutdown. Many anglers were walking out and in many cases this is the only option. It is one of the earliest springs on record so time to start getting the boat ready.
It is either that or pack up the vehicle and head north. There are a few lodges that are catering to ice anglers in the northwestern part of Manitoba. Two years ago we headed up to Wekusko Lake and had some great last ice action for walleye, pike and whitefish.
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
Tom Armstrong- Thunder Bay and area
With our relatively balmy winter continuing in Northwestern Ontario, conditions have been great for ice anglers. With temps still dropping at night, it’s keeping ice in decent condition, and pleasant temps almost every day make for great days on the ice. Ice conditions are still good on most lakes, though ice conditions on a number of angling hotspots on Lake Superior are deteriorating. I’ve been out a few times lately, both on Superior and inland lakes, although I’ve been doing more exploring than serious angling. We’ve been testing out some close to home areas, and exploring some places that have been on the to do list for years.
STAYING CLOSE TO HOME
Yesterday we spent the afternoon on a small bay on Lake Superior, a bay known for big Northern Pike in the spring, hoping that staging pike would be cruising under the ice. We did not find any……….but it was fun to explore. The ice in the bay itself was good, but the channel coming in from the main lake had open water, so we were sure to stay back in the sheltered portion of the bay. Several other access points in this area are now open or well on their way, and have poor or no ice left.
These are some relatively exposed portions of Lake Superior, so with the relatively mild winter we had, these either didn’t form ice, or didn’t form great, long lasting ice. Some areas on Superior still have good ice, and anglers are taking advantage. Several areas around Thunder Bay itself still have decent ice, although reports of pressure ridges opening up are common, and anglers need to be abundantly cautious when out on Superior. Inland lakes still seem to have solid ice, with very little slush or snow on the ice. Area walleye and lake trout lakes have been good, with warm weather, solid ice conditions, and good fishing, making it a great time to be out on the lake. With minimal snow this winter, conditions have been quite good on most lakes, and anglers are taking full advantage of warm weather and ice conditions, and utilizing the resource we have available to us to find something to do during this pandemic!
VERMILLION BAY AND AREA
GLENN MCDONALD
The first two weeks of March have seen fantastic weather in Northwestern Ontario. So nice in fact that most of our lakes are snow free and all the portage trails are barely passable by snowmobile at this point.
EAGLE LAKE AND AREA
I was fishing the Eagle Lake area a week ago, and had success for a couple of species. Fishing for lake trout on the lakes south of Eagle, my brother-in-law, Richard Madussi and I had a couple great mornings. It was highlighted by finding an area that produced the darkest lake trout I have ever caught. We caught a number of these dark specimens, nothing approaching trophy size however the coloring more than made up for it. We were using Hunger Strike Tubes by Drop Tine Tackle, in fact I was using a prototype tube, with great success. Pink and glow blue was the hot color on this particular lake.
Later one afternoon we set up for walleye on Eagle Lake around the famous Viking reef area. We had good luck on Northland jigs tipped with live minnows. We let the kids catch as many as we could and my nephew, Lynden Madussi put on a little clinic. Catching walleye after walleye, including one that fought him pretty hard that he called a ‘musky’ although it wasn’t. It truly is enjoyable getting the kids out on the hard water for some ice fishing action.
ANISHINABI LAKERS
During the past two weeks another one of my buddies, Robert Monty, and his friends took a day trip to Anishinabi Lake. It is a fantastic lake, and readers of the fishing report know that I write of it often. Robert and the crew had a great day on the water, including many ten pound lakers. Robert is an avid outdoorsman in the Vermilion Bay area and is often found on the water on his days off. Fortunately for him, his wife Donna enjoys the outdoors as much as he does.
SPRING IS COMING
Warm weather will play havoc with ice conditions in the coming weeks, so please be careful out there. I hope to have a few more laker trips this season, but ice and portage conditions will dictate that.
Something I am looking forward to doing this spring is catching a hot bite on pike as they start to stage up for spawning. A couple years back Richard Madussi was able to hit the ice just as the big gators were heading in, leading to some amazing catches. We are hoping ice conditions last long enough to catch that bite in early April.
Take care out there anglers.
SASKATCHEWAN
SOUTHEAST
BRAD GRAHAM
The Perch bite on Kenosee has been awesome all winter. There have been lots of reports of 100 plus fish a day. Anglers have been having the most success with small jigs with micro plastics working great or small jigging Rapala’s.
On the Rafferty Reservoir there are perch being caught small jig with small minnows. The pike are starting to get active but mostly small male fish getting excited for the spring spawn.
OPEN WATER OPPORTUNITY
Boundary Dam, with this warm weather, is wide open. There are a lot of boats on the water. Some bass are being caught along with a few smaller walleyes.
With the warmer weather down here ice conditions are deteriorating quickly so be careful check conditions before heading on the ice. It has been another great ice fishing season. I hope everyone had a chance to get out and enjoy the great fishing opportunities we have in the South East Saskatchewan. Be safe everyone.
CENTRAL SASKATCHEWAN
Smaller trout lakes are starting to heat up northwest of Prince Albert. Ice conditions are worsening with the warming weather. A lot of travel on the larger lakes are by ATV’s. The flats on Tobin have been good for big pike. Walleye are still being caught on the side of the main river channel.
ALBERTA
SOUTHERN ALBERTA REPORT BY WES DAVID-FISHING THE WILD WEST T.V.
The southern Alberta reservoirs closed to fishing on March 15. However, I always mark on my calendar to ice fish the last open week of the southern reservoirs season, and this past March 11th was no different. My experience with fishing southern Alberta reservoirs at this time of the year has always been non-stop crazy pike action.
RESERVOIR PIKE ACTION!
Cowoki Reservoir is a relatively shallow reservoir not far from the town of Tilley that is full of northern pike. Cowoki Reservoir is not known for an abundance of monster northern pike, although, there’re a few. However, the reservoir is known for non-stop pike action. Two to 10-pound northern pike are eager to bite an angler’s offering during the month of March and March 11, was no exception. We lost count of how many northern pike we caught and released in one-day of fishing in 20-inches of water. We were jigging Spinnows and Buzz Bombs from BozzBomb Tackle tipped with frozen minnows. It was 12-degrees out and the pike action was non-stop. It was a great way to bring the southern Alberta ice fishing season to a close.
EDMONTON AND AREA
The Richardson brothers of Alberta Angling fame headed out to Wabamun Lake recently to try their luck for a multi-species catch. This lake is located 65 kilometres west of Edmonton and is one of the most popular lakes in the province. It holds a variety of species including whitefish, big pike, burbot and walleye.