MANITOBA
With a more rain in the forecast it is turning out to be one of the wettest springs on record. After reading about all the flooding in different parts of Manitoba, I decided to give my friend Dino Branfield a call. He lives on a farm just north of Morden. I try and plan one fishing a trip a year down to the that part of the world I wanted to find out how all this moisture was affecting that part of the province.
Dino said when the snow melted it filled up Lake Minnewasta Reservoir three weeks ago. With two more Colorado lows piled on that, he says the water is running over the top of the dam in town, flooding several properties. He is concerned that many of the crappies in the reservoir will be going over the top of the dam with the water. Only time will tell!
Dino is also an avid turkey hunter, but he hasn’t been out yet because of all the moisture. He also says many of the roads around him have been washed away by overland flooding.
That is the story in many communities and water levels in our lakes and rivers will continue to rise as more snow melts in the central part of Manitoba. If you are interested in learning more about the self-proclaimed Mayor of Nelsonville check out the podcast I did with him here.
Hardcore anglers were still heading out for stocked trout last week. Friend Roger Geres and his wife Sue have been having good success for tiger trout in the Twin Lakes. Recently Roger landed a nice rainbow trout from Patterson Lake. He caught the fish on Berkley orange trout paste in six feet of water.
When the season opens May 14th in southern Manitoba there will be super cold-water conditions on those rivers and lakes that are ice free.
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
JAMIE BRUCE – LAKE OF THE WOODS AND AREA
Lake of the Woods and surrounding lakes and rivers are hitting record flow for this time of year. Flooding is already occurring and levels are expected to rise another 11-13” in the coming week. The Norman Dam in Kenora will be wide open May 7.
The heavy current has immensely helped with the abnormal ice conditions. What was looking like a May 20-24 ice out is now more likely to be around May 15 if I had to guess. It is going to be an interesting fishing season to say the least! I’m heading down to Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin next week to chase some smallmouth and I will likely return to the highest spring water levels I have ever seen.
————————————————————————————————————————————————
One of the best cold water lures every invented is the hair jig. I found out about them by luck a few years back and have had great success on them ever since. They catch a wide variety of fish but are especially effective on smallmouth bass.
With the slow pulsating movement of the hair, even the most negative fish is interested. There are some keys to using them though. You need light line, no more than six-pound test fluorocarbon as a leader, and a long, medium action rod.
To keep fish hooked up on this setup your hair jig must have a super needle point hook. I learned years ago how critical this is when fishing the Kenora Bass International. The first morning of the tournament I lost several nice fish because my thick shanked hook was not penetrating properly. When the bass jumped, they were able to shake the hook.
A SECRET OF THE PRO’S
Many of the hardcore bass anglers in this part of the world tie their own. Jeff Gustafson and Jamie Bruce of Kenora have won a lot of money with these baits and have spent considerable time custom tying. Bruce even has his own line for sale on his website at http://btfishing.com.
While hair jigs are really good in cold water, they are pretty great in the summer. Gussy says they shine on those hot, flat summer days when big smallmouths move into shallow water and cruise, lazily looking for an easy meal. Jeff says these small jigs are an “after-dinner mint” as they float through the water column, imitating a leech or small invertebrate. Gussy has tried all the different colours but his go-to is black.
Because of their light weight, marabou jigs must be fished slowly. Jeff likes to cast past a likely boulder, log or clump of weed that could be holding a smallmouth and swim it past, never letting the jig touch the bottom.
COMMERCIALLY PRODUCED HAIR JIGS
If you are not into tying our own like Jeff, I have done a bit of research on ones you can buy. One lure manufacturer out there has a hair jig that seems a step ahead of the rest.
Rapid Baits from the U.S has been testing all kinds of hair to go with their custom-made baits and there isn’t a material that they like better for a hair jig than fox fur. Unlike Marabou which can be very compacted in the water, fox fur maintains size in the water without sacrificing action. It is also naturally buoyant and has a much slower fall rate than marabou or bucktail jigs. This allows you to throw it on a slightly heavier jig head and achieve longer casts. You can check out their products at http://rabidbaits.com
What ever way you go, you should make sure to have some in your tackle box this year. As mentioned, they are especially effective in shallow water situations.
SASKATCHEWAN
The angling season opened in southern Saskatchewan yesterday on May 5th. Rob Schulz, who operates G&S Marina on Last Mountain Lake said the ice went off the lake two days ago. So far angling on this big lake has been tough. He says the fishing for walleye and other species usually doesn’t heat up to the end of May.
For those anglers in Central Saskatchewan the season opens on May 15th this year.
ALBERTA
Wes David Host of Fishing the Wild West TV
Environment and Parks, Spring Walleye Camp
2022, Alberta fair-weather fishing season opens in southern Alberta on May 8th and progresses further into the month of May as you move north. For Alberta anglers, the first and two most common fish species targeted on lakes and reservoirs will be walleye and northern pike. However, as we all anticipate the opening day of a new fair-weather fishing season, I had the good fortune of working with Alberta Environment and Parks and witnessing what goes on behind the scenes with the Alberta Walleye Stocking Program to assure we have walleye to catch and release for years to come.
On May 5th, I was in Lac Ste Anne, Alberta, at the Alberta Environment and Parks, spring walleye camp. Unlike trout stocking, a brood stock of walleye is not available. Instead, in the spring, a walleye camp is set up on a lake that contains a healthy walleye population such as Lac Ste Anne.
LIVE TRAPS COLLECT THE FISH
Adult walleye are collected in live traps from key spawning locations on the lake and moved by boat in large, aerated holding tanks to a tent on the shoreline where their eggs are collected from the females and fertilized from captured males. Each female walleye holds an estimated 50,000 eggs and the ratio is one female to three males. After removing the eggs and milt, the fish are returned safely back to the lake and in total, each walleye is out of the water in less time than an angler catching, removing the hook, and taking a quick photo of their catch.
Truthfully, it was amazing to see how efficient the Alberta Environment and Parks walleye stocking team really was and how careful, and gentle the walleye were handled.
HEADING TO THE HATCHERY
From the Lac Ste Anne walleye camp, the fertilized eggs are transported each day to the Cold Lake Fish Hatchery for hatching and rearing. Walleye can be as fry or fingerlings ranging from the size of your eyelash to 15-centimetres. From the hatchery, the walleye fry are stocked in a variety of lakes and reservoirs across Alberta. The number of walleye stocked per waterbody is calculated based on the size of a given waterbody and how many fish the waterbody can support.
For me, the whole experience was incredibly educational, and I will have a greater appreciation of what goes on behind the scenes so we can fish walleye today and for years to come!
https://mywildalberta.ca/fishing/fish-stocking/walleye-stocking.aspx