MANITOBA
THE RED RIVER
It took all fall but there are finally enough walleye in the Red River to make it worthwhile. Most of the better catches I have been closer to Lockport and the stretch called Doc Reed’s has been decent as well as the Miracle Mile. It might just be worth one more launch of the boat or maybe an afternoon or evening from shore.
LAKE WINNIPEG
As has been the case all open water season, the best walleye fishing has been in the big lake itself. At this time of the year you have to pick your days carefully depending on wind conditions.
This is not the time of year to be adrift on Big Windy. There have been lots of good catches on the west side of the lake and Pine Falls and Traverse Bay have been good the last couple of weeks. Fish the edge of the main river channel and you will find fish.
LAKE OF THE PRAIRIES – ROGER GERE
Lake of the Prairies is still unbelievable, catching numbers like crazy and lots of red zones . Susan landed another Master Angler walleye this one measuring 29.5 inches. Jigging seemed best but last week trolling with worms or minnows was the ticket in depths anywhere from 14 to 22 feet.
Find bait fish and your in the money !!
ON THE BORDER – ROBERT KARPIAK
FALL BASS ARE SPECIAL
NORTHWEST ONTARIO
JEFF GUSTAFSON
ONE MAN/ENGLISH RIVER SYSTEM A MULTI-SPECIES ANGLING HEAVEN
GLENN MCDONALD – VERMILLION BAY AND AREA
As we near the end of October a lot of anglers have had the boats put away for weeks now. Some may still be chasing smallies, some may fish for a huge fall walleye. Not us, we are hunting for the giant fall muskies.
We are waiting for the water temps to fall below 50° and the bait fish to begin their annual spawn. When the whitefish and cisco begin to stack up around spawning areas, the muskies will not be far behind.
So far this month the water temps have remained above 50°, at the time of writing it was around 53°. The live bait, sucker rig bite hasn’t really taken off yet but the muskies are still packing on the calories!
Over the past couple weeks we’ve been in the water a fair amount. We have had a mix of casting, trolling and running live suckers. Casting has been the best bite for us. Fish are still using any available weeds and those not in weeds are starting to follow the bait fish into predictable spawning areas. Those areas are shallow clean rock or gravel, preferably with lake current or steady wind driven current.
On a day where the fish were not hitting the suckers and we didn’t have much luck with casting, we changed tactics. Trolling is always a viable option this time of year. It’s a great way to cover water as well. Within 5 minutes of our first pass Dave’s 13” grandma bait got hit. 20 minutes later the same bait got hit again. The common thread here was the bait fish. We found the bait fish and the muskies were close by. Not to be outdone Dave finished the natural hat trick with a third fish on the Tennessee Shad pattern grandma bait!
A day later we fish a section of lake with lots of natural current. We moved fish right away while casting and I missed two in the figure 8. While in a neck down area I had a hot follow, it rolled off and I lost sight of it. Dave could still see it deep under the boat from his vantage point and talked me through my figure 8. As I plunged the rod into the water right to the reel I pulled the lure to the surface only to see the fish was hot on it. She got in the outside of the turn and put on a bit of a show for the cameras.
Not only would I not have caught this fish without Dave in the boat, I would have given up far too early in my figure 8 after losing sight of the fish. Let that be a lesson, stick with your 8’s and trust your fishing partner. Musky fishing truly is a team sport!
A week later we were on Eagle Lake for an annual fishing trip. You can read about last year’s trip in the current issue of Hooked magazine.
Fishing shallow weeds, and consistently moving fish, I threw on a Ripper bait, by Topline Baits. Only a handful of pull and pause motions into my cast and my rod doubled over. She stayed down right to the boat, a sign of a bigger fish. Not the giant we caught last year but a super well built, clean looking musky!
Finishing off our weekend we went back to one of our favourite lakes to check on the water temps. With temps still holding around 53° we committed an afternoon to dragging suckers around. I did manage to catch one of the prettiest tigers I’ve caught in a while. We noticed the bait fish were getting stacked up close to spawning areas and we were seeing multiple muskies close by.
By our judgement by the time you read this, over the Halloween weekend the sucker bite should be fully underway.
As Hooked magazine looks to wrap up the open water fishing reports, I hope to report from the hard water early this winter.
Until then team 54 or Bust will be chasing muskies until every launch in Northwestern Ontario is frozen over. Don’t believe us? I’ll include a pic from our last outing of 2020.
For those of you still fishing, or hunting on the water, be safe and wear your pfd. Early November is no time to be falling in the water.
Follow team 54 or Bust at our Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/54orbust/?hl=en
And go check out our youtube channel for all our fishing experiences
https://www.youtube.com/c/54orbust
SASKATCHEWAN
It has been a tough bite this fall up on the river at Tobin Lake. A lack of current flow has kept the majority of the walleye in the main lake. Friends Boyd Holmen and Russ Heatherington spent three days on the reservoir this past week. They had very limited success in the river but did catch some quality fish out in the main lake. Windy conditions made it a tough bite.
Clayton Schick recently put together a couple of videos on YouTube from there. He found a tough bite as well but managed to put some nice fish in the boat on the troll and night bite.
ALBERTA – WES DAVID
Last Chance for Open Water Northern Pike
The days are getting shorter and the nights are longer and much colder. Snow clouds linger just over the top of the mountains and when you’re outside you do whatever it takes to stay out of the cold north wind. However, the calm before the proverbial storm means it’s the last chance for open water northern pike.
PIKE BITE CAN BEST IN THE AFTERNOON
Regardless if you are fishing lakes, reservoirs, or river systems, northern pike are also very aware of the seasonal changes and the tougher living conditions the seasonal change will bring. Northern pike are notorious for their aggression and for being very territorial, however, at this time of the year they are feeding with all the aggression of a great white shark. In the last two weeks, I’ve found northern pike cruising close to the shorelines in 12 feet of water and as shallow as four feet of water and feeding at all hours of the day. However, mid-day when the sun is higher warming the ambient air temperature is when the best and most bites for northern pike takes place.
Anglers can do no wrong at this time of the year. Tying on a quality 12-inch titanium or steel leader and casting a Spinnow from Buzz Bomb Lures or a #2 Len Thompson Lure into shallow areas on lakes, reservoirs, or the river systems has been very productive.
WEED GROWTH A KEY
If you can find the last remaining shallow water weed growth or chuck rock along the shoreline, fish them thoroughly. These areas are often holding small perch, and are very productive for northern pike anglers, especially shoreline anglers. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve witnessed several shoreline anglers setting the hook-on northern pike of all sizes in these areas.
At the time of this writing, I have my winter gear and pike fishing gear packed for an afternoon of last chance open water northern pike.