BIG FALL FISH ON THE MOVE!
MANITOBA
Anglers in Manitoba are still enjoying multi species success. Pick your species, freshwater drum, sucker, bullhead, pike, crappie and of course the most popular of all, walleye. Oh yes, don’t forget about the mighty channel catfish and huge carp. While the catfishing in the Red and Assiniboine has been excellent all fall, with water temperatures cooling, the walleye run is taking over.
Guide Todd Longley says the big greenbacks are starting to move in major numbers, with some extremely large walleye being caught. His guest have had great success using jigs and salted shiners. He has been using white glow google eye jigs tipped with fresh frozen salted shiners. Fish depth ranges and changes day to day. Todd also says water quality has improved dramatically in the river with clarity at least three feet.
He relates the story of one customer losing a monster of a fish coming out of the depths. The angler who had the fish on got so excited he tried to horse the fish in, ultimately breaking it off. That’s what can happen with greenback madness. If you want a day on the water with one of the most entertaining guys I know book one online at www.citycats.ca
Pine Falls has been good as well, with a tremendous number of anglers heading to try their luck in the river, all the way out to the end of Traverse Bay. There is no shortage of water, so anglers can spread out with fish scattered everywhere.
LAKE MANITOBA
Fishing for walleye on this big lake has been good all fall. Lake Manitoba Narrows is a hot spot as always. When fishing there you must adjust to current flow depending on wind direction. Anchoring or spot locking on current seems just out of the heavier flow is the key to that. The Whitemud River has been good as has the Portage Diversion. Shore anglers have been having great success for walleye there. Lake anglers have been fishing Delta Beach but wind direction can’t be from the north.
LAKE OF THE PRAIRIES
ROGER AND SUE GERES
My wife and I had some time off this past week so we headed straight to Lake of the Prairies. We love the valley at this time of the year with the leaves making for a kaleidoscope of colour as the backdrop.
We start fishing with a jig and minnow with silver being the best colour. The walleye were packed full of minnows. We found one good school of fish along a windy shoreline so switched over to bottom bouncers tipped with minnows or nightcrawlers. Depth of the fish varied on what part of the lake you were fishing. Lots of great fishing left and with hardly anyone on the water it makes for a memorable trip.
Want to fine tune your approach this fall to cover area and catch big walleye. Here is an article that will help you out!
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
TOM ARMSTRONG
This fall fishing report is coming to you from about 300 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. I am using satellite internet during a fly in moose hunt with Wilderness North out of Armstrong. It is about as remote as it gets, but we are connected!
I’m currently typing it from the shore of a lake we portaged into (that was no small feat). It’s -1C, gusting north winds with a bit of snow in the air. Though I am on my phone and hunting, I’m doubled up with one of my hunting partners as the cameraman today. I’m taking a backseat for a day or 2, as I’ve already punched a tag early on.
WABIGOON
This fall has been a busy one for me, but I have managed to sneak out fishing here and there. Just last week we got back from fishing near Dryden. My wife and I spent a few days fishing at Bonny Bay Camp on Wabigoon. While chasing fall musky we also got into some crappie. Not having these near home, we were thrilled to get into them. We got a hot tip from the lodge owner and boy did we catch fish. They were tight to some sunken timber, they were active, and they were big! I’m amazed at the size of these slabs. I also found my musky I was after, along with with a mess of crappie.
WALLEYE AND MOOSE
Now on the moose hunt, we are staying on the shores of an untouched walleye lake. We haven’t explored much for the walleye but they weren’t hard to find. We found fish in a deeper hole in twenty feet and more along a rocky mid lake point. These fish crush whatever jig and plastic you offer them. After yesterday’s morning hunt, I caught a quick limit while paddling back to the cabin.
That’s about the extent of my angling this fall thus far, and with hunting, home and work commitments I think my boat may have seen the last water it’ll see until next May!
SASKATCHEWAN
The big news this week is that the Vanity Cup Walleye Tournament kicks off this weekend at Tobin Lake. The tournament committee decided to hold it while implementing strict COVID 19 guidelines. There will be no rules meeting or banquet or awards banquet after. Only one team at a time can weigh in. Masks are being supplied and registration is a drive through one. The tournament has a full payout with the $100,000 first place payout. Should be interesting to see how it all works out. Visit their website for more information at www.vanitycup.ca
What kind of fishing can the tournament anglers expect? With a cooler turn to the weather, some lake walleye should be moving in numbers to the river. Expect, as always some big weight. Meantime friend Boyd Holmen says the lake walleye are chowing down as well.
Last Mountain Lake continues to kick out big fall walleye
ALBERTA
Wes David, Fishing the Wild West T.V. show
October is a great month to be on Alberta’s North Saskatchewan and the South Saskatchewan River systems fishing for the prehistoric lake sturgeon. And this fall is no different. Anglers have been consistently catching lake sturgeon on both river systems from the shoreline since mid-September with #3/0 or #4/0 circle-hooks baited with nightcrawlers or frozen minnows. Adding a little Liquid Mayhem to your bait will speed up the scent trail attracting lake sturgeon of all sizes to your bait even quicker. The best time to catch these fish during the last two weeks has been from 2:00pm until dark. Lake sturgeon are a protected species so be sure to handle them with care while practicing catch and release.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Last week I spent four days fishing on British Columbia’s, Columbia River near Castlegar BC. Walleye are considered an invasive species on the river and there is no shortage of walleye within the river system. We caught over 500 walleye all ranging from 1lb to 5lbs and with the walleye being invasive to the river, anglers are allowed to keep 16 walleye a day possession of 32. (Check the BC Fishing Regulations) for the areas of the river, you choose to fish.
Walleye were found in rocky locations adjacent to fast current. Bottom-bouncing a 3oz weight followed by a worm harness with a hammered-brass blade would entice a walleye to bite on every pass at every area of the river we fished. It also wasn’t uncommon to cast a #11 Len Thompson Lure Dimpled Series into the shallow current next to a walleye location and land a world-class rainbow trout. With walleye this abundant and world-class rainbow trout side by side on a river that never freezes and an area of BC that supports mild-winters, I will definitely be returning to the Columbia River a few times this winter.