MANITOBA
Manitoba Fall Fishing Report – Petro Hrynda
As the leaves begin to change from their vibrant greens to their vivid fall colours, and the bitter northernly winds begin to howl The fishing across the province begins to heat up. In the upcoming weeks, the fall fishing opportunities will be bountiful. Whether it be the giant greenbacks that roam the local waters of Lake Winnipeg and its tributaries.
The fired-up trout of Manitoba’s parkland waters. The line peeling bronze backs across the eastern rocky shield. To the monster lake trout that ascent from the depths of the northern waters. Now is the time to take advantage of the world-class fishing and hook into your next trophy.
With all border restrictions being completely lifted there hasn’t been a better time for our southern neighbours to come back to Manitoba and enjoy our world-class fishing opportunities across the province once again!
The Fall Greenback Walleye Run
As we enter late September, greenback walleyes will have begun to appear throughout the south basin of Lake Winnipeg, the Winnipeg River and the Red River as they make their annual fall migration in preparation for the spring spawn.
The recent Red River Walleye Masters Cup Tournament revealed some of the giants that are lurking in the waters with a massive 13.72 lb. walleye taking big fish of day one and a 12.48 lb. walleye taking big fish of day two.
Fall fishing for greenbacks will only get better in the coming weeks. So be sure to grab your rods and take the short drive from Winnipeg to the Red River, downstream of the Lockport dam, and take advantage of the unique trophy fishery that many anglers wait all year for. Or, head a little further and launch on the Winnipeg River at Pine Falls. To experience the exciting action from the east side of the lake.
If you choose to shore fish, the most popular tackle choice is a pickerel rig tipped with salted minnows and if you are hopping into the boat, similarly, there is likely no other bait that’s put more big walleyes in the boat than a classic jig head tipped with a salted minnow.
Feisty Canadian Shield Smallmouth
Smallmouth are often overlooked in the fall but with the cooling water temperatures, the bass will put on the weight for the upcoming winter, presenting the perfect opportunity to catch your personal best bronzeback.
These feisty smallmouths will often crush large baits such as 6” white plastics or various jerk baits. They can be found schooled up on shallow reefs. Then, eventually deeper wintering holes as the water temperatures continue to fall.
Manitoba’s Eastern Region offers fantastic opportunities to chase smallmouth in Nopiming Provincial Park, Whiteshell Provincial Park, and throughout the Winnipeg River system.
Coloured up Parkland Region Trout
If there are two things that go together, it’s fall fishing and trout. September and October are some of the most popular months to target trout in the many stocked trout lakes across the Parkland Region. Anglers across Manitoba and beyond come to fish the waters of lakes. Such as Patterson Lake to target trophy brown trout and rainbow trout. Species such as brown trout, although fall spawners, do not naturally reproduce in these stocked trout lakes and are supported by consistent stocking efforts. Thus targeting them is possible throughout the fall.
Popular techniques to target trout are fish imitating baits such as swimbaits, and jerk baits. Or if you choose to fly-fish you may lean towards a minnow pattern or leech imitation.
Other popular waters include Twin Lake for the unique yet aggressive tiger trout. Using a similar approach, tiger trout can be caught throughout the fall and provide an exciting experience for many days resulting in several Master Angler-sized tigers.
Northern Region Shallow Lake Trout
The following weeks, from now until late October. Provide a unique bite window to target trophy-sized lake trout as they emerge from their summer depths onto shallow, rock-covered reefs for the annual spawn. The Northern Region offers a variety of popular drive-to destinations with accommodations listed below.
- Clearwater Lake – Evergreen Lodge and Resort
- Athapapuskow Lake – Bakers Narrows Lodge
- Kississing Lake – Kenanow Lodge
Check out this destination spotlight video at Kenanow Lodge. To see what you can experience when you visit beautiful Kississing Lake targeting fall lake trout.
LAKE OF THE PRAIRIES – ROGER GERES
The fall bite on Lake of the Prairies is crazy once you can track them down. The walleye seem to be stacked in random places , but if you go through the work and run through some spots lots of fun can be had.
Dress up and try different jigs and bait if you are marking and not catching. It seemed short shank jigs were best , and take lots of bait because they’re feeding up and when they start you don’t wanna run out .
Early mornings we started out in 10’ and ended up following them down to 22’
Not many days left make the best of them!
Roger
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
VERMILLION BAY AND AREA – GLENN MCDONALD
Fall is a musky hunter’s dream season. Muskies start to bulk up before the long winter. Bait fish, such as cisco and whitefish begin to stage for their annual spawn. The lakes are quiet, long gone are the pleasure boaters of summer. All in all, it’s prime time to be on the water as a musky angler.
A late spring morphed into a late summer, resulting in a late fall. Lake temperatures remained well above 60 degrees F until the beginning of October. With it, muskies were still using familiar summer areas, such as mid lake rocks and weed beds. The cool weather to start October has finally resulted in colder lake temperatures. Muskies are moving shallow, looking for the warmest water available. Some fish remain suspended off structure, in stable water temps. As the water dips close to 50 degrees F the muskies will start to follow the pre-spawn bait fish.
The mid part of October until early November are some of our favorite times to be on the water. The live bait, sucker rig bite will be in full swing. Muskies will be grouped together, around the staging bait fish and multiple fish days are common.
The past few weeks have been a mixed bag of weather and lake conditions. We were fortunate to catch our first sucker rig fish over the past weekend. Dave Chaval and I were fishing with his girlfriend, Ange, and she was running a live sucker out the back of the boat. As we rounded a main lake point, over a steep break line, her sucker got hit. After a short battle we slid the net under the first live bait musky of 2022!
The following day the three of us were out again, albeit on a different lake. Ange missed a couple on the sucker rig, but thankfully Dave and I pulled through on regular baits. I was sent a glide bait to try out, from ZM Baits. It took a total of 20 casts to hook into its first musky. On the next spot a pike hit the glide bait and ate the rubber grub tail off. Switching to a similar glide on our next spot, I got hit way out from the boat. This fish got off, however a few casts later Dave had a nice fish follow into the figure 8. Dave sealed the deal on the second turn. Just like that, a two fish afternoon.
A week earlier Dave and I were out and caught the most unlikely of muskies! After struggling with casting, a failed trolling attempt and more disappointment while casting, we were ready to throw in the towel. I suggested we try some short line trolling over a submerged weed bed. We got out trolling gear, and I decided to try a Dadson bucktail. I clipped it on, and threw it overboard. As I kicked the motor into gear my line counter was at 20’ of line out. The blades were barely spinning. As the boat started moving I saw a streak on the graph. Within a split second I told Dave I had one. Less than a minute later we had her in the bag. The craziest fish of the year so far.
Check out the full video of that catch here
CRAZIEST Musky Catch of the season! We could hardly believe it ourselves…
Fishing is in the home stretch of open water season in Northwestern Ontario. We will be out until the lakes freeze over. We don’t take things lightly out there. It’s a dangerous time to be on the water. Please use common sense and wear a lifejacket. It’s true, the musky hunters love to be out at this time of year, but we also know the risks. For all the anglers that enjoy the fall fishing, please be safe.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Hooked contributor Jamie Bruce continues to chase his dream of making the Bassmaster Elite Tour. Jamie is down on Lake Hartwell for the Bassmaster Open event. So far so good, as he enters Day Two today in the top twenty. Good luck Jamie!
LAKE OF THE WOODS AND AREA – JEFF GUSTAFSON
Been fishing just about every day since May! Looking forward to some downtime coming up but no complaints over here. We’re spoiled across Sunset Country, fishing is always good for whatever species you want to chase. I’ve been fishing bass tournaments every weekend and it’s been going pretty good.SASKATCHEWAN
LAST MOUNTAIN LAKE – ROB SCHULZ, G&S MARINA OUTFITTERS
The walleye are biting well throughout the main lake basin areas with good numbers and still some real Last Mountain Giants over 30” being caught and released.RAFFERTY RESERVOIR – RALPH SMART, PRAIRIE PRO OUTFITTERS
Fall time is haul time here on Rafferty. The fish have really chunked up and are scrappy in the now cold water since turnover. Everyday has been different with walleyes in 25 to 5 ft range throughout the day. Weed growth has died back a lot and is easier to fish the edge and pockets with jigs and minnows or plastics. The big pike have moved in also do you never know what the next tug can be! My southern location usually means a longer open water season Any questions on the bite please call us here at Prairie Pro Outfitters.
ALBERTA FISHING REPORT – WES DAVID, FISHING THE WILD WEST TV
The first annual Cariboo Outdoor Distributors and Tackle Booking Show was held on September 26th and 27th, in Edmonton, at the West Edmonton Mall. I had the good fortune of being invited to help and support many of the companies I work with through Fishing the Wild West TV.
I also get to experience firsthand what goes on behind the scenes within the tackle industry long before an angler ever makes a cast or nets a fish.
Manufacturers, product representatives, regional product representatives, and outdoor store owners from across western Canada attended the Cariboo Outdoor Distributors show. It showcased some of the newest products including electronics, that will hit the shelves of your local outdoor sporting store in time for Christmas. Everything from ice augers, lures, hooks, soft plastics, rods/reels, electronics, filleting knives, and time-proven products, such as Len Thompson’s Lures and Mustang Survival PFDs were all there. Orders were written to be sure the products are in the stores and waiting for angler’s well before they need them.
It was amazing to see how much behind-the-scenes work is done by everyone involved within the industry and what happens with the products we use well before those products are ever in an angler’s hands to make a cast and set the hook.
EDITOR’S NOTE: One of the longest running dealer shows in this part of the world, was held in Winnipeg October 4th and 5th. The CSI Annual Fall Dealer Show was a happening place with a myriad of exhibitors and orders written during the two days.
LAC LA BICHE WALLEYE TRIP
At the time of this writing, I’m gearing up to head north to spend a few days fishing Lac La Biche in the northern portion of central Alberta. I spent a few days in May of this year fishing in Lac La Biche, and along with the amazing community of Lac La Biche, Alberta, it ended up being one of the most amazing walleye fishing experiences of the season. You can read about my spring walleye fishing experience in Lac La Biche, Alberta, in the Fall Issue of Hooked Magazine, and watch episode #6 of Fishing the Wild West TV (Lac La Biche Walleye,) on Sportsman Channel Canada, and the World Fishing Network.
Hunting season is upon us, and the month of October is one of the best months for an Alberta cast and blasts. Play safe hunters and anglers and I hope to see you on the water or in the field!