MANITOBA
Red River and area-Guide Todd Longley report
The green is rolling into the Red and Winnipeg Rivers. Todd has been guiding on the Red and he says the early morning bite has been the best he has seen in years. Todd says the water quality is outstanding so the fish are biting at first light before the sun is even up. He says fish are being caught the length of the river with lots of fish in the five to seven pound class. So far he has landed three Master Anglers in his boat. He and his clients have been using jigs with salted shiners. He has been fishing the area between Selkirk Park and Lower Fort Garry.
You can find Todd at citycats.ca
DUCK MOUNTAINS
Did you know that we have one potentially viable muskie population in Manitoba? Thanks to the Swan Valley Sporting Fishing Enhancement Group we do. Research funded by the Fish and Wildlife Enhancement Fund (FWEF) was conducted by SVSFE in 2015-2016, which found West Watjask Lake to be a suitable candidate for muskie introductions.
Brock Koutecky, is a fisheries technician with SWF and has been involved with the project right from the beginning. He says the fish in the original stocking in 2016 are now between 35 and 39 inches. The 450 muskie stocked in 2019 are now between 25 and 29 inches. The good news says Brock that the fish are reproducing and there are bunch of fish now in the 10-inch range, giving the lake three year classes.
West Watjask Lake
This back country lake in the Duck Mountains and is on a developed logging road off Highway # 83. Brock says SVSFE has put signage up on the entrance to the logging road so people can find the lake. There is a boat launch, but Brock says you wouldn’t want to bring a boat in bigger than 16 feet. You can find directions to the lake and a contour map on the SWSFE website. There have been close to 30 Master Angler fish caught so far this year, but Travel Manitoba is still working on recognizing the lake on the Master Angler app.
It is a catch and release fishery only, with the use of artificial lures and flies only with one hook. There is an angling closure on the lake from November 15th to June 15th. Many believe those changes are critical the long-term survival of the muskie in this smaller body of water.
NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO
The dream in musky fishing is to catch a fish of a lifetime. It’s a subjective goal. For some a 50” fish is the benchmark. For others, like us, 54” is the goal. Anywhere in between is a true giant, a true trophy fish.
For most a fifty two and a quarter inch musky is a fish of a lifetime.
Last weekend Kyla McDonald joined the fifty inch club in dramatic fashion. Fishing through rain, hail, sleet and snow, we remained steadfast. As the weather cleared, we had time for one more spot. Kyla and Ange were dragging live suckers while Dave and I were casting. Dave had a fish roll up on his Suick and disappear. Seconds later Kyla’s reel clicker came to life.
I could describe the catch to everyone, that would not do it justice. We filmed it all, and it aired on our youtube channel, at the link below.
Big muskies, truly giant muskies are amazing creatures. No other freshwater fish draws imaginations like a musky. Being in the boat when a giant is caught is a unique experience. The flood of emotions, the team work required to land one, it’s something I hope all anglers get to experience once in a lifetime. As musky anglers we continue going out looking for days like this.
As October starts to wind down, the lakes are starting to cool down. Fall spawning bait fish, whitefish and cisco’s are beginning their annual movement to familiar spawning areas. Muskies will school up, looking to feed on the easiest meals of the season.
This period is our favorite time of year. Live suckers are the prefered presentation. We will be on the water all weekend. Favorable weather is forecast for the next few days.
This may be the last nice weekend to be out on the water. Of course musky anglers will be out until ice up. Enjoy your weekend and good luck out on the water, whether you are fishing or hunting.
LAKE OF THE WOODS AND AREA-JAMIE BRUCE
SASKATCHEWAN
Wind on the large lakes and reservoirs has been hampering angling activity. My friends from Carrot River have compensated by fishing the Saskatchewan River on Tobin Lake. This year I was unable to make it since my partner for the trip was unavailable. Friend Russ Heatherington says the fishing has been steady with about 30 fish a day coming to the boat. Russ says they have been catching some good fish but no real monsters yet. They have been catching their fish on jigs and salted shiners.
RAFFERTY RESERVOIR
A Colorado low has swept through southern Saskatchewan putting a pause in the open water season. Ralph Shaw was out on the weekend, catching fish on Jigging Raps in 15 to 25 feet of water. Ralph, who guides out of Main Prize Park says the docks will remain in until the end of the month. Ralph and his family run the store there and he operates his guide service there as well. You can find Ralph at http://prairieproutfitters.com
Ralph says with the die-off of the weed growth Main Prize Park is open all winter long as well so there is plenty of ice fishing activity.
ALBERTA
Our Trout Ponds Need Water -Wes David, Fishing the Wild West
This summer, central and southern Alberta experienced extreme heat and no moisture to speak of. It has been so bad, that ranchers moved their cattle in search of not only more grass for their cattle to graze on, but also more water supply.
Truthfully, there has been a lack of moisture for the last two years in central and southern Alberta and it has taken a toll on the prairie wetlands, and even large prairie waterbodies. This year during my travels I have seen dried-up prairie wetlands, dugouts, ponds, and even natural springs that were not pushing water because of the lack of ground moisture. What is alarming, is I have never seen any of these areas dry in my lifetime.
With the heat and no moisture, I was wondering about the stocked trout ponds. Not only the private ponds that I have a hand in monitoring and taking care of, but all stocked trout ponds. It’s outdoorsmen and women that help fund these ponds to be stocked each year. I wanted to find out how the trout within Alberta’s stocked trout ponds were handling the water evaporation and warm water temperature. The only way to do that was to see if I could catch a couple of rainbow trout and see what kind of shape the trout are in.
Standing at the edge of a trout pond, I tied on my trusted stocked trout pond presentation. A slip-bobber and bobber-stop, four feet above a Tic-Tac Big Sky Jig, tipped with a piece of Power Bait. While I awaited my bait to get bit, I sent down my Aqua-Vu camera to see if I could see any rainbow trout within the water column. I did see a few trout on my Aqua-Vu, but I was fishing from shore, and I couldn’t get the camera accurately close to my presentation. However, after about 15-minutes, I was excited to see my bobber pulled under. I set the hook and enjoyed the fight with a healthy stocked rainbow trout.
I stayed for about an hour and caught three more rainbow trout and was pleased to see how good of shape the trout were in. I believe aside from feeding on insects all summer, most of Alberta’s stocked trout ponds have a healthy population of freshwater shrimp. There is also a variety of other small aquatic life that the resident trout feed on without exerting too much energy. However, in saying that, central and southern Alberta needs a lot of moisture before winter settles in and the ponds freeze. Rain and snow with lots of melting snow to help fill the ponds before freeze-up will be very important. Without some fall moisture, the next worry will be if the stocked trout winter kills within the depleted ponds, or the shallow ponds freezing solid.
Here’s hoping for some fall moisture.
Wes David host & producer of Fishing the Wild West TV
CENTRAL BRITISH COLUMBIA
Kevin Rossi-Bushwacker
I’ve been able to enjoy a stellar fall of fishing in in the North Central region of BC around Prince George. The days grow shorter and the mornings colder, but like much of Canada’s west coast Central BC has been unseasonably warm and dry. This has made for an extended dry-fly season and some epic days of consistent action in some world-class rainbow trout streams.
For many streams in the region, October brings with it prolific runs of sockeye salmon. This usually makes for some good fishing for rainbows as they migrate out of the lakes in the region to feed on salmon eggs. Such was the case two weeks ago when my father and I got to take in the salmon run on the Stellako River and catch a boatload of rainbow trout. Fish were stacked up behind the sockeye and the action was good using eggs and nymphs. The mid afternoon provided a window of excellent dry fly fishing, and I caught several nice rainbows on a size 12 Orange Stimulator.
Last weekend, we travelled via boat to a remote location on Babine Lake. There was also spawning sockeye here, and fish are known to congregate in this stretch of stream between two lakes. We had consistent action pretty much all day, and for sport tried many different tactics, all successfully. We caught fish on leeches, small streamers, nymphs, eggs, and dry flies. The fishing was as advertised, and between three of us brought over 40 fish to net. We were mildly disappointed that a few of our more sizable trout were able to slip the hook, however we still caught several over 16” and were happy campers at the end of the day. Hard to beat a day like that in mid-October!
Overall, there is still some excellent fishing to be had. The weather looks to remain beautiful until the closing day for most streams in the area, October 31st. The best fishing is during the heat of the day, but persistence can pay-off during the slow times. Working water slowly and methodically is the best bet this time of year, as the water gets colder it’s harder to convince fish to feed. Stick with it and savour every trout; you never know which one might be your last before the snow starts flying!