Jun 01

General Info- Fishing Tips for Beginners

Playing the Waiting Game                           

I have just arrived back home from the Bow River after sizing up the situation from the shoreline. I know there are fish down there somewhere in between one side of the river to the other. I even know which lures will catch me one of those Bow River fat boys; I know how to work the lure properly and which speed to retrieve it. All this does not seem to matter much right now as the water is just to fast to fish correctly. I guess I could stand there and take some casting practice but I already know how to do that also. This waiting game is never a game I have liked much, or at all really come to think of it.

So what does a guy/girl do when his or her favorite river is not worth fishing? He or she could stay home and pout, like I am doing right now, but I would not recommend that to you people out there. O.H, I know what you should do, pick a different place to fish for a couple of weeks and be happy we have so many nice places to fish here in Alberta. I think I will take my own advice and do just that. I am due back out on the shoreline at Crawling Valley Saturday and get to fish all day long. Here is what I am going to start out with when I am there. First, I will stop at my bait shop tonight and buy three tubs of frozen minnows. The minnows I like to buy are medium sized and unsalted. The reason I prefer medium sized minnows is that the small, medium and large fish will take this size of minnow. I have found that if I use small minnows smaller fish will be prone to take them and if I use large minnows, larger fish will be inclined to take them; so I stay right in the middle.

Here is the set up I use most often when bait fishing. First you will need a Pickerel Rig or otherwise known as a Crappie Rig. Open the package and set the hooks aside on your tackle box. Stretch out the line that has the wire guides attached to it until it becomes straight and has no curl left in it. Do the same with the hooks and then attach your two hooks to the wire guides that are on the main line. Clip your weight/weights onto the bottom and tie up the Pickerel Rig to your main line and you are now ready to attach your minnows to the hook. I put the point of the hook through the eyes of the minnow and bury the hook a little under the minnows dorsal fin which makes the minnow stay in the upright position at all times. And now you are ready to make your cast and catch some fish. One more little tip, I will only leave my bait under water in one spot for thirty minutes and then I will recast to another spot. I change the minnows after forty minutes as I like to always have fresh bait attached to my hooks. Then I sit back and catch fish all day long. What a great life I have!

May 29

Fishing Trips- Lake Newell

Boat Control is Everything!                         

We left Calgary yesterday morning around 8:00 Am for Lake Newell. My brother and I got our Walleye tags for Lake Newell this year. I was confident that we would fill our tags and be home in time for supper. Much to our chagrin the fish would prove otherwise as usual. We got to the Lake and the wind was steady through the trees which made the sky was partly cloudy.

I called the folks we were meeting and they were already on the far side of the Lake. As we headed out across the lake, the water was a little more than your average walleye chop. When we caught up to our friends we dropped our line and went to work. Bottom bouncers, plastic worms, and minnows we fished the whole south end of Lake Newell until about 2 Pm and not a fish in sight. Wade and I decided to go up to the north end and give that a try. We got to the far end and we were starting to wonder if we were going to come up empty handed.

As we fished the south end of Newell, we noticed a couple boats that looked like they were catching the odd fish.  The wind was the calmest it had been all day and we found a nice break in structure from a 25ft  to a 12ft drop. We threw out the drift sock and started up the break. 20 ft nothing and then came to 18ft in depth and wham-o; fish on babyI don’t know what it is about the first fish but, after a couple hours the nerves were running high. “GET THE NET! THROW THE MARKER”.  Good thing were brothers because you wouldn’t bark at other people the way we were wound up. One fish landed and within tag limit, a keeper. We both breathed easier knowing we weren’t going home empty handed. We called our friends and they made there way down the lake where we were fishing. We made pass after pass and continued to pick up fish. The minute the wind picked up and our boat speed would change, that was it no more fish. I think it just goes to show how important boat speed can be, just like speed of a retrieve can make all the difference in the success of a fishing trip!

We played around all day at different depths; Speed seemed to be the only thing that would add up to success today. It was a great day on the water. It is always nice to spend some time with friends and family out on the water, that’s what it’s really all about for me. Until next time, keep your line tight.

Written By Ted E.

Edited by Mike at Bowriverblog.

May 27

Fishing Trips- Crawling Valley

Fishing Alberta’s Reservoir’s                      PHOTO GALLERY

The weather man says there are blue skies on the horizon and sun for the next two to three days straight. I awoke this morning to the sounds of a robin chirping the song of a new day. It was early when I arose at 7:00 Am and the robin’s song was quite pleasant. I had envisioned 10 pound Walleye last night and made up my mind to try my luck at a popular Walleye hole called Crawling Valley. This place is not kind on the eyes but I only usually look at the tip of my fishing rod anyhow. I have never been one for baron landscapes and no trees in sight, but I cannot stay away from this fishery where the fishing is usually always dynamite.

I made the usual drive of an hour and a half and pulled into the valley at 9:00 Am to a shore full of fishermen and women. These guys must have been up really early but as they say, the early bird gets the worm or in this case the Walleye. I pulled together may gear and headed for a small opening amongst the other fisherman, set up my pickerel rig and made my first cast with joy. I sat back and took in what was shaping up to be a very nice day, not even thirty seconds went by and I had a bite. I was a little over anxious and this one never made it onto my size 1 hook.

I re-casted and sat back in anticipation of what was to eventually come, a nice sized Walleye that battled hard and was worth the 40 minute wait. I choose to fish Crawling now as the Bow River water level is high and too dirty to fish this time in the season. However, once the water levels stabilize and the water cleans up then look out as fifty fish in one day is not uncommon. That’s right fifty, 50 fish can be caught in an 8-10 hour float here on the Bow River in June. There are still some spot’s open for floating in June so you can book your trip as soon as possible to ensure your date/dates. July can also produce not only high numbers of trout but is known to produce larger trout as well. August fishing on the Bow River is awesome for massive Browns and nice Rainbows as well. Good luck to you and tight lines to all.

May 22

Gone Fishing- Pine Coulee

Slump Breaker                                                 PHOTO GALLERY

1700 Pro Sport Fishing Boat $20,000. 2 Trips to Bass Pro Shop in Las Vegas $400.00. One Fishing license $22.00 3 trips prior to may 20 2007 and ZERO fish. I was getting ready to give up and sell all my gear on EBay if I didn’t start catching fish. I will admit that the weather in southern Alberta has been less than perfect this spring. My son Jake and I have been on three trips prior to Sunday and have not caught a fish!!

I know it’s early in the season and fishing with kids adds some challenge, but I knew I had to pick up some fish or I was going to lose my fishing buddy.  For kids, it’s a lot to do with catching and not so much about the fun of fishing. He is extremely good for his age and will spend long hours in the boat, as long as he has something to eat. They say, “A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” and this is true for kids like Jake as well. But I was starting to notice he was loosing motivation in spending a slow day on the water.

Sunday morning we left Calgary and headed for Pine Coulee west of Stavely. The Weather was cloudy and cool. I figured we might get out there and have to come back home due to rain. We arrived at the lake around 11am, the wind was calm and scattered clouds graced the blue sky all day. We started out drifting across a structural reef that goes from 25 ft of water to 13ft. I had a 3/8 jig head and a 4 inch plastic minnow on Jake’s rod, and I was bottom bouncing a Custom worm harness with a 6 inch plastic worm attached. We drifted this excellent piece of structure 3 times and nothing!

As We went around the corner and fished a point 25ft of water to 10ft in depth, We drifted off the first pass with a hit on the worm. Jake was busy eating potato chip’s so I started a quick retrieve with his rod and BOOM! Fish on! I passed the rod to Jake and hollered “reel em’ in Jake” and he proceeded to retrieve in our first fish of the day. The day got better and better with jigs and 4 inch plastic minnows being the hot ticket. We spent about for 5 hours on the water and it didn’t matter, what a day, fast or slow the fish hit the jig. Close to the end of the day I figured we would troll for some pike. Again I used 4 inch minnow by Rapala and didn’t pick up any pike but got 4-5 more walleye.

We got off the water around 4pm and we were both happy. I encourage you to head down to Pine Coulee; it’s an amazing fishery with the fish being relatively the same size. I’ve been here 2-3 times and had great results. I think it’s a great place to go with new people or if you need to break a Slump! All the best and keep your line tight!

Written By Ted. E.    (Edited by Bowriverblog.)