newbie to newell

[Darren57]

Hi everyone. Planning to head out from Calgary to Newell with a friend to fish/camp for 2 days while the girlfriend is out of town. Thought I would fish for some advice on this addictive forum before heading out. I have been fishing in Alberta now for a few seasons. I have had some luck jigging and ice fishin for walley and trout and burbs and a couple pike. I have a small 14 foot aluminum boat with a 15 horse outboard and a couple kayaks from crappy tire, I will be taking. Could realy use some advice on what methods areas to try at the lake. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

I am also curiouse about other good spots within 4 hours of calgary. We were originally thinking of goin to the junction at the top of the ssr after seeing the picks of sturgeon and all the other species of fish. But it would appear you need a 4*4 to get to the camp site on the island there:sign0161:. I have never seen the ssr and was hoping someone could tell me if it is large and deep enough for a power boat. Or if a river boat is necesary.
Thanx everyone.:)

[whitetail Junkie]

:. I have never seen the ssr and was hoping someone could tell me if it is large and deep enough for a power boat. Or if a river boat is necesary.
Thanx everyone.:)

I personally would'nt run nothing but a Jet boat and if your boats worth big bucks$$$ and you dont know the river there is no way in hell i'd take it in there.:)

[npauls]

You can run a propped outboard at the forks. I have a few times and know of a few others that fish it quite often with propped boats. Just make sure you have a sonar and really watch the depths. If you are fishing the forks stay in the one hole just below where the bow and oldman join. upstream and downstream get pretty shallow and will chew a prop up in no time.

You may want to call and see if you can get a spot at newel. It is a pretty busy camp ground and usually you need a reservation to get a spot on the weekends. If you do head to newel try bottom bouncing with spinner rigs or cranks behind it in about 16-28 feet of water. Look for the bait balls and you will find the eyes close by. Keep an eye on the weather also. It is a wide open lake and it can get nasty pretty quick out there.

[lyons6]

What is a bait ball?

[npauls]

You will see it on your sonar. It is a big ball of schooling bait fish like shiners, chubb, or perch. They ball up to try and help protect themselves from predators. Usually when you see these bait balls you will see big arches around it which indicates pike or walleye on the hunt. We targeted those bait balls last time we were at newel and had a great day on the water. There were a few slow times when we were hunting for the bait but as soon as we found it someone on the boat would get nailed.

[lyons6]

Awesome, great tip! I am also at newel for the weekend don't have a boat though so hopefuly I can get somethin from shore!

[Darren57]

Thanx for the info. it came in quite handy. U were right on all accounts. We ended up getting a hotel in brooks the first night. We had a great next day on newell catching pike. They were all 3-6 pounds and one 10-12 pound that got away. Each one was caught with a diferent lure and one was on a bottom bouncer.

[brown angler]

Hello all, I am a newbie on this forum. Any tips on good places to fish with a small boat? I have a 10ft jon boat and using oars, dont have a motor yet. I will be fishing/camping newell lake this weekend.

[WayneChristie]

Hello all, I am a newbie on this forum. Any tips on good places to fish with a small boat? I have a 10ft jon boat and using oars, dont have a motor yet. I will be fishing/camping newell lake this weekend.

welcome to the forum, if the wind isnt bad, you should be ok if you stick to the bays, if its windy the waves can get very big very quickly. you could also fish the Aquaduct ponds, stocked with trout and also have pike and perch in them,its just across the railroad tracks from the aquaduct museum

[pikergolf]

Hello all, I am a newbie on this forum. Any tips on good places to fish with a small boat? I have a 10ft jon boat and using oars, dont have a motor yet. I will be fishing/camping newell lake this weekend.

Rolling hills res. just south of newell would be a better match for that boat, newell can be very unforgiving and things can go south fast there.

[brown angler]

Thanks for you help guys!