How many times do you plan to fish Cross lake this winter

[Kim473]

I plan, one for sure, maybe two times.

[Geezle]

:lol:

[Albertafisher]

None.

[dryflyguy]

Fished it for the first time on Saturday, did pretty good. Perch were hitting the jigs even without bait. I'll be going back.

[huntin'fool]

:lol:

what he said

[0liver]

:sign0087::rolleye2:

[super mario]

None.

x2none

[WayneChristie]

Cross what?

[pickrel pat]

is this another thread to get people to spend their hard earned money and valuable time to drive to a lake with no fish? ( I really dont know.....) guess ill do a search now....... sigh.....:thinking-006:

[338Bluff]

is this another thread to get people to spend their hard earned money and valuable time to drive to a lake with no fish? ( I really dont know.....) guess ill do a search now....... sigh.....:thinking-006:

It's legit.

Cross/Steele lake is 45 minutes north of Westlock. Fishing for 8-10 inch perch has been reasonably decent for the past 2-3 years. Some bigger slabs were showing up the first year or so, but this lake will be fished hard again this year.

Once the numbers drop to nothing it will slip back into obscurity and the perch hungry hordes look for another easy access lake to capitalize on.

There are other perch lakes starting to pick up again so those in the know can stay ahead of the curve and the crowds.

Nearly all the tackle shops in Edmonton are sending people up there.

[Kim473]

It's legit.

Cross/Steele lake is 45 minutes north of Westlock. Fishing for 8-10 inch perch has been reasonably decent for the past 2-3 years. Some bigger slabs were showing up the first year or so, but this lake will be fished hard again this year.

Once the numbers drop to nothing it will slip back into obscurity and the perch hungry hordes look for another easy access lake to capitalize on.

There are other perch lakes starting to pick up again so those in the know can stay ahead of the curve and the crowds.

Nearly all the tackle shops in Edmonton are sending people up there.

Just like in the 90s when the TFH sent them to Hastings lake. LOL
I myself will fish a lake for perch once or twice over a winter, then go to another one. N. Buck has been my preffered lake the last few years but don't think I will even go there once this year. Fun catching big fish but most of the fun is in the hunt. Bigger perch to be caught in unsuspected waters.

[CBintheNorth]

Until it's empty! Empty I say!

Isn't that what is going to happen with or without this poll?
Its a good thing people keep bringing it up though so the people that haven't heard of it flock there with the rest of the masses.
Perch fishermen are die-hards like no others. Realistically, if the word is out on a lake, it's screwed! I may even go and join the mayhem once again, but not more than that.

[Jamie Black R/T]

i got sucked into the hype once last season....the lake is polluted with 6" perch....10" fish are NOT the norm..so ill vote not even once....much better fishing to be had with less crowds.

[chriscosta]

its a fair size lake and i didnt fish it last year but in the years prior ive got alotta nice perch and more than i can count over a pound mostly around september in shallow reedy areas found em while pike fishing when we saw hundreds of really nice perch in a foot of water in the reeds so i dont know about winter but september ill be there once to see how my spot produces even this winter nobody was even near that area

[Kim473]

There are a lot of 10" to 12" perch in there. The problem is its over populated with small perch. If you have ever been fishing for perch in 6 fow and can see the bottom crystal clear, you will see that the bigger perch will take their time and inspect the hook while the smaller ones are stupid and just take the hook. There are just too many perch in the lake. Sometimes its better to keep the small fish. The reason I say its over populated is, I went there last winter twice and had my limit in 2 hrs or less both times. All fish over 8" I could have spent all day and keeped only 10" or bigger but like I said. Sometimes its better to keep some small ones. Big fish tend to school with the same size, so if your only catching small ones move to a differant spot and find the bigger ones. Differant structure has some effects on the size of fish also. Key to larger perch on that lake is moving and finding the schools of bigger fish. But sometimes, just be happy with some small ones and keep them. This will help the lake in general.
Sometimes just moving 10 feet makes a differance. I have drilled thousands of holes and have seen 8 holes within 10 ft of each other and only one or two of the holes out of the 8 will produce. Have seen one hole within 3 ft of another and no fish would be caught in it, but the other one have a bite every min. Same person fishing out of both holes with the same set up. Whats on the bottom that you can't see makes a huge differance in fish caught. Size and qty.
JMO.

[dryflyguy]

A friend and I fished Cross on Saturday, caught some solid sized Pike and some hammer-handles also. Biggest Pike I would guess, was around 7 lbs. All were released.

Also tried for a couple hours for some Perch. Bite was a little slow where we were, but consistently in 8-10" range. The odd sardine also, but all fish looked really healthy and in good condition. Kept 2 big ones.

Fun lake to fish, I'll keep going back

[fishinggeek]

Not sure why people are havingblems limiting out on 10inch + perch on cross. Wert there on saturday and easilly limited out in 1hr with 3 over 12inch biggest was 12.75inch. Went ther twichlast winter with same results. With the number of smaller ones around I think this lake will be ok for years to come. :) why not have fun catching. There just perch my friends.

[BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES]

you need to add zero to your Poll .

[Alberta Bigbore]

you need to add zero to your Poll .

x2

[NSR Monger]

you need to add zero to your Poll .

x2

x3