Beaver Lake

[Sputnik]

For those who fish Beaver Lake just South of Caroline. Went out today to have a look and the ice is just starting to break up. The near shore is free of ice and there was one guy out in a belly boat and three more gearing up while I was there.

The guy in the belly boat said he had no luck and did not see anything on his fish finder.

I think I'll be out next weekend with the pontoon and have a go while the fish still firm, maybe there will be a little more room to move.

I've attached a few pics to give a better view.

[duffy4]

I know a couple guys who were ice fishing there last weekend and they said on Sat. the ice was pretty rotten and they didn't want to chance it Sun. The ice fishing was pretty good for the time it was open.

[Don Andersen]

Fished it Friday and Sunday. Total fish seen caught 2 - guess the ice fishermen cleaned it out.

Don

[Tako]

Fished it Friday and Sunday. Total fish seen caught 2 - guess the ice fishermen cleaned it out.

Don

:rolleye2: :rolleye2:

Or you had a bad day. Common Don you're better than that. Don't be so ignorant

[Don Andersen]

Tako,

How about we try the 15 other fishermen + me got 1 in total. A loon got the other. Guess the ice fishermen didn't clean it out but left 2. Even the ospreys few over and disappeared in disgust.

Don

[Shrubs]

Was there last night, caught one about 17-18 inch male right by the launch and than a 13 and 20+ inch off the point. Blood worms under indicator seemed to do the trick.

[Kyle]

Was there last night, caught one about 17-18 inch male right by the launch and than a 13 and 20+ inch off the point. Blood worms under indicator seemed to do the trick.

guess don is just doing the typical "blame the icefisherman" rant:lol:

[Tako]

Don, I get where you're coming from but there is no need to be so ignorant. I could say the same thing about Dragon every spring. 25 boats in a bay and one guy catches two fish all day long. Happens every year. Open up your eyes.

Tako,

How about we try the 15 other fishermen + me got 1 in total. A loon got the other. Guess the ice fishermen didn't clean it out but left 2. Even the ospreys few over and disappeared in disgust.

Don

[pope]

Is what they mean by "shack nasties"?

I can see the humour through the sardonic wit and a hint of distain for the few slobs who left the garbage and bait bags behind, and painted the ethics of all icefishermen as a scourge upon the flyfishing community.

You gotta admit Beaver is hit hard April 1, I can never figure why it's not closed until May 1.

Chill.

[Don Andersen]

Tako,

Ever been there speaking of ignorance.


Don

[Tako]

Doesn't really matter Don. You're condemning a version of a sport based on your assumption that all icefishermen are ignorant jerks. Don't try my patience on this subject. I am getting REALLY tired of fly fishermen (which I am) being completely close-minded, ignorant fools about ice fishing. Condemning any legal method of fishing leaves you holding the short end of the stick during the 'we need to preserve angling' debate.
If you wish to talk about, take it to a PM. I refuse to debate this on any board at any time.

Tako,

Ever been there speaking of ignorance.


Don

[Don Andersen]

Tako,

Suggest that you check with both your home province and the Province of Alberta Fisheries Branch regarding the reasons for winter closures before you start any debate. With that information, you will no longer been seen as ignorant.

And what is a APN?

As far as condemning anyone - make sure you read the posts by all the folks. I never mentioned whether or not I ice fish.

Are you suggesting that icefishermen don't give a tinkers darn about the fishing resource with the quote "Condemning any legal method of fishing leaves you holding the short end of the stick during the 'we need to preserve angling' debate." Not sure ice fishermen will be happy with that comment.

Don

[Shrubs]

The icefisherman vs flyfisherman or spnfisherman vs whoever debate always peeves me off. Anyone who does enough fishing knows that there are good and bad all over.

I love Beaver Lake, it's my fav I fish it lots and their are all types of people who come to fish it. If I were to take out my broad brush and paint people just from experiences on that lake all I'd have to say is that flyfisherman are snobs and they keep their fair share of fish too. Before I got back into flyfishing I use to have a hayday with a black and yellow wrapped wireworm under a slip bobber (barbless and baitless of course) A flyguy came over and checked things out as I was landing a huge hen, showed him what I was using. Asked him what he finds successful and he laughed and went back to his vehicle.

Another time (later on with my flygear) I showed up for half an hour, pretty busy so I went over to the trees on the left side of the point and snuck a cast as far as I could, got a nice 23.5" bow and released it fished for a while more and had to go. Almost back to the truck and a flyguy asked me what I got so I told him. His response "YOU did? How big?" As if I'd broken some rule being the redneck lookin SOB I am. Being as polite as possible I asked how he did. Nothing. So I asked if he'd tried what I was using. " Naah, it's to late for them."

Now if I were a broad paintbrush, pessimistic jerk type I'd look at experiences like that and have a pretty crappy outlook towards the hardcore flyguys and say that if anyone would be responsible for breaking the unity between those of us who indulge in the finer aspects of life, it would be them. But I don't because I've met just as many nice flyguys to. For instance I met one dude down there that tied me six nice flies to experiment with to see how big a chironomid those big bows will actually take.

Shoot, sorry for the rant

[The Elkster]

I'd say the jerk/nice guy ratio is pretty similar in both camps for sure. Fly guys just tend to be more outspoken in their jerky arrogance:) And yes I do flyfish quite a bit I just choose not to think flyfishing puts me or my actions above someone else. To each his own just remember to keep an eye on that mirror once in awhile as what you see may not be any prettier than those you criticize. Cheers

[nekred]

I flyfish because i love it..... To me it is a wonderful way to fish and I enjoy it thoroughly....But to be a snob about it is petty....

My Dad loves to baitfish..... when we were fishing the river and he was pulling out 5+lb rainbows and I was missing 5+lb rainbows (they weren't takin') he could not understand why I wanted to continue flyfishing... I said i would rather catch nothing on a fly today than a fish on bait today!.....

Hard to understand except when you are a flyfisher.....

When it comes to fishing I encourage all legal means of fishing.... i was not born a fly fisher and only started 5 years ago..... Sometimes we become so wrapped up in ourself and our methodology and our own private ethics we forget that others enjoy the same thing in a different way!....

many guys think walleye are the ultimate, others pike, others etc..

i enjoy trout on a fly. I have caught thousands of walley and pike but prefer trout. So I encourage all the walleye fishers to enjoy their fishing and I will enjoy mine and at the end of the day we can still talk about fishing over the campfire and still enjoy each others stories....

I have heard there are 4 stages of a fisher...
Stage 1: Catch as many fish as one can... happy with anything... use any method
Stage 2: go for big fish use best method for that fish
Stage 3: Go for challenging fish regardless of size where you have to be a master to get a strike, methodology chosen to create largest challenge
Stage 4: Teach someone else and re-njoy the stages with them

ust because someone else may be in a different stage or phase doesnot make them a better or worse fisher.... same with any other means of enjoying the outdoors.... just be legal, courteous, respectful, friendly, and enjoy it and we will all get along!....

Some people choose not to fish... that does not make them bad....until they mess with my right to fish!...because they shoose not to fish... when we try to force our ethics on others is when conflict arises.

[Mark]

Tako,

How about we try the 15 other fishermen + me got 1 in total. A loon got the other. Guess the ice fishermen didn't clean it out but left 2. Even the ospreys few over and disappeared in disgust.

Don


Is this typical for this lake... that is usually fished out by spring of each year?
Is it worth checking out in May or are all the fish available the freshly stocked fish?

Mark

[Don Andersen]

Mark,

No lake gets "fished out". There is a point though of low returns for efforts expended. Beaver catch rate is low. Further, the sizes have fallen from 1999>date.
Whether or not it is worth your time to fish depends on how far you have to travel. In 2007, I average just over 1 fish/hr. of effort.

catch ya'


Don

[Mark]

Thanks for the info Don

Mark

[tbosch]

Between myself and my buddy we caught well over a dozen fish in the last two days at beaver. All on the fly. Not fished out at all.

[moosehunter3-0]

^nice, how big were they?

[tbosch]

^nice, how big were they?

No smaller than 2 pounds or so. A couple nice ones. The pics were taken on a disposable camera so it'll be a while before I can post them. And I'd also like to say that I left my net on the shore line in the morning, we went to phylis for an hour or so and came back. I had given up on humanity when I saw the net had been taken, about 20 minutes later a really nice guy from the area brought me my net back. And then went on to give me lots of info on the area waters. One hell of a good guy that was! If there were more people like that out there life would be a lot more enjoyable.