mcgregor report

[cujo1969]

Drove across the north dam today see there walkin out on the ice. Couple whites layin on the ice.

[jacenbeers]

Looks like after hunting this Saturday morning, I know where to go.

[cougarcreek]

Is the ice thick enough or is it just the crazies out there.

[cujo1969]

i not trying it yet especially along the dam. South of launch should be ok.

[jacenbeers]

Every year the ice is usually sketchy at the dam this time of year but by December it is solid. It is shallow along the dam but still dangerous so if anybody ventures out, take precautions.

[slingshotz]

I fell through last year at the dam but luckily the whites are in so shallow water I only went up to my knees.

If the ice is real sketchy, stay on the rocks and jig with a 7-10 foot rod.

I plan on heading there Sun and/or Mon.

[jacenbeers]

See you there!!

[kostianych]

just came back from the McGregor....

ice is good...solid 4 inches...but closer to the shore (dam rocks) ice is not safe....

around noon it was +1C and ice was covered with water in some places....had to leave......

managed to get 1 on ice, and lost 4.....

[slingshotz]

Were the whites in the typical 4-7 FOW? How close to the rocks is the ice bad, a foot or two?

I'll try and remember to bring some wood to bridge across on the ice, or bring my waders ;). I'm itching to get out on the hard water.

[kostianych]

fish was at obut 9FOW.....

bad ice is up to 2-3m...depends on place....

[kostianych]

new moon, over zero temp.....all against us ;)

[fishermansfriend]

new moon, over zero temp.....all against us ;)
hehe ya!

[kostianych]

since the first ice I`ve got 6 LWF :) all canned....man, it`s tasty :) mmmm

[Fishnafterwork]

canned ..eh? so is it pickled ..... any tips for the novice

[slingshotz]

Ditto, can you share a recipe or two? I've been mostly smoking all the LWF and RMWF and to be honest, it would be nice to have something different once in a while.

Although I still LOVE smoked fish and I don't think I'll ever get sick of it. Got addicted to it living in Europe and Scandinavia.

[the local angler]

canned really? do you do it yourself or do you get a company to do it for you? what kinda shelf life do they have once canned?

[WayneChristie]

Ditto, can you share a recipe or two? I've been mostly smoking all the LWF and RMWF and to be honest, it would be nice to have something different once in a while.

Although I still LOVE smoked fish and I don't think I'll ever get sick of it. Got addicted to it living in Europe and Scandinavia.

wife canned some of the ones I smoked last fall, its awesome! :sHa_shakeshout:

[kostianych]

don`t know the shelf life....it has to be stored in the fridge...

it`s a long process....took me 9 hours to finish.......

[calgarygringo]

Wife and mil have done lots of pickled pike over the years from grandmas not so secret recipe. If that sounds what you are looking for let me know and I will get her to post. I always miss the whitefish run every year and don't target them over winter so I cannot vouch how the recipe works for whites but pike hits the spot.

[Wild&Free]

canned whitefish that's easy. smoke em, but for about 1/2 the time, then follow the instructions on your pressure cooker for canning fish and viola canned smoked fish. I do that with salmon whenever I have more then I know what to do with, doesn't happen much now that I don't live near the coast but the option is there.

[kostianych]

smoke and can it....something new to try :) thanks

[slingshotz]

Here's an update to everyone planning on going out there. There's only about 4 spots to access the main ice, and some of them are dicey so make sure you have a change of clothes just in case (or an inflatable :lol:). It's 3-4m of open water between the rocks and good ice. Once you get on the ice it's 3-4 inches of solid clear hard ice.

The fishing was very slow but I did see lots of whites on the camera, they just weren't really interested in anything I had to offer. Tried san juans worms, pink gammarus, prince nymphs, wetaskiwins and bell bouncers.

Lost three on the wetaskiwins but couldn't land them. Didn't look like others on the ice were having great luck either. I'm hoping the water clears and hardens up next week, it's very murky right now.

[ak-71]

Well after couple dudes broke off all the ice where I got in (they took turns trying to swim to the main ice for fishing) - spare clothes became very handy :).
Got 3 pikes - let them go and one burb I kept
Whitefish is there but not biting. I had 3 "bites" and every one of them left a scale on the hook, guess it's so many of them that every once in a while they snag even on a small single hook.
Very frustrating, I am starting to wonder if there any form of snagging that is not too illegal, if people manage to catch them at spawn???
Still a good day, decent burb on a 4 lbs line was fun :)

[kostianych]

all 6 I got a week ago - were caught by the mouth, so they are biting :)

[jacenbeers]

I fished there for a few hours on Saturday. I caught a burbot in the morning right after I drilled my holes and then I went partridge hunting for a few hours and then fished for whites for 2 hours before dark and landed 4 of them and lost a bunch. It was a good day of fishing and hunting. I bet the ice will be gone by the weekend.

[ak-71]

all 6 I got a week ago - were caught by the mouth, so they are biting :)

Good to hear that... Did they have anything in their stomachs? What time of a day you got them?
I was catching some just before sunset and on last December (all had clean empty stomachs), maybe I had better luck because they were almoust done with the spawn though.
I also watched them ignoring anything you give them when they are busy spawning (open water under the bridge last year in November), I actually got one right at sunset that time.
Anyhow I didn't have much luck with them yesterday (tried wireworms, sanjuan worms, muggets, "boatmen", minnows) I didn't see other people catching them much either... :(

[kostianych]

9-11AM and 3.15-3.30PM.....that was it......before, between and after - nothing, not even a single bite :(

[jacenbeers]

I find that the whitefish bite best right before sunset. I like to start fishing for them around 2:30 and keep at it until 5.

[ak-71]

4:45 yesterday was a closing time on that lake. I was catching them after dark there too last December

[Fishingaddict]

What's the ice thickness there? Where is the thickest spot?

[kostianych]

Dec 1 - open 24/7

[aulrich]

Was out on Staurday, first off thanks to the guys already there, we would have been skunked.It was odd we were using what I though was standard lures, wire worms, mircro jigs, nothing. Then I saw a wetaskawin for the first time. So we start tossing out everything we could think of that we had in the box.

Our only mid sized jiging spoon product one hit, but we lost it with that fish.

I got on on a white/chartruse jiging rap and a few more hits till I lost it to a pike, I think it was a bit big, but a decent idea.

As luck would have it some old dollar store(probably kids Christmas gifts from years ago) marabo jigs. again white/chartruse put two more for me and one more for Skunkboy. but as it got dark either the fish were not by us or the jigs just could not get thier atttention. My guess is that the pulse of the spoon was the key then.

I have a couple of DIY lure ideas, i'll keep you posted.

On an interesting note, I have the big costco fish tent and the last couple of times out, it seems like it spooks the fish. First ice last year and this year no fish we caught under the tent, we did not even see them swim by, and even though the water was murky but you could see the fish a lot of the time.

First ice three years ago and it did not matter, mind you that was a cold year and the ice was thicker, some snow, a cloudy day and the day we were out the spawn was in full swing.

Another thing I did not know to try , was to filett them, in that past I was a scale and gut for that sort of fish, like goldeyes, but as we were coming off the ice a guy told me he fillets them and you can get them boneless. as it turns out you handle them the same a deboning a pike.

Smoked them up yesterday, a couple of hours in teriaki jery cure and some smoke, made some tasty fish jerky :)

Hopefully there is still some ice next weekend.

The ice was iffy/not there near shore a big step or so. Jumped up to 5" pretty quick. some one brought a board for a bridge worked like a charm, i'll have to add that to the early/late season kit.

[jacenbeers]

Hey Aulrich, was it you who came over and chatted with me about what I was using to catch my fish? A guy came and chatted with me and I showed him my Wetaskiwin. If it was you, nice to meet you.

Was out on Staurday, first off thanks to the guys already there, we would have been skunked.It was odd we were using what I though was standard lures, wire worms, mircro jigs, nothing. Then I saw a wetaskawin for the first time. So we start tossing out everything we could think of that we had in the box.

Our only mid sized jiging spoon product one hit, but we lost it with that fish.

I got on on a white/chartruse jiging rap and a few more hits till I lost it to a pike, I think it was a bit big, but a decent idea.

As luck would have it some old dollar store(probably kids Christmas gifts from years ago) marabo jigs. again white/chartruse put two more for me and one more for Skunkboy. but as it got dark either the fish were not by us or the jigs just could not get thier atttention. My guess is that the pulse of the spoon was the key then.

I have a couple of DIY lure ideas, i'll keep you posted.

On an interesting note, I have the big costco fish tent and the last couple of times out, it seems like it spooks the fish. First ice last year and this year no fish we caught under the tent, we did not even see them swim by, and even though the water was murky but you could see the fish a lot of the time.

First ice three years ago and it did not matter, mind you that was a cold year and the ice was thicker, some snow, a cloudy day and the day we were out the spawn was in full swing.

Another thing I did not know to try , was to filett them, in that past I was a scale and gut for that sort of fish, like goldeyes, but as we were coming off the ice a guy told me he fillets them and you can get them boneless. as it turns out you handle them the same a deboning a pike.

Smoked them up yesterday, a couple of hours in teriaki jery cure and some smoke, made some tasty fish jerky :)

Hopefully there is still some ice next weekend.

The ice was iffy/not there near shore a big step or so. Jumped up to 5" pretty quick. some one brought a board for a bridge worked like a charm, i'll have to add that to the early/late season kit.

[Fishingaddict]

Where on McGregor were you fishing at the campground?

[aulrich]

jacenbeers - Yup that was me, and my son (skunkboy), thanks for the pointers, saved the day for us.

Fishingaddict - if there is only one campground then sort of, I think most everyone was at the dam face that day. One guy did go off by the boat launch but came back. but I am pretty sure I heard augers going from other places.

[Fishingaddict]

Ok thanks for the info

[jacenbeers]

Where on McGregor were you fishing at the campground?

You can also fish McGregor east of Vulcan where the bridge crosses the lake.

[Fishingaddict]

So jacenbeers were you at the dam face and from what I understand you guys were you jigging spoons. how many did you catch?

[Mutter87]

Ice update plz :)

[Fishingaddict]

At dam face they said it was 5+ inches

[BeeGuy]

Ice update plz :)

How's your pole vault?

[ak-71]

It was a bit less yesterday (~4in, didn't measure), but you'd have to swim to get to it in the evening. Very few narrows in the open water along the dam and warm weather wasn't helping it.

[Mutter87]

How's your pole vault?

Lol I'll stay home, thanks!

[slingshotz]

Well after couple dudes broke off all the ice where I got in (they took turns trying to swim to the main ice for fishing) - spare clothes became very handy :).
Got 3 pikes - let them go and one burb I kept
Whitefish is there but not biting. I had 3 "bites" and every one of them left a scale on the hook, guess it's so many of them that every once in a while they snag even on a small single hook.
Very frustrating, I am starting to wonder if there any form of snagging that is not too illegal, if people manage to catch them at spawn???
Still a good day, decent burb on a 4 lbs line was fun :)

Was that you on the white bucket next to the makeshift wood bridge at the west end of the north dam yesterday that stayed the entire day?

I did see one or two guys go through the ice near the shore. We found a much more solid ice bridge down in the east end of the dam.

Looks like starting tomorrow night the temps are getting below zero, hopefully by next weekend there's better ice to get on the lake. I might have to bring my belly boat just in case next time :lol:.

[ak-71]

Yes it was me. With all the crap I brought with me I wasn't in a mood for looking for another place to cross (wooden board and such). These guys went through and took all the ice with them - so ended up in the water on the way back, about knee deep.
Hope lake grows some ice by the weekend - I have some of these funny looking spoons to try.

[jacenbeers]

So jacenbeers were you at the dam face and from what I understand you guys were you jigging spoons. how many did you catch?

I was at the North Dam but I wasn't using jigging spoons. I was using Wetaskiwin specials. I caught 4 whites through the ice and lost a ton. I also landed a burbot. The five of diamonds was the pattern of the day as well as a yellow one with a red bead.

Here are the whites I landed. I dont have a picture of the burbot.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WnyuoCW_0Kc/UK0y84glXcI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/aKuyo8lrCFs/s400/WHITEFISH.jpg

[Pikecrazed]

id like to get out this weekend and try for my first whita and was wondering if the ice will be good for saterday or sunday what depth to fish what to use where to go what rod/line ive go some a med a ultra lite and two med lights and a bunch of reels with different line on them so thanks for any info

[livinstone]

hello just wondering is the bite decent most winter or just about now also is the burbot bite hit or miss or main just in certaian spots

[TROLLER]

id like to get out this weekend and try for my first whita and was wondering if the ice will be good for saterday or sunday what depth to fish what to use where to go what rod/line ive go some a med a ultra lite and two med lights and a bunch of reels with different line on them so thanks for any info

You want someone to bait your hook as well as show you their favorite spot:sHa_shakeshout:

[kostianych]

so, how is the ice? is ok along the rocks?

[fish99]

jacenbeers - yup that was me, and my son (skunkboy), thanks for the pointers, saved the day for us.

Fishingaddict - if there is only one campground then sort of, i think most everyone was at the dam face that day. One guy did go off by the boat launch but came back. But i am pretty sure i heard augers going from other places.

i was south of the boat launch on sat no fish and clear water , no white fish spawning there.

[kostianych]

LWF comes to the shallows in February....no point checking them out there yet....

but thanks for the info on the clean water...that is great :)

[kostianych]

5 inches of good solid ice, but watch the shore line....it`s about 1.5-2 inches and water comming up :(

left at 3PM, it was dead slow :)