Edmonton fishing

[kallsimb]

Hey members, Im in Edmonton for the week and wanted to do some icefishing with the dad. Im only 15 and so hes my ride out. I was wondering if there were any specific lakes, ponds close to Edmonton that are worth trying where some noobs have a chance at catching some decent fish?haha. Also this will be the first time out so some techniques and what lures/bait to use would be helpful. Thank you and have a Happy New Years!

[jaystev]

are you wanting to keep fish? if not id suggest wabamun ive never been skunked there and all you need is some smelts.

[kallsimb]

no catch and release, dont like the taste of fish, haha. Thanks, how should i rig the smelt?

[EZM]

Assuming you are going to try Wabamun for pike, burbot or whites ........I'd suggest using a steel leader, clip onto a jig head and add a stinger hook.

Run the jig hook thru the head of the smelt and the stinger onto the top of the back of the smelt. That's the easiest method if you don't have allot of experience tying up your own rigs. Works fine.

If you feel inspired - using heavy fluorocarbon leader material (say 50lb - 80lb), search on youtube for "double snelling a hook" and follow the instructions. Space the hooks 2"-3" apart depending on your bait size (3" spread is perfect for a 5" herring or 5" big smelt). hook one thru the head, the second thru the top of the back. You may add weight via split shot (or inline sinker) u 18" or so if you need or want to.

Thick Fluoro is a bi#ch to tie .... so have a pair of pliers handy to pull knots tight (moisten knots prior to tightening).

The flouro is less visable in the water ......... I believe it gives an advantage if the fish are finicky.

[Geezle]

Assuming you are going to try Wabamun for pike, burbot or whites ........I'd suggest using a steel leader, clip onto a jig head and add a stinger hook.

Run the jig hook thru the head of the smelt and the stinger onto the top of the back of the smelt. That's the easiest method if you don't have allot of experience tying up your own rigs. Works fine.

Another vote here for Wab...good fun and fairly close to town :)

Another simple way to rig your bait (assuming it's not too large) is to simply take about a size 1 or 1/0 treble hook and push the shank up through the belly of your bait, then simply clip the treble on to your leader...no mess, no fuss :) This works on baits up to about the size of the largest smelts you can get...after that they're typically too tall in the body for this method, and you can switch to a simple quick strike rig, or something similar with at least 2 hooks :)

[Penner]

Lac St.Anne. Good from 2pm till after dark. Get into 8ft water jigs tipped with a shinner. Should catch a few pike and a ton of Walleye into dusk.

[kallsimb]

Thanks for all the great replys and tips. Looks like I will be hitting wab up friday :)