Upper Kananaskis June 14/Wind Question

[iliketrout]

Went to Upper K on Saturday, got there about 7:30am and fished straight until noon with not even a nibble. Tried spinners, spoons, bouncing tube jigs off the bottom. Talked to a few others and they didn't have any luck either. Then we got fed up and tried Spray and the only fish landed was a 7" brookie.

One of the guys put on a rapala that wasn't much smaller than the 7" brook trout that he caught. First cast he got one on the line and spent about 5 minutes reeling it in. Once it got close to shore we saw it and it looked huge, but I think he saw us because he immediately started fighting a lot harder. He pulled line off the reel for about 5 or 6 seconds against the drag, and then snap...and he was gone. Looked huge (but so does every fish in a fish story!)

Funny thing is I told my buddy to re-spool since his line looked like crap, and he answered with "ah - it looks fine to me". He promised to re-spool before the next trip out

I need a boat. Shore fishing is tough out here!

Does anyone know how wind affects fishing conditions?:confused: I'm still a noobie and I don't really understand how weather affects fishing. I'm thinking (or hoping) that the weather was partly to blame for the lack of success.

[Albertadiver]

Might have seen you on Saturday. We were hiking out from the point campground after 2 nights back there. My crazy wife and her friend jumped in for a swim next to a few guys fishing... Was that you?

The upper lake can get bloody windy. I've never had much success from shore, but when I have I've just used spinners. I've caught a few trout on the lower lake near the dam outflow.

I have seen some monsters come out of that lake, but mostly after a day of trolling. Its a tough lake because of all the snags. If you read the history of the kananaskis lakes, german POW's cleared the land around the original lakes prior to the dam being constructed. Thus the exposed and submerged stumps.

The lake is filling slowly, we measured 3" in two days. I was surprised how low it was, but I'm not normally out there this early in the year.

[uicehole]

Thanks for the report even though it didn't go as well as it could have. At Spray, odds are your brookie is a laker. Not saying that it wasn't, just odds.

As for weather, my observations is the wind's just a by-product of other weather factors, namely barometric changes. Good fishing during a steady high pressure, can be good just before a cold front comes through and lousy after a cold front.

[floppychicken]

Went to Upper K on Saturday, got there about 7:30am and fished straight until noon with not even a nibble. Tried spinners, spoons, bouncing tube jigs off the bottom. Talked to a few others and they didn't have any luck either. Then we got fed up and tried Spray and the only fish landed was a 7" brookie.

One of the guys put on a rapala that wasn't much smaller than the 7" brook trout that he caught. First cast he got one on the line and spent about 5 minutes reeling it in. Once it got close to shore we saw it and it looked huge, but I think he saw us because he immediately started fighting a lot harder. He pulled line off the reel for about 5 or 6 seconds against the drag, and then snap...and he was gone. Looked huge (but so does every fish in a fish story!)

Funny thing is I told my buddy to re-spool since his line looked like crap, and he answered with "ah - it looks fine to me". He promised to re-spool before the next trip out

I need a boat. Shore fishing is tough out here!

Does anyone know how wind affects fishing conditions?:confused: I'm still a noobie and I don't really understand how weather affects fishing. I'm thinking (or hoping) that the weather was partly to blame for the lack of success.

Fishing the Upper K is tough at the best of times.. More often than not, most will come back empty handed or with very few fish caught. Before the bait ban, fishing was obviously much better but the Upper and Lower Lakes are really tough to fish.

Wind does play a HUGE part in whether or not you'll have success fishing from shore so don't feel too bad. Fishing in a boat or floatation device can really improve your chances simply because you can cover more water and position yourself in hard to reach places.

A good example would be where I was fishing on Saturday. I was at McGregor Lake and the wind was pretty severe. The wind was blowing N/NE and was absolutely making a MESS of ALL sides of the East shoreline. The water was 'wicked dirty' for 100+ yards from the shore out into the lake ! That basically eliminated ANY shore fishing from that side of the lake, period. The other thing is that because the wind shifts direction and the damn waves are so friggin' big, the West shore is affected to some degree as well. Simply put, not many people looked like they were catching any fish from the shore.

We were in a boat so we trolled up and down the East side (assuming the bait fish were likely blown into that area..) about 50 yards or so out from the really bad silt ridden water (you could actually see the dirty water line...) and were able to produce 'some' Walleye, a few lost fish and some decent Hits on just that side alone. We picked up some pike from the West side but they were pretty pathetic, but still, they were FISH ! We were fishing in 1.5 to 2 foot rollers just about the whole day.....

Anyway, a decent boat and motor is a good thing to have but if you want to fish for trout, you can get away with an inflatable (12' or 14') and a decent electric motor w/ Deep Cycle Battery. Do a couple floats down the bow with your spinning rod and some small spinners / rapalas and you'll be hooked for life ! Probably some of the most fun I've ever had fishing in my life and the wind normally won't affect the river action too much.

If you decide to float the bow make sure you go with someone who's done it before ! I can't stress that enough.... It's important for safety's sake and will likely help you produce some beautiful fish ! Also there are a fair number of 'electric only' fishing lakes that produce some VERY nice fish. With the setup above, you'll cover water quickly and will be able to go where most are unable.

Cheers,

/FC...

[RayL42]

I have fished the upper Kananaskis my whole life and it has always been better for me on calm days likely because I am more comfortable and have better patients.

A few weeks ago my uncle had good luck catching bulls by the spill way using a lour that looked like a little cut throat and he talked a guy who was catching cut throats with a leach pattern

[iliketrout]

I would be skeptical of a brook trout at Spray too. I am pretty sure that it was a brook trout, though. It was dark brown and had the characteristic red spots with blue around them. I was very surprised. We would have taken a picture but we were too embarassed! We were fishing at the very north end, by the bridge closest to Canmore, where you go from the east shore to the west shore. Maybe they stay in this area to avoid the large lake trout?

Maybe I'm wrong - Barry Mitchell's 2008 book doesn't even mention brook trout in Spray.

It's hard to work the bottom from the shore at Upper K without losing gear. The shore is so sloped that you basically walk the lure across the bottom and usually lose it!

Albertadiver - That wasn't us. We were on the south shore between the first and second brooks feeding the lake.

Next trip will be to McGregor. I really need a boat though!

[uicehole]

Sounds like a brookie. Even the Atlas of Alberta Lakes fail to mention them in Spray. I commend you on catch the rare find. Too bad you didn't get a pic, I'm sure the area fish biologist would be interested in it.