New here..hi want to know about Ghost Reservoir

[fishing_flower]

We tried fishing Ghost Reservoir this weekend and were totally skunked. We tried all sorts of methods, trolling, casting, and even rigged up a "poor man's downrigger", but not even a bite. We didn't even see anyone catch any in other boats. Are there actually fish there? Is there a trick or hotspot for them? Most of the boats we saw were big boats out for some water sports not fishing. We are thinking about going up there next weekend again, so any info would be great. Thanks.

[PlayDoh]

I havent fished there and I don't know much about it, yet I do know that you have to be ready for the weather on that Reservoir. It goes from perfect and calm to the Bearing Sea in 10 mins, and will smash you and your boat to pieces.

If I had to guess I'd say theres only stocked rainbows in there, and if its calm you could try weed edges if you can find any. Any drop offs, or nice structure underwater is worth trying.

I'm guessing your using a spin-rod? Small spiners? lures or bait? Flies and Streamers?

[Justanotherbuck2]

There are good lakers in Ghost but they are hard to catch and fish ratio per hour on the water is proberly 30 to 1, skip the lake and head up the bow river for rainbows the river is deep enough for my 16' boat for a long ways, also head under the bridge and go west to the ghost river much better fishing for rainbows, also if you want alot of fun with good scenery and amazing fishing , wind your way upstream on the ghost out of the reservoir for about a mile just before the old by scout camp you will come to some sheer cliffs the cliffs continue down into the river creating some crystal clear pools that are about 15-20 feet deep and you can edge up to them watch the fish swiming just like an aquarium great fly fishing with a fast sinking line. The ghost river is also much safer than the main lake thats why the skiers stay in there, cold water though so the fish are nice and firm even in July and Aug. good luck its really worth the time out that way, for fun go further west and fly fish on drys at Grotto mtn. pound or huge rockies and Browns in Gap lake. Or the bow river at Putnaks corner just west of Gap lake.

[fishing_flower]

We are spin casting with lures, tried some maggots and power bait. I didn't realize that the bay on the other side of the bridge was the ghost river. With all the skiers we didn't go all the way to the end. Maybe we will give that another try this coming weekend. We did go all the way down to the mouth of the Bow, I think that was it, but didn't catch anything.

We are in a 14ft aluminum, so the wind kept us off in the am. It calmed down around lunch. Thanks we will maybe try it again, but head into the ghost river area. According to the fishing guide it is 0 limit from Sept 1 to Oct 31. So catch and release is fine with me.:) We have a 7 year old, and to keep him interested in fishing it's good for him to catch one every now and then.

[floppychicken]

We are spin casting with lures, tried some maggots and power bait. I didn't realize that the bay on the other side of the bridge was the ghost river. With all the skiers we didn't go all the way to the end. Maybe we will give that another try this coming weekend. We did go all the way down to the mouth of the Bow, I think that was it, but didn't catch anything.

We are in a 14ft aluminum, so the wind kept us off in the am. It calmed down around lunch. Thanks we will maybe try it again, but head into the ghost river area. According to the fishing guide it is 0 limit from Sept 1 to Oct 31. So catch and release is fine with me.:) We have a 7 year old, and to keep him interested in fishing it's good for him to catch one every now and then.


Ghost is a real tough one..... There are waaaay easier places to fish.

Depending on where you are, you may want to think about heading south out to Pine Coulee or Crawling Valley. You'll catch lot's of fish in CV and Pine Coulee is basically a fish frenzy... It keeps the younger kids REALLY busy and and it's fun to watch them go at it. There's nothing really 'big' in Pine Coulee aside from the odd Pike and Burbot but the Walleye (small 1 - 2 pounds) are EVERYWHERE and are equally hungry !

No baitfish allowed, so take a big bag of smelts and some Powerbait Marshmallows with you and you'll have a GREAT TIME.

Cheers,

/FC...

[fishing_flower]

Where is Pine Coulee? I'm trying to find it on a map to see how close it is to Calgary.

[floppychicken]

Where is Pine Coulee? I'm trying to find it on a map to see how close it is to Calgary.

Actually it's pretty close. You just take the #2 South to Stavely, take a right (West on HWY#527) you can't miss it, and drive about six to 8 klik's to the boat launch. I can make it there easily in less than 2 hours from the North end of Calgary.

http://maps.google.ca/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4IRFA_enCA255CA256&q=map+of+nanton&um=1&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=image

Cheers,

/FC....

[fishing_flower]

Thanks everyone, I think Pine Coulee will be where we will go next weekend.:)

[floppychicken]

Thanks everyone, I think Pine Coulee will be where we will go next weekend.:)

Might just be there too.....

/FC...

[Gillfisher]

You should try Barrier Lake in K Country, less than 10 minutes off the highway, I took my 9yr old son up there 4 or 5 times this summer and we caught nice trout each and every time. Our biggest fish was a 18" brown, he also landed a 15" brown and a number of fish 13" to 14" we do not keep more than 1 or 2 fish and nothing under 13". The meat in the fish is nice and red.

Gillfisher

[fishing_flower]

We have driven past Barrier lake a number of times on our way back from Upper and Lower Kananaskis lakes. We wondered about it, but couldn't see a boat launch anywhere?
Kananaskis lakes....my daughter's boyfriend caught a good rainbow out of it the first trip up there off shore. So we kept trying and trying and trying. Have come to the conclusion that he caught the last fish out of the lower lake and the ones in the upper don't want to be caught. One trip up we heard about Hidden Lake. We were told it was about an hours hike, so ha ha we headed out and finally found it, way more than an hour later. It was a beautiful hike, but the lake was a wind tunnell!

We might try Barrier Lake if there is a boat launch there. Not this weekend though, we are headed to Pine Coulee for some catch and release. My 7 year old has a great time even if he has to let them go to "grow bigger".

[Gillfisher]

Fishingflower

Yes there is a nice boat launch and parking area about 5 minutes up the past the dam. You will see the gate off to the right just follow it around. I usually troll real slow with a gang troll and a blue or green rainbow pattern wedding band either with a worm or some power bait orange or chartreuse or white and green.

gillfisher

[Justanotherbuck2]

If its introducing a young person or newbie to fishing Chain lakes would be my first choice, only an hour south of Calgary great boat launch and the small rainbows hook up constantly. They may not be the biggest fish in Alberta waters but it sure makes a fun day for freinds and family. But you should give the Ghost river a try I used to take my old 14 ft boat up there.

[fishing_flower]

We took him to Chain lakes about a month ago. He had fun. All together that day we caught and released 8 small trout. 3 of which he caught. We'll go back there again as he had a lot of fun. He really likes to "jig" for fish so will try Pine Coulee this weekend. Want to get all the camping in while it is nice still.

Isn't the Ghost river closed for spawning at this time?