Where to fish in Kananaskis during the fall season

[j7short]

Does anyone know of a few good lakes to fish in kananaskis this time of year.

Ideally I would like to hike in to a lake with the hike being say 5 to 10 km round trip. I will be shorefishing with both spin cast and fly cast.


Secondly, what would be the typical flies to use out in kananaskis as well as the typical spinners/spoons?


If anyone can answer these questions, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

[Scott N]

There are a lot of good lakes in Kananaskis that fish good, but check the regs because I think most of them close on Oct. 31 (I don't have the regs close by to confirm).

TJ has a good article in the October AO about Rawson Lake. I've been there and can confirm that it is a good lake to fish, and the scenery is beautiful. The problem with this lake is that it's tough to fish from shore.

Another good lake(s) are the Pickle Jar Lakes. Here's a few of pictures that I took in July. Again the scenery is great, but the fish are smaller than Rawson. However, they do bite readily and fishing from shore is much easier.

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn93/ScottN01/P1000171.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn93/ScottN01/P1000177.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn93/ScottN01/P1000178.jpg

Elbow Lake is another one that's pretty easy to fish from shore. Pickle Jar and Rawson Lakes have cutthroats in them, Elbow has Brookies. Neither species is very fussy. For flies, try using wooly buggers, pheasant tail nymphs, gold ribbed hare's ears, elk hair caddis, or adams. For spinning, try small Len Thompson spoons (I've always had good luck with the orange / white ones), or Mepps spinners.

Sparrow's Egg is another good lake, but again, it's tough to fish from shore and a float tube makes it much easier to fish:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn93/ScottN01/P1000130.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn93/ScottN01/P1000238.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn93/ScottN01/P1000234.jpg

[jpohlic]

Years ago I hiked in to Lillian Lake and had a great day weekend fishing for cutts. I seem to recall it was about a 3 hour hike (all uphill) and about 2 hours coming back. Fly fishing from shore may be difficult. I took my float tube up there and had much better luck than the scout troop fishing from shore. Used a brown wooly worm on sinking tip line. I think the trailhead was between Nakiska and Fortress

[Frans]

I did a write-up on Lillian Lake for AO a while back (2 years?)... and used a similar fly... brown with a bit of flash on the body, and hackles tied front to back. Unless you are a master at roll casting, fly fishing is tough in all but a few spots. I fished from shore, so a sinking line wasn't really required. Floating would make things a lot easier.

Frans

[j7short]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I'm deciding whether to head out to the mountains this weekend to try for trout. Or head somewhere else to try for a Pike. Any ideas on locations for Pike near Calgary?

[Battery]

i was out all day today at wedge pond in kananaskis (stocked with arctic grayling) nice sized fish were swimming right into shore right infront of me and they wouldnt take ANYTHING, i tried everything. they wouldnt bite a thing, i could see them look at it and they wouldnt touch it. it was exciting though, maybe you tried there youd have better luck!

[fishing_flower]

When we were up in Kananaskis in Aug, we hiked into Hidden lake. Nothing..but beautiful country. On the way we passed a sign for Rawson and it said no fishing at all. I don't know if it is permanently closed or if it was only temporary. I would check with fisheries before you try it.