rigging up crawling valley

[strathmorite]

looking to set up for crawling valley as soon as the ice comes off. never fished this lake with a boat at all. can anyone make some suggestions so the kids can come away at least with a few bites. keep in mind I am not very familiar with the lay out of the lake at all.

thanks a bunch

[calgarygringo]

Slow down as it is still closed for a while yet, check your regs.
When you get out there head straight out from the boat launch, then watch for the islands on the east side (the right). Work out in front, in between and behind trolling or work some of the drops off the islands with jigs. Lots of good walleyes and pike opportunities right there. Lots of other places but this is the easiest area to start.

[godziuk]

head out from the launch to the nearest islands and drop baited spinner rigs with 1/4 bouncers. lots of luck there with big pike and walleye. its just a shame you cant keep any walleye as they are over abundant at CV.

[longshadow]

Be wary of the rocks North of Boat launch, a few props and bottom ends have felt the wrath. Head straight off the launch and you'll be O.K.

[Waxy]

My best advice, especially if you're going to fish the islands on the east side and you're new to the lake, is to be VERY careful. I've seen at least a half dozen outboards get trashed between that area, the point immediately N of the launch, and the large reef NE of the campground. The mid lake reef NE of the launch is marked by a large buoy (or at least it used to be), but the rest of the structures aren't marked.

Slow down, watch carefully, and save yourself some $$$$.

The fishing should be OK along any of the spots described above, if not, just watch out for where the crowds are, where there's smoke there's fire LOL. Good luck with the bite!

Waxy

[strathmorite]

thanks for all the info. The boat is brand new so I will definitely watch for the rocks I would hate to mess up the new leg!!!

spinners and spoons good? How about rapalas? or just jigs?

[godziuk]

use a nice long/strong leader if your using 10$ raps, lol.

[oilngas]

use your depth sounder ALL again ALL the time. there are lots of hills just under the surface. That said i dont like to fish it until after stampede week. the walleyes will be concentrated just outside the 18' weed line at that time. I'm glad that it is no kill, grandson and i like to catch 100 50-68 cm walleye a day. all the advice given so far is good, the good old boys that camp and live there are very helpful, if you abide by the rules, and if you don't, F&W is a very quick call away. I as well as the good old boys are very protective of this very special place.

[bowfin]

also very good trolling by the dam no plug is too big if your down with some huge pike

[Freedom55]

Ice off, post-spawn, top-water fishing with crankbaits and poppers. The shallower the better.Tip: Minn Kota props are cheaper than Mercury screws. Not before May 8.
Dave Si.

[WalleyeDeitz]

The spots mentioned above are excellent places to start. I have been fishing CV for several yars and the fishing seems so good I never get to venture to new spots. I head straight NE across the lake from the boat launch and fish the west side of the islands and troll bottom bouncers with spinner rigs tipped with usually a leech. Using the depth finder I try to troll 20' but these islands are the toughest spot I have ever tried to troll 20' at. You will no doubt find yourself dragging you gear through the weeds once in awhile but you will also find that you will pick up lots and lots of fish, both pike and Walleye on these underwater bumps.

If you head north along the east side, the lakes shore will bend to the east suddenly. There are several underwater bumps here as well and it seems like all of the big $$ boats are alwasy fishing right there.....never spent much time there though so I cant comment on the fishing but it must be good.

My other spot is where the main lake bends to the NW about 3/4 of the way up the lake. There is an underwater gravel shelf just off this bend that holds crap loads of walleye.

I try to camp at cv a few times per year and the above comment about the old locals is true. Go have a chat with them and in 20 minutes you will know what is wokring and where to go. I love this lake due to the number of fish....I like cathcing big ones as well though I much prefer numbers. If I had to put money on it, I would bet that SRD will introduce the tag system to this lake in the very near future as the walleye population seems very healthy...I just hope it the catching is still as good then as it is now. Caught a couple in the 8 lb range as well and several in the 5-6 lb range....no big pike for me though....keep in mind my weight is just a guess, never did scale them but there are some dandys in there.

Good luck out there.

[godziuk]

i pulled a decent 12 pd pike out of CV, would also love a 1 walleye slot harvest. love catching fish, but i love eating them to. i know alot of eyes are poached out every year.

[lipripper]

CV is home to both my biggest eye and my biggest pike to date,and i have caught close to provincial records of both.
I find thatto catch the lage ones,stay away from the small ones,this is espesially true when targeting walleye there.
If you can hit a calm overcast morning a jig tipped with a smelt fished nice and slow can really turn a quiet morning into a trip of the season.
my "goto" for huge pike in CV is a dinner plate size yellow and black 5 of diamonds fished nice and slow.
My biggest pike is a 44" fat monster and my biggest eye was a 9 pound beast caught straight out from the launch.
I cant wait to hit CV !!!anyone know if the campground takes reservations?

[oilngas]

According to the EID they have redone the campground similar to the Rolling Hills Res. Large sites, 30 Amps, no sewer or water. The EID tells me that the grass will need "a month or two" to catch where they reworked the campground. I'll be out just after Stampede and looking for a walley gator bigger than 68 cm.