New to Alberta fishing

[Mr.Fusion]

Hello all,
I come from Ontario with a very heavy background in smallmouth bass fishing. My main setup was drop shot with plastics. I understand I can drop shot for walleye, which is what I am planning on doing. I live in Edmonton on the southside and do not own a boat, so what I am looking for is places I can access on foot, not afraid to hike a little, and what colours and areas for the seasons I should be in to catch fish. I'll probably be fishing the north sask, and if there is any good lakes I don't mind driving to do some shore fishing.
Thank you in advance for any help.

[chucklesthe3rd]

i dont live in edmonton but i guess you could try wabamun lake heard lots of stunted pike and walleye there...

[waterninja]

Hello all,
I come from Ontario with a very heavy background in smallmouth bass fishing. My main setup was drop shot with plastics. I understand I can drop shot for walleye, which is what I am planning on doing. I live in Edmonton on the southside and do not own a boat, so what I am looking for is places I can access on foot, not afraid to hike a little, and what colours and areas for the seasons I should be in to catch fish. I'll probably be fishing the north sask, and if there is any good lakes I don't mind driving to do some shore fishing.
Thank you in advance for any help.

Welcome to Edmonton. Plenty of Walleye fishing to be had in and around Edmonton. Good luck

[Tom Pullings]

I used to go shore fishing down at the Devon bridge.

[wind drift]

This stocked trout lake is 45mins west of the city. Good shore fishing. http://www.albertafishingguide.com/location/water/east-pit-lake

[scel]

Hello all,
I come from Ontario with a very heavy background in smallmouth bass fishing. My main setup was drop shot with plastics. I understand I can drop shot for walleye, which is what I am planning on doing. I live in Edmonton on the southside and do not own a boat, so what I am looking for is places I can access on foot, not afraid to hike a little, and what colours and areas for the seasons I should be in to catch fish. I'll probably be fishing the north sask, and if there is any good lakes I don't mind driving to do some shore fishing.
Thank you in advance for any help.

Welcome to Alberta.

I spend a month every year fishing for smallies in Ontario. There is nothing like them out here.

Walleye will eat almost anything a smallie will eat. For the most part, you just have fish deeper with slightly darker colours.

The brighter, bigger smallmouth lures will also catch pike.

Lake walleye are hard to catch from shore. Not impossible, just hard. The North Sask River is a good start though. There are lots of things that will eat your smallmouth lures in the NSR. In general, in AB, it is tough to shore fish lakes in the fall. Walleye will stay deep, and the pike are moody. Spring time is gangbusters though.

[Justfishin73]

Hello all,
I come from Ontario with a very heavy background in smallmouth bass fishing. My main setup was drop shot with plastics. I understand I can drop shot for walleye, which is what I am planning on doing. I live in Edmonton on the southside and do not own a boat, so what I am looking for is places I can access on foot, not afraid to hike a little, and what colours and areas for the seasons I should be in to catch fish. I'll probably be fishing the north sask, and if there is any good lakes I don't mind driving to do some shore fishing.
Thank you in advance for any help.

Im in south Edmonton too, shoot me a PM, might have a spot on the boat for ya

[Talking moose]

Shore fishing equals rivers here. Explore the North Saskatchewan river for holes.(eddies).

[Mr.Fusion]

My dad has most of my fishin gear, I have a small tackle box of cranks but I already know what I need to get and thanks for the advice on darker colours. I'll probably want to learn how to make pickerel rig sooner or later. From all the reading I have done for NSR it's very possible to shore fish all year, but as the winter comes you need to really slow down your retrieval speed, not sure if it will work but I am gonna try anything to catch something. I also hear ice fishing is amazing too. Can't wait to try that. Still don't understand why lots of fisheries have a no cull limit, and why you can only buy a fishing license for 1 year. I am use to 1-2 max depending on lake and size of fish and buying 1 or 3 year fishing license. And they are plastic(so much nicer) and you just put new stickers when you need to renew.

Edit: spelling

[bigrfish]

My dad has most of my fishin gear, I have a small tackle box of cranks but I already know what I need to get and thanks for the advice on darker colours. I'll probably want to learn how to make pickerel rig sooner or later. From all the reading I have done for NSR it's very possible to shore fish all year, but as the winter comes you need to really slow down your retrieval speed, not sure if it will work but I am gonna try anything to catch something. I also hear ice fishing is amazing too. Can't wait to try that. Still don't understand why lots of fisheries have a no cull limit, and why you can only buy a fishing license for 1 year. I am use to 1-2 max depending on lake and size of fish and buying 1 or 3 year fishing license. And they are plastic(so much nicer) and you just put new stickers when you need to renew.

Edit: spelling

Welcome to Alberta
Some good tips from the folks here..for sure. Different from out East but, fishin is fishin. Take up every offer to go fishing in the boat. Alberta has some really nice lakes that just aren't great for shore fishing.PM me as well. Might be able to help get ya out on the water sometime.
Cheers

[fsa313]

May I suggest you look at https://myalbum.com/album/NAFlYyJfNIXK for information on 69 Northern Alberta trout lakes.
Cheers,
Neil

[FishingPole]

I love fall fishing on the NSR. I'm not sure how it is out on the South End of the city (I'm out the West). Cooler water temps, less daylight and the fish come out shallower and start feeding and fattening up for the winter.

I agree with the comment above about using some of your small mouth lures if you're targeting walleye. I feel the fish in the NSR are used to seeing pickerel rigs and spoons that when you show them something else you'll get strikes when no one else is. I like to fish moving baits around this time and the colours depend on the clarity but usually try safe bets are reds and greens (I shy away from chartreuse in clearer water) and maybe add something with a little flash and vibration in the murkier water. When the bite is really tough though finesse isn't a bad way to go either.

Pike will, of course, go for the moving baits as well.

[FishingPole]

May I suggest you look at https://myalbum.com/album/NAFlYyJfNIXK for information on 69 Northern Alberta trout lakes.
Cheers,
Neil

Awesome info Neil! Good summary of the stocked lakes.