Shore fishing the NSR or elsewhere

[Big Racks]

Total neophyte to the NSR, actually most AB fishing unfortunately except a bit of ice fishing, but really need to get out and chuck a line just to get some fresh air and feel alive again. Not looking for species specific, when fishing for ****s and giggles I think the surprise is the best part sometimes. I'm just thinking of a relatively easily accessible spot with some sort of potential, maybe under the Devon bridge? Somewhere near Terwilleger? I'm mobile, anything within an hour or so is fine by me, was just thinking NSR for convenience sake. No boat, shore fishing only for now.

Second part would be gear. Any and all spinning gear I have is packed away in long term storage until we take possession of our new house, no access. I've got ice fishing gear, and I kept my fly fishing gear out for last fall's BC interior trip. Heaviest fly rod I have is a 6wt, pretty sure my 8wt got packed away. Luckily I'm still working, and am grateful to be, so can afford to buy some gear for a little sanity time on the bank. What am I looking for? I'm thinking maybe some medium action spinning gear, strung with what? maybe 12-15lb mono? Unfortunately I can't pop into The Fishing Hole and pick their brains, so not sure what sorts of bait and tackle I'm looking for, nor how best to rig them. Anything I buy will have to be curbside pickup from either TFH or Cabelas, so kind of need to know what I'm after when I order, pretty hard to browse, lol.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. Not looking for honey holes or secrets, I'm not new to putting in the time and searching out my own, just a little start up advice, mainly on gear and tactics, so I'm not out blindly trying to catch a vegan with a lamb chop.

Cheers,
BR

[walleyechaser]

I'm not from around there nor fish the nsr, but I would recommend putting the boots on and using google maps. That's how I found all my favorite holes in the Old Man.

[walleyechaser]

Gear: if you want to catch sturgeon there is a nice combo for $100 at cabelas. Penn pursuit 3. Pair that with 50lb braid and you can catch anything in the river. 8ft rods are really nice for casting far if needed. If you want to catch a sturgeon you will want that setup or something similar.

[Bushleague]

For general river fishing I think you are on the right track, medium spinning gear with 10-15 lb line will work well for most of what you will catch in the NSR. My recommendation would be an Ugly Stick with a Pflueger President reel, in size 35-40, my own preference would be to spool it up with good quality 10lb mono. Heavyer line might be better for bottom fishing, but its going to cut into your casting distance noticeably with lures weighing much less than 1/2 oz.

Since you're not set on one species, I've found that #00 Len Thompsons, #3 Mepps spinners, and 3" twister tail jigs will catch most warm water species most days. Fishing shiners on a pickerel rig, or other bottom rig will also catch a variety of fish.

For the Len Thompsons my most consistent producers are the 5oD, and the orange and brass, with the Mepps its pretty hard to beat their genuine silver finish, and for jigs white always seems to work pretty good.

[walleyechaser]

Time ran out for me to edit so here is more info.

Gear: if you want to catch sturgeon there is a nice combo for $100 at cabelas. Penn pursuit 3. Pair that with 50lb braid and you can catch anything in the river. 8ft rods are really nice for casting far if needed. If you want to catch a sturgeon you will want that setup or something similar.

Sinkers: a oz to 8oz (on the old man, might be slightly different on nsr) I order them on Amazon as there is no place to get there down south, but you have more options in Edmonton.

Leaders: fluoro, mono or dacron. 50lb if targetting sturgeon. 20lb if targeting walleye (pretty heavy, but there is lots of obstacles in the river, therefore one needs a stronger leader). In dirty, fast moving water use a short leader (8-14"), clear water 18-30" can do fine. If you would like to add a bit of commotion to your bait using a spin n glo about 2-4 " up from your hook, can sometimes be the ticket, especially when the water is really dirty. If you want to use two hooks, stay away from the store bought pickerel rigs (absolute garbage). Two common shore rigs are a sliding rig and a dropper weight (kind of drop shot rig). Sliding rig: sinker slider or put the sinker eye on your main line. Heavy swivel then your leader. For the dropper I attach a 4 to 6 inch lower weight line (if the sinker gets stuck you can break it off) on the same eye of the swivel as the main line. Attach a snap swivel (to the 4 to 6 inch line) to switch out different size weights. Attach leader to the other end of the swivel. Prefer this over a 3 way swivel setup any day.

Hook: 2/0 to 5/0 gamikatsu or owner hooks (the sharper the better). If targetting sturgeon some guys prefer circle hooks due to the decreased chance of the fish swallowing the hook. If you are targeting walleye then a 2/0 is plenty.

Bait: worms and minnows. If you catch a sucker, you could use it as bait. Many have good luck doing so.

What to look for. Eddie's, bends in the river or any structure that slows fast moving water that is close to deeper water. Often guys want to fish the deepest spots, when the better spot could be the shallow ledge above the pool. Bridges, weir etc make for good starting points. Remember to adhere to any obstruction regulation distance such as at a weir.

If you dont want to bottom fish then lures work great for walleye, pike. Rapala rippin raps are by far my favourite lure for river walleyes. Swim baits on 1/4 jig heads do really well too. This would require a different rod. Medium light or medium rod with a fast action usually around 7' long.

[Big Racks]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. Gives me an idea of what throw at them, and I'll go with a variety of options. Nice that many tactics hold true, will target slack waters and edges of eddies, most fish do like to conserve energy.

One more shift this afternoon then off for 5, I know where I'll be. Cheers!

[Sooner]

Lived here all my life, most of the river has a bike or walking trail beside it so that gets you close. Almost anywhere there is a shoreline will have a trail down to it unless your at the high banks.


The fishing spots are generally easy to find due to the foot traffic down to the river. Been a few yrs since I fished it, looking forward to getting the 12 ft alum in this year and exploring the river again.

[Talking moose]

Come on out where I am... about an hour east of the city. Sitting at the river now.... pm me if you like.

[Big Racks]

Come on out where I am... about an hour east of the city. Sitting at the river now.... pm me if you like.

Thanks for that, I might take you up on it. Will start close in and work my way out, probably stick close to town for the first week as while I am "off work", I am on call if someone from the second crew gets sick so have to stay fairly close. Thinking Devon bridge area to start, that's spitting distance back to the airport in the event they need me.

[Big Racks]

Does anybody use scents in the local rivers? I haven't checked the regs yet (no worries, I will), but imagine if bait is allowed then attractants should be as well. I'm just curious as I have some bottles of different scent/oil (bloody tuna, anise, etc..) from a kokanee trip to BC year before last. Nasty sh!t, but sure does the trick.

[FishingNewb]

For walleye on the nsr I typically use a pickerel rig and some minnows. I dont know if it's the spot I fish but I can usually get a walleye every 5 minutes or so. this year I am going after sturgeon and goldeye since I have yet to catch those species

[Big Racks]

For walleye on the nsr I typically use a pickerel rig and some minnows. I dont know if it's the spot I fish but I can usually get a walleye every 5 minutes or so. this year I am going after sturgeon and goldeye since I have yet to catch those species

Not a bad idea considering the amount of snags sure to be lurking on the bottom. I juts had a look at them, look very similar to bar rigs we used to use fishing the lower Fraser River for salmon.

[WayneChristie]

Does anybody use scents in the local rivers? I haven't checked the regs yet (no worries, I will), but imagine if bait is allowed then attractants should be as well. I'm just curious as I have some bottles of different scent/oil (bloody tuna, anise, etc..) from a kokanee trip to BC year before last. Nasty sh!t, but sure does the trick.

every time I recast :)

[Bushleague]

Not a bad idea considering the amount of snags sure to be lurking on the bottom. I juts had a look at them, look very similar to bar rigs we used to use fishing the lower Fraser River for salmon.

I tie up short walleye spinners, about 12" long, and use them as casting lures in the river. If you buy the components in bulk they are very cheap to make, and you can vary the weight according to the depth you need them to run.

Sometime they work quite well for bottom fishing too, bait them with a shiner and let them settle to the bottom, every few minuets lift them off the bottom and let them settle their way back down.

The real trick making them easy to rig is to thread on a bead and tie a large loop in the end of the line, with the bead in it. To add weight you run the loop through an egg sinker and clip it to you're snap swivel, the bead keeps it from sliding down to the sinker.