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thorne
07-05-2021, 06:36 PM
Well I have always enjoyed Moose Lake. Its always been good to me and every summer I take a week to chill in the camp ground, beach the boat every evening after some enjoyable fishing and just relax. Fishing has always been good. Some good days...some off days...but can usually manage a few fun pike at the very least. Last year when I was here the Blue Green Algae was insane, and fishing was bad...ok a one off...This year there is still an Algae warning, but haven't seen any yet. However the fishing today was spectacular! Lots of very solid and intense pike slamming 6" perch shaped lures in the 4-8lb range and even 4 very nice Walleye! Didn't expect that trolling in 5-12' of water at 4kph or so. These Walleye were very solid and healthy fish in the 4-6lb range, very nice to see a good body of water producing these quality, and at least today, quantity of fish!

pikeman06
07-05-2021, 07:27 PM
Spent alot of years fishin that lake, big ol stinky slough but its a fish factory, it's been used and abused, the rivers dried up, the natives and commercial guys netted the hell out of it but it was one of the first lakes to have a fairly large area closed off entirely to fishing when the females were staging and everyone knew where to get them. Pinehurst and snug cove followed suit. It's simple, effective, regulations like that, lake specific, that alberta needs to use to protect the spawning pike walleye and perch. Nobody complains and the lake is self sustaining with its native fish like it should be. Glad to hear you had a good trip o.p. many great memories of that lake summer and winter. I think closing a large portion of many lakes in that area is the answer. You still get decent fishing but you got a nice population of adult fish allowed to feed and stay healthy without being caught and released a dozen times when they are most fragile. If they aren't gonna stock then protecting your spawners is blatantly obvious. They should close half of buck sylvan and gull for a winter or two and see what happens. Just a thought, pretty simple regulation and they don't have to wait for another year to do it either. January 1st is a nice round number to start with. Sorry for walking on your thread but it got me thinking why mooselake can pull it off. Quit using the excuse that we only have so many lakes and too many fisherman. How about we let the few surviving breeders fo their thing and see how resilient some of these formerly excellent fisheries actually are. Or what?

thorne
07-05-2021, 07:54 PM
Your thought process is right in line with mine...ALL of Alberta's lakes should have a portion closed to fishing at all times in my opinion. It is a proven method internationally that works. All the lakes that have seen that approach in AB have done VERY well with it. Look at Calling, excellent fishery there. Just curious to see how it turns out now that its been all opened up the past few years...

trigger7mm
07-05-2021, 09:39 PM
As a kid in the late 60’s and early 70’s, Moose Lake was heaven for me. Lots of great memories made there, like catching my first pickerel (walleye) there. Back then they were most definitely pickerel. No end to the big perch too. I haven’t fished it in years. It’s great to hear that there is still some great fishing to be had there.

pikeman06
07-05-2021, 10:13 PM
Yes I forgot about calling, another "miraculous" heavily fished lake that still supports a small recreational and first nation harvest. Just leave them alone and let them.carry on and have a successful spawn once in awhile. I'd gladly give up a portion of any lake just knowing that fish are over " there" feeding and chillin and stacking up, unmolested like they should be able to, prior to spawning. There's always mortality catch and releasing and we all know that. The tag system is a joke, way too much abuse of the system and it puts a hatchery non spawning walleye on a higher pedestal than a native pike that it competes with. Maybe I like pike more than walleye or you like perch more than a walleye, who makes the choice over what is the desired species without regard to the impact of the fishery as a whole? Let's let the fish decide when to have a successful hatch based on forage etc. I think we screwed it up long enough.

58thecat
07-06-2021, 07:40 AM
Another lake that is surrounded by acreages etc, clearing right down to the water and with many factors contributing to the growth of blue-green algae is the amount of available nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. Blue-green algal blooms can be caused by agricultural and stormwater runoff as well as leaching from septic systems. Also the blooms produce a toxin that can kill fish and even mammals if ingested in large amounts. ... Blue-green algae can also kill fish indirectly by causing oxygen levels to drop below the threshold for fish survival.....now toss in the netting, poaching this lake could turn into a dead body of water.....odd how many of these factors involving a lake to thrive or fail falls on us...truly hope things get better for all of Alberta's lakes.

thorne
07-06-2021, 08:15 PM
Figured I would post a pic as a sampler of the beautiful Walleye we are getting at Moose Lake, all be it...only nailing em in one certain spot using a very....not so Walleye...presentation..lol. but hey! It works!:oregonian_winesmile

58thecat
07-07-2021, 06:07 AM
Figured I would post a pic as a sampler of the beautiful Walleye we are getting at Moose Lake, all be it...only nailing em in one certain spot using a very....not so Walleye...presentation..lol. but hey! It works!:oregonian_winesmile

Stop teasing ya gotta share eh!

:thinking-006:

thorne
07-07-2021, 09:19 AM
No big secret...was trolling the attached 4" lure for pike along the north shoreline for pike in 12-6 feet of water and one stretch of water over about 150m constantly produced these walleye trolling at about 4kph which is a pretty aggressive presentation. We must of covered 3-5 Km of shoreline, back and forth, and only hit walleye along that one small section of water, and it was everytime we crossed it. No pike to be seen there either, but outside it...lots of nice pike...lol. Seems for what ever reason they are holding there on fairly shallow water and keeping it for themselves. No real structure there for them to hold up in...but something there is attracting these fish. Been checking out various sections of the lake as well and only hit pike. Gonna try and just anchor there later today and rig up some minnows with a bobber and see what shows up this time.

58thecat
07-08-2021, 01:37 PM
Heard it from someone that their better half caught a beauty eye….pics?


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Prairiewolf
07-10-2021, 06:18 PM
Spent a few weeks each year there with my dad in the early to mid 90's. I remember early on I'd get tired catching so many walleye - usually all jigging in ~15 to 20 feet of water near "Dead Man's Point".

Then one year the activity fell off dramatically. Additional regulations and mercury warnings put us into different lakes. Been awhile since I've been back.

Good memories. Sounds like it has improved a bit - good to hear for everyone enjoying it.

PlayDoh
07-25-2021, 09:52 AM
Wow, what a thread. Great ideas, and nice fish. I’m headed there for over a week in a couple days.
My entire family has been going there since the 50’s. I might have caught one In diapers, but if not shortly after. lol
I shouldn’t laugh, I might be catching my last in diapers as well. hehe

It’s actually a miracle there’s fish left in it at all they way everyone at the campground hauled them out. I remember many ole 5 gallon pails full of perch being hauled up the beach.
I remember my uncles laughing at the biologist students doing surveys for the first time, like it mattered how many fish you caught.
Then us kids played in the back seat of a lead-sled, while our parents chain smoked with the windows up.
Either would probably land you in jail today, lol.