Moving to Red Deer

[Elohim]

Hi everyone!

My names James and I'm a Saskatchewan boy born and raised, but in the quest for the almighty dollar I will be moving to Red Deer in the new year.

I have been fishing the lakes of southern & central SK for as long as I can remember with my folks (as well as a few trips north), and spent a good portion of this past summer fishing the pacific ocean surrounding Vancouver island.

Unfortunately I don't know anybody in Alberta who goes fishing, nor do I have much experience with the various species of trout available for the catching in Alberta.

I'm not expecting anybody on here to give up any of their "honey holes", but a point in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Or better yet, it would be nice to get some fishing buddies in the area!

I am also looking to get into fly-fishing in the spring after ice out, so any pointers on that would be welcome as well.


p.s It's nice to come across an outdoors site that seems to lack the petty bickering thats seen on most of the other forums these days.

[Grizzled]

SORRY TO HEAR YOU HAVE TO MOVE TO DEAD REAR:lol:YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANY PROBLEM FINDING PEOPLE OR PLACES TO FISH...

[Hooker]

I'm sure you will get lots of responses to your questions but perhaps you might tell us if you have access to a boat or if you will be shore fishing. There are good lakes near Red Deer and east of Calgary but you need a boat to fish them. The city of Red Deer has stocked trout ponds down by the river and lots of people fish the banks of the Red Deer River. Trout creeks abound in central and southern Alberta but if you haven't fly fished before you really should look around for someone who puts on lessons. The fishing stores in Red Deer would be a good place to start looking for those. You can also use light spinning tackle and spinners on the creeks as well and have great success with them too. Hope this helps. More will come when you tell us what type of fishing you are looking for.

[Elohim]

Thanks for the pointers!

I do have a boat that I will more than likely head home to get in the spring time, but I enjoy fishing from shore as well.

I would also like to add that my favorite target is large pike! (or burbot through the ice)

[nicemustang]

Hi james, welcome to the board. I am also a SK boy but been here for 10 years. Not much difference in fishing here compared to many lakes around central SK, many places to catch walleye, pike, burbot, perch and whitefish. Where you'll find the difference is the rules/regulations that you must follow which control size of fish to keep if you can keep any at all. So my first piece of advice, get the regs book from Canadian Tire or Fishin Hole and make sure you read the whole thing. You'd be suprised on how thick it is!!! LOL.

As far as places to try, depends on how far you are willing to travel. Very close to you are some fine fishing lakes with a good assortment of praririe fishing. Pine Lake, Gull, Sylvan, Buffalo, Pigeon, Cow, Burnstick and Dickson dam to name a few. I'd also suggest picking up a copy of the barry mitchels guide. A good guide of whats in the lake and where they are. In these praririe lakes, usually you find an abundance of pike, whitefish, burbot and perch, and most have walleye to although you can't keep any of them at all. You can apply for a walleye tag for some lakes, refer to regs for more info.

Now for trout. There are many stocked ponds in and around your area. Look here at the stocking report for location, cross reference with county map or Barry Mitchell's guide.

http://www.mywildalberta.com/Fishing/StockingReports.aspx

My advice here is to do a search on the particular type of trout you'd like to start with, example rainbows, and there are tonnes of threads about locations, bait choices, lures, etc. Lots of great ice fishing to come this winter for sure.

I am no help for fly fishing, others can help with that.

If you up for more a drive, the southern reserves offers some of Alberta best fishing for pike, walleye, whitefish and perch. And a lot of places you can keep them too (again check regs, every lake is different). Travers (my personal favorite), Newell (second on my list), Crawling Valley, Mcgregor, Badger, Clear, and Pine Coulee.

Also, my closet place for lakers is Spray Lakes and quite good in the winter. Let me know if you need anything else, more than happy to help out.

BTW: Where are you coming from SK? Where in central have you fished? I am from Lake Lenore and go home quite regularly.

[Elohim]

Thanks again to everyone that's helped in the thread or via pm!

nicemustang: I've lived in Regina my whole life. I have fished Tobin lake extensively (more southern I know) as well as Candle Lake, Jan Lake, Pelican Narrows, and up to Wollaston Lake a few times.

I have been thumbing through the alberta reg. book and was surprised at first by all the different rules and regulations regarding take home limit (if any) and hook size etc., but if it ensures great fishing for future generations I'm all for it :cool:

[Chris K]

You are going to dearly miss the fishing you experienced in Saskatchewan, especially the quality of fish such as Tobin, Last Mountian, or Deifenbaker walleyes. Living so close to Last Mountain did you fish it much? I make eight trips a year to Saskatchewan for various tournaments and hands down, find the walleye waters to be some of the best I have ever fished.

Chris K

[Waxy]

You are going to dearly miss the fishing you experienced in Saskatchewan, especially the quality of fish such as Tobin, Last Mountian, or Deifenbaker walleyes. Living so close to Last Mountain did you fish it much? I make eight trips a year to Saskatchewan for various tournaments and hands down, find the walleye waters to be some of the best I have ever fished.

Chris K

X2

The fishing in AB is OK, but it doesn't compare to back home in SK.

If you're from Regina and you didn't fish Last Mountain regularly, you really missed out on a world class fishery! It's my "home waters", and I try to fish it as much as I can. It can be tough, but it's always rewarding.

I haven't done a lot of fishing in AB, I tend to go back to SK when I get the chance, but all of the lakes listed above are pretty good. They kind of remind me of fishing in northern SK, lots of fish and action, but the fish are generally small. I hear rumours of some nice ones coming out of Newell and the other southern reservoirs though.

Waxy

[Okotokian]

p.s It's nice to come across an outdoors site that seems to lack the petty bickering thats seen on most of the other forums these days.

:huh::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Elohim]

:huh::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

I hadn't had the chance to view too many threads before signing up lol


Chris K and Waxy:

Being a half hour from last mountain I have fished it more times than I can remember. Biggest pike I have ever seen in person came out of that lake.

Have either of you had the chance to fish the chain lakes of the Qu'appelle river system while visiting southern SK? I always do better for walleye (numbers AND quality) in Katepwa lake, which I would definately consider my "home waters". Honorable mention also goes to Pasqua lake (2 lakes over in the same river system)

[Waxy]

I hadn't had the chance to view too many threads before signing up lol

Chris K and Waxy:

Being a half hour from last mountain I have fished it more times than I can remember. Biggest pike I have ever seen in person came out of that lake.

Have either of you had the chance to fish the chain lakes of the Qu'appelle river system while visiting southern SK? I always do better for walleye (numbers AND quality) in Katepwa lake, which I would definately consider my "home waters". Honorable mention also goes to Pasqua lake (2 lakes over in the same river system)

Yeah, I've been out there a fair bit, usually more ice fishing than open water though. Definitely more fish, and easier to catch, but I've never had the big quality fish out of there that you get from the Mountain, especially the north end in late summer/fall :love:. The Qu'appelle chain lakes are closer to most AB style lakes I'd say.

I'm sure Chris has fished them more than I have, so he'll be able to back this up or tell me I'm full of it, but I believe the winning weights at the two Last Mountain tourneys are always higher than at the Fort Qu'appelle tourny. (Except Regina Beach the last couple years, where one good fish in two days was good enough for the win :mad2: :D)

Waxy

[Chris K]

Yeah, I've been out there a fair bit, usually more ice fishing than open water though. Definitely more fish, and easier to catch, but I've never had the big quality fish out of there that you get from the Mountain, especially the north end in late summer/fall :love:. The Qu'appelle chain lakes are closer to most AB style lakes I'd say.

I'm sure Chris has fished them more than I have, so he'll be able to back this up or tell me I'm full of it, but I believe the winning weights at the two Last Mountain tourneys are always higher than at the Fort Qu'appelle tourny. (Except Regina Beach the last couple years, where one good fish in two days was good enough for the win :mad2: :D)

Waxy

I have fished the Fort a bunch over the years, but mainly late August or early September for the tournament there. At the fort, you can have 100 fish days when things are hot. There are good fish in Mission and Katepwa (usually the biggest ones in the chain, a 12 was caught in Katepwa this fall), but getting onto them consistantly when I fish there is harder to do. It seems that fishing there is very stable to where the fish hold until the last week of August, then things start to change and they move around way more. I have had my best luck in Echo (Fort San or Besata Point) and Pasqua (rocks to the north (where the cabins start) of the enterance where you come into the lake from the channel to the east. There is also a hump on the south side, about a third of the way down the lake that I like there too.

I have seen some big pike, and walleyes over 14 pounds come out of the Mountain, and have been lucky enough to win the Regina Beach tournament, and come in Second at Rowan's Ravine. I absolutely love that lake, and wish I lived closer to fish it more often. I really want to go up to the regional Park on the north end and fish Etters down to Arlington, maybe next year.

Chris K

[Elohim]

IPasqua (rocks to the north (where the cabins start) of the enterance where you come into the lake from the channel to the east.


The "rock bed!" Definately one of my favorite spots....especially from may opener all through june. Any time I am taking somebody new to fishing out I bring them to the rock bed and fish from shore. There's alot of pike (mostly small, but the odd 10+ pound surprise grabs your lure...my best at that spot is a 16) around there, and if you get your line out far enough you can nail some decent walleye as well.

No better way to make sure someone gets bit by the fishing bug than to have them hooking into a fish on almost every cast!


Have either of you gone up to Tobin for their big walleye tournament? Last time I was up there I heard the grand prize is $50,000. Considering renting a houseboat on Tobin for a week in the summer to troll up some big pike, and if I'm lucky one of them will have the grand prize tag for the northern pike festival.

[Chris K]

Walleye fishing is really good at the rocks, in late August I have caught quite a few walleye over seven pounds there. Lots of nice 20 inch fish there too. I fish the Vanity Cup on Nipawin, and it's a great tournament. The vanity fills every year with 160 teams, and has a big waiting list. I have never rented a houseboat there, but know people who have, and they said it was great. A bunch of buddies and I are headed out there this winter to go smash some big gators through the ice. I have not fished them in the summer specifically, but we have caught the odd one while walleye fishing, and they have all been quality fish.

Chris K

[WayneChristie]

Try fishing at the rivers junction in Blackfalds, all kinds of fish from Whitefish to Walleye

[YeeHaw]

You wont find the fishing as good as Sask. Myself also coming from Sask have spent counless hours fishing Candle lake (Fisher creek), Bittern, Besnard, Dechambote. In Red deer there is Bower ponds, in the early spring the large jacks are sunning themselfs in the third pond closest to the bridge. They use to stock it with rainbow trout, but with the river flooding into the ponds in the spring, they no longer feed the pike.