Spray Lakes

[davis77]

Hey guys i was thinking on heading up to spray lakes on sunday morning. ive never fished up there during the winter. i was wondering if anyone is having any luck up there or if anyone has any tips where to fish on the lake an what to use. i no where the boat launch is up there, so if you have any directions could you reference them from there.

thanks

[CanadianEh]

Not sure if you know or not, but at Spray or the Kananaskis Lakes, you cannot drive on the ice with any vehicle (atv or skidoo included) Gotta cart everything out by hand or sled.

I have heard the lakers there enjoy feasting on White tubes, Check the regs, but I do believe bait is allowed on Spray, just no minnows use smelts instead.

sorry dont have much in the way of advice for that lake though. :confused:

[reelhooker]

it's easy to find fish, go to the same 50'square feet as the other 20 shacks.
lol jj. But I usually have decent luck about 150 to 200 yards straight out from the boat launch. Alot of guys have luck with small chunks of smelt.
Good luck and tight lines.

[5Weight]

Hey Davis,

I've been up there many times (see my thumbnail picture). I've found there's no place on Spray that stands out as better than anywhere else. The Driftwood boat launch is easiest to access the lake, but you can pretty much park anywhere along the lake and walk out. Some places are more of a hike than others though.

For what it's worth, here's my advice:

- get out early, like first light early. Usually the action is best first thing in the morning and then tails off as the hours go by.

- be prepared for mountain weather. You could have an awesome day with little wind, but, more often than not, you'll be blown around a little/lot.

- White tube jigs and buzz bombs are what I use almost exclusively. Tip them with the head of a smelt (other posts are spot on, no baitfish, so don't use minnows). I've hear others have success by tying a fly to their line as well, but that has never worked for me.

- try and walk at least half way to 2/3 way across the ice to the other side of the lake. That's the deepest part. I've had my luck in 100 ish feet of water.

- Try fishing at different depths. The lakers seem to enjoy cruising all throughout the water column. I've caught them down close to bottom, and as high up as 10' under the ice. What I usually do though, is have one rod 6' off bottom, and the other about 20' off bottom.

Good luck.

5W

[tchow]

I changed plans and will be heading Westward for Spray. I'll be toting a Blue Clam 2 Man Nanook and plan to launch at Driftwood.
Lakers can be found at different levels of the water column, so a Flasher would be a great assistance. As mentioned by others, Jig with Smelt is common setup there. Buzz Bombs, Airplane Jigs, Jigging Raps tipped with Smelt can produce also.
There is an old river channel there and lots of Lakers feed in there. If you catch a Laker and it coughs up pinkish Shrimp, you're on the spot...
Can be windy at times so Heater and Shelter will make your outing more comfortable.

[Elliot Moose]

Took my son up there today. Got there a bit late, so no luck. He had a couple of bites but couldn't hook them (hey, he's 10 after all). Should have gone farther across the lake I guess.

A fine time was had by all, and we will be back. Next time we'll get up earlier and bring our Newfie--that should help!:)

[Fisher_man#1]

Had a good day out at Spray today aswell, caught around 9 lakers and landed 6 of them. Keep the 3 biggest all in the 20'ies. Small jigging spoon with a smelt head was the ticket, over half way across lake in some very deep water, anywhere from 2-20 feet of bottem the fish were caught. Most fish hit on the drop.

Cheers