new to the area...

[brendan85]

hey hows it going? im originally from bc and now live in lethbridge. i have never fished in alberta but am curious as to what my options are around lethbridge. ive done some reading on here and have been reading a bit about keho and chin?? are those my best two bets? what all do they have there? and is there decent fishing from shore? in bc i have fished for different types of trout, kokanee, and bass but never fished for pike or walleye which seems to be the majority around there. any help, tips, or advice is greatly appreciated. thanks in advance.

[jts1]

First of all welcome to the forum. you will find a great bunch of people on here that are willing to help out a lot. You may want to start with taking a look at my google fishing map. Its something that I started for myself but has since turned into a monster with locations added by anglers such as your self.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=109989949620658513257.000460bc65a4b7b08b43a&z=5

If at some time you wish to add locations to the map let me know and I can send you another link that will allow you to do just that. Any questions just send me a PM. Good luck and stay safe out there

[npauls]

Hey brendan if you would like to get out during the summer I can show you around the area. I fly fish for trout around the area as well as fish as many of the southern alberta lakes as possible. I have a big boat for the big lakes and a little aluminum for anywhere else. Along with that I also have a couple pairs of waders, 2 belly boats, and a pontoon boat. As well I have all the gear anyone ever needs to fish for anything around here. I am in my mid 20's and work all week 8-5 and fish after work and all weekend every weekend possible. pm me if you are looking to get out anywhere around here for any kind of fish and I will do my best to help you hook some.


Nate

[brendan85]

thanks alot to both of you. im going to head to wholesale sports tomorrow, i need to try to find a book with the fishing regulations... ive got one for bc but that doesnt much help me here, haha. id really like to get out tomorrow but i dont know whats open and whats not, dont know any regs so i want to make sure im doing it right.

in bc for regions 4 and 9 i believe it is (region 4 is my home area) there is a "fishing mapbook" by "backroad mapbooks" and i absolutely love that book. tells mean depth and max depths, what fish are there, what to use for what time of year ect. has anyone seen anything like that around here?

[Mudslide]

Welcome to Alberta and welcome to the forum. Buy a copy of this years "Barry Mitchell Alberta Fishing Guide". It has most lakes and ponds listed with the types of fish that are in them as well as directions. Good Alberta specific articles as well.

[brendan85]

so i looked up the fishing regs online.. apparently keho and chin are closed til may 7th??? that sucks... i was really looking forward to trying to catch something big!! haha. anyone know anywhere else around lethbridge that hold big fish, pretty much anytype?? henderson or nicholas sheran have anything worth fishing? theyre both open all year around.

[brendan85]

seen some pics at wholesale sports of some decent size fish coming out of nicholas sheran... any tips? going to hit it in the morning.

[Gary K]

I'm pretty sure the lethbridge university pond is open year round. My buddy has pulled some nice pike outa there mostly little buggers though

[jesse34567]

when in BC did you frequent the bc bass fishing fourm?

also pike and walleye are the main traget fish in alberta, i wish they would stock some bass :cry:

[brendan85]

i left bc and its fishing end of august. i plan to fish there all yr too.

[nicemustang]

Lots of great places to fish down there, do you have a boat?

[brendan85]

unfortunately i dont... i did alot of fishing in a canoe actually, ive got family and friends who have boats. i also enjoy fishing the elk river, deffinately some nice fish in there.

[brendan85]

so im pretty sure i dont know how to fish in alberta, id like to just blame it on the wind but it might just be me... went out 3 times now, not for a long time but for a bit each time and have been skunked with the exception to one nice rainbow out at lee lake, never have i went fishing back home and been skunked 3 times in a row.

[jts1]

Dont let it get to you my friend. Ther are some great fishing locations around your area. Keep on slinging that rod.

[brendan85]

ya, its just a matter of learning to fish a new species and learning the new areas and lakes. last summer was the first summer i ever tried to fish for bass and i went nose to the grind stone and i was catching more and bigger bass than alot of the locals even said was possible, a lake that supposedly had small ammount of bass and even the ones in there were small and not worth fishing and i was pulling out all kinds of bass up to 5-6lbers.. hopefully ill do as well with the pike and walleye of alberta!! i cant wait til may 7th to hit up chin and keho!

[flygirrl]

so im pretty sure i dont know how to fish in alberta, id like to just blame it on the wind but it might just be me... went out 3 times now, not for a long time but for a bit each time and have been skunked with the exception to one nice rainbow out at lee lake, never have i went fishing back home and been skunked 3 times in a row.
From what Im told Alberta and B.C. are no comparison. The fishing in B.C. will spoil you. I have never fished in B.C. and Im afraid to because I'll just have to move there.

[hard_azz]

ya, its just a matter of learning to fish a new species and learning the new areas and lakes. last summer was the first summer i ever tried to fish for bass and i went nose to the grind stone and i was catching more and bigger bass than alot of the locals even said was possible, a lake that supposedly had small ammount of bass and even the ones in there were small and not worth fishing and i was pulling out all kinds of bass up to 5-6lbers.. hopefully ill do as well with the pike and walleye of alberta!! i cant wait til may 7th to hit up chin and keho!
sorry brendan but the quote button on here wouldnt work for me but anyways... i love fishin the elk river down around fernie. the girlfriend is from down there and i will find any excuse possible to go see her family (as strange as that may sound lol) but anyone who has fished down there would understand... the first time i ever took fished there i took the fly rod and pulled in 2 cutthroats that were each over 3 pounds... needless to say i was amazed.... this spring i have bin tryin to find some good bass fishin within an hour of fernie since i have never caught a bass (born and raised albertan haha) but is hard to tell how good a lake is just by lookin at the reg's book... i would be happy to trade some of my pike and walleye tactics with ya in return for some bass hotspots.... send me a PM

[brendan85]

pretty sure my next fishing trip will be to bc... gotta go catch something and re gain my fishing confidence haha.

[walleyechaser]

brendan85, when may 8th comes there is a lot of great waleye fishing, chin, ridge reservoir, all very close to lethbridge. Both reservoirs do not take much to catch many fish from the shore, some evenings at either resrvoir me and a couple buddies caught way over 50 fish sometimes closer to 100. As for right now, might want to try Mcvinnie trout pond, here good things about it too. send me a pm and i would be of any assistance that I can about the area even though I have not been here too long myself (5 years)

[brendan85]

yes i deffinately cant wait til may 8th!!

[npauls]

I am hoping to get both boats out this weekend brendan so I will keep in touch and we will see how the weather looks. There is a few lakes I would like to get out to and see how things are going. From may 8th all the way until august 28 I am booked up every weekend with fishing somewhere around southern alberta so im sure we will get together for a few good walleye trips.


Nate

[brendan85]

o for sure. too bad the weather did what it did.. supposedly thursday it will be nice for a few days. i think im going to head to bc on saturday though, go hit up some big bulltrout, rainbow, and of course... LARGEMOUTH BASS!!! i cant wait!

[npauls]

oh how I wish I could get for some bass. One thing I need to do this year for sure.

[brendan85]

come this weekend... two and a half hour drive... small boat, electric kicker... GOOD TO GO!!

[noslack]

From what Im told Alberta and B.C. are no comparison. The fishing in B.C. will spoil you. I have never fished in B.C. and Im afraid to because I'll just have to move there.

I'm with you FlyGirrl!!

It does spoil you!

I went to BC for the first time couple years ago. I spent a week fishing on the Island then a week while I was staying in North Van.


We fished Rivers, Creeks, Ponds and Lakes. The fishing out there is just amazing!!! Not too mention the scenery. You can't find an ugly spot in BC.

I'm a trout junkie, spending most of my time fishing for Brookies. Either chasing them in Algonquin Park or out of the Sainte-Marguerite River in the Saguenay, Quebec area.


I moved from Ottawa and my goal is to Live in BC. So far I've made to Slave Lake...I'm almost there....

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v317/231/89/515011506/n515011506_1136731_7035.jpg

[npauls]

just for the day or what? do you have access to a boat? Would my 17 footer be a good sized boat or should I just stick to the 12 footer? If we took the 17 footer then I could get 4 of us in it and cruise around. I will talk to my fishing partner and see if he wants to head out there for the day.


Nate

[brendan85]

sounds good. it can be for the day or for the weekend, whichever. you got my number. either boat would be fine, the 12' would be better for all the smaller lakes around there. the bigger one would be better for trolling koocanusa though. we will talk later.

[jesse34567]

Have you fished lake windermere I am heading there next weekened want to know how the bass fishing is there

[brendan85]

no i have not fished out there. theres enough lakes around though that if it sucks there you probably wont have to drive too far to find a good hole.

[brendan85]

jts1, thanks again for the link to that fishing map...

[brendan85]

AS IF!!! drove to bc today and was all excited to do some bass fishing and totally forgot my bass box in lethbridge!!!! i cant believe it did that.

[brendan85]

still no pike!!! then again, i havnt really been out at all in alberta.. somewhat gave up on it... in bc now and caught around 20 or so rainbow trout today with my boy... man i miss fishing in bc!!!

[brendan85]

well finally got back out and CAUGHT SOMETHING!!! i cant believe i was skunked so many times. got a little confidence back, hopefully thats all i need now ahah. ive been hearing about sturgeon around the lethbridge area? can anyone shine some light on that? and what do i need to do to be catching some monster pike? where do i go, what do i use, can it be done from shore? ive heard alot about chin.