Hello/ Muir from shore

[carterM]

First off, hello!!

I've been reading these boards for the better part of a year and figured I'd sign up and join the community. There's alot of people on here who have a great deal of information and I'd like to add to it when I can. Considering 90%the fishing I've done in my life involved either trolling spoons for pike or going for whites through the ice, that probably isn't going to be much...but I'll chip in where I can.

Anyways, I'm looking for some help. I'm planning on heading out for the first time this year to try out the fly rod/reel I got for xmas, either this afternoon or tomorrow but I'm not sure where to go as it sounds like most of the smaller ponds around Edmonton are pretty dead and probably not stocked yet. The one place that sounds like it might have some life to it is Muir.

I've never been out there. Is it fishable from shore or do you need a boat? And would my efforts maybe be better elsewhere? I'm not looking to keep anything so size or special limits don't matter to me (other than it being open of course).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and sorry about the wall of text...

[vettedreamer]

welcome to the forum Carter :):sHa_shakeshout:

[TrollGRG]

The shore at Muir is not the greatest for fishing. You can get the fly out no problem and even land the fish but it is very difficult to release it (and you have to unless it is over 50 cm).

The problem is the mud and loon sheet. You can't really get close to the water. If you do, you end up stuck in the mud - been there not fun.

You can always fish from the dock. Good fishing and easy to release the fish.

Welcome and good luck.

[WayneChristie]

welcome to the forum

[vcmm]

Wecome

[sureshot]

Welcome to the family.

Andy

[Kokanee9]

Hello Carter!

Might not be a bad idea to put your location in your profile. It makes it easier if you have a post which may relate to your location or if you put something in the "for sale" section for other people to respond.

[Dust1n]

welcome

[Jwood 456]

Welcome to the forum Carter. There is much great helpful info to be shared around here and there are also many great storys and photos to be shared on here as well.

Hope you have a great time on here and also, good luck at Muir lake.

[lifesaflyin]

muir lake is horrible for shore fishing. but if you bring rubber boots, this time of year when the water level is high the shore fishing is decent. after the level drops a bit than you will find knee deep mud and you wont be able to find your boots.

[Granrey]

muir lake is horrible for shore fishing. but if you bring rubber boots, this time of year when the water level is high the shore fishing is decent. after the level drops a bit than you will find knee deep mud and you wont be able to find your boots.

oops, I wonder if there is a good place to fish close to Edmonton then. Muir was my last hope.

[Ace]

East Pit by Wabamun is a great place to fish from shore and try your fly rod. Lots of space and you can get to deeper water with every cast.

The only question is did it winterkill or not.

The benefit of Muir is it's aerated and the fish survived the winter.

See ya
Ace

[Doc]

The four best trout lakes to fish from shore close to Edmonton are Cardiff, Morinville res, Eastpit and Vegreville. The question is, did they winter kill? As far as Muir, you can find a decent spot to cast near the Beaver house in the far bay to the right of the dock (at least it used to be). Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Doc

[carterM]

Thanks for the replies guys. I think I'll have to give one of the lakes Doc mentioned a try tomorrow. I was trying to avoid them because it seemed like they'd probably winterkilled this year with all the snow and the late spring. But hey, fishing in a potentially dead lake is better than not fishing at all. :)

[lifesaflyin]

oops, I wonder if there is a good place to fish close to Edmonton then. Muir was my last hope.

well right now muir should be decent from shore. last year I caught a 22" fat bugger from shore....twice. you can see them swimming in the shallows like 8" deep and 8 feet from shore. last year at this time they were slurping on blue duns and blue wing olives like crazy. they are picky so bring a well stocked box of flies:)

[Daceminnow]

The four best trout lakes to fish from shore close to Edmonton are Cardiff, Morinville res, Eastpit and Vegreville. The question is, did they winter kill? As far as Muir, you can find a decent spot to cast near the Beaver house in the far bay to the right of the dock (at least it used to be). Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Doc

what about Spring Doc, does it still not fish well? the edmonton trout fishing club has property there, and i'm thinking for good reason. you should look at a membership carter. it has some great benefits, including unlimited access to their property @ Spring. would be a great way to meet a bunch of like minded folk as well.

Dace

[ironbutterfly]

I popped down to muir on friday and I can say this. You can fish from shore but like was said, release is difficult because if you get close enough you'll sink knee deep. Vegetation also makes it difficult but early in the year it's easier.

As for the fishing report, muir was quite quiet fish wise-when i went. Lots of people out but no one seemed to hook into anything except the osprey which pulled out a maybe 12 inch fish and flew off. I did see one or two dead fish along the shore but it was far far quieter than the same time last year.

[J-C]

Carter,
You could always try the NSR - North Sasketchewan River if you're looking to get a line wet. Fishing might be tough but they are in there.

[fishinggeek]

Muir lake had partial winterkill. I was out last night and walked the bank, saw at least 10 dead rainbows ranging from 1-5lbs just from walking on shore. And compaired to last year the action is SLOW. I did manage 2, one was 18 inch and the other 21inch. Last year i managed 4 times that each night.

[carterM]

Carter,
You could always try the NSR - North Sasketchewan River if you're looking to get a line wet. Fishing might be tough but they are in there.

Ya I'm planning on giving that a shot a little later in the year. I want to try and find some goldeye in there. I remember them being a whole bunch of fun. But I thought the river was a little high and fast right now for that.

[Albertafisher]

Carter,
You could always try the NSR - North Sasketchewan River if you're looking to get a line wet. Fishing might be tough but they are in there.

Oh yeah. Goldeye on the fly. Good stuff!

Yeah, update on Muir, a lot has been winter-killed. Huge dead fish are beached on shore, but there are still a few rising. We tried spin-casting and Flycasting, from boat and shore. Nothing was caught.

[NBFK]

What about salters? Isn't it aerated out by onoway?

[Paul C]

The four best trout lakes to fish from shore close to Edmonton are Cardiff, Morinville res, Eastpit and Vegreville. The question is, did they winter kill? As far as Muir, you can find a decent spot to cast near the Beaver house in the far bay to the right of the dock (at least it used to be). Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Doc
What about Salters, Spring, Star ?

[Paul C]

The four best trout lakes to fish from shore close to Edmonton are Cardiff, Morinville res, Eastpit and Vegreville. The question is, did they winter kill? As far as Muir, you can find a decent spot to cast near the Beaver house in the far bay to the right of the dock (at least it used to be). Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Doc
What about Salters, Spring, Star, Chickaroo, Sauer ?

[carterM]

So I did a bit of a tour today. Started and finished at Cardiff, but visited Muir, Chickakoo and East Pit along the way. A god awful bunch of driving but still a great day. Surprisingly, the only place I saw any dead fish was at Muir...the only one with an aerator. Standing on the dock I could see 3. I went for a bit of a walk along the bank to the right of the dock and saw several more.

Muir was also the only place I saw any evidence of live fish though... A few rising but not much else.

Chickakoo is a beautiful lake and I definately want to get back there later in the year. Great spot for a day with the girlfriend.

All in all a pretty good day, even if it was fishless. The rod works great...the change from a Berkley Cherrywood to a TFO is pretty amazing. It was just nice to get out of the city.

[Slannesh]

That's quite disappointing about the Muir winterkill. I was planning on hitting there tomorrow myself. Plans this weekend didn't go as originally scripted :)

I really hope it was just a partial kill, I love that lake early in the season.

[Doc]

What about Salters, Spring, Star, Chickaroo, Sauer ?

The poster asked for lakes with good fishing from shore to try out his new fly rod. The lakes you mention above can all be fly fished from shore but for one reason or another (Star=lack of space when shore angler pressure is heavy, Chickakoo=not much room for back casts on most of the lake, etc...) but the lakes I listed are pretty easy to fly fish from shore at any time.

[Penner]

Are the water levels up at Muir, Chickakoo, etc?

[BGSH]

why doesnt alberta have any deep lakes, even these small pothole lakes should be 60 feet deep, other lakes in canada never winterkill becasue there small lakes are 60 feet deep, such a shame that every year its gonna be the same thing called winterkill,

yes you can fish from shore, i have caught my biggest fish at muir lake from shore but more fish from a pontoon boat, make sure you are wearing knee deep boats, and you are fishing in a spot where you can release a fish safely, thats if there are any left.

[BGSH]

http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x395/shawnsami/001-1.jpg
http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x395/shawnsami/022-1.jpg

well as you can see, its really muddy you will sink like quicksand, but you can find spots for safe release :)

[Slannesh]

Took the boat out last night, there is some winterkill on the shallower side with the dock and action was slow, but we did get a few hits.