Sylvan Lake - 2019/2020 Report
Dec 11th …. Got out really early, we were the first group on ice, excited & hopeful, got set up & fished for over 1 hour, it was still dark & nothing! Finally, just after 8:00 got a small Walleye then seen a couple of Whites that showed little interest, then had a few come in and hit my W/W but no hook-ups, after that we caught a few more small Walleye but still no Whites. Finally Skantty caught our first White around 11:00ish, we only seen a few more moving around after lunch. We started seeing people leaving in the early afternoon, most likely disappointed, we packed it in at 3:00 with only the 1 White in the pail between 4 of us. It was a bit tough dragging your stuff on the lake, there’s at least 4-5” of powder snow, we could see a group of guys further out catching a few Whites in the morning, they were standing or sitting in chairs & looked cold covered in snow, a few of them were wearing a PFD’s, playing it safe. Couldn’t believe there were at least 3 vehicles that drove out from the Norglenwold lake access road, they were out quite a distance from shore most likely on 10” or less ice, crazy! Not a great start to the Whitefish hard water season, but tomorrow’s another day, going back out. The only White was caught on a Brass W/W with a red bead, this is the Brass W/W with a Glow Bead that I had a few Whites interested in, including a few Walleye. Hope your opening day was better than ours. EDIT: ... the best part of the day was the A/O company, we at least had a good time visiting & catching up since last year. D. https://i.imgur.com/hDqe5UM.jpg |
Yes it was a great day to be out with A/O friends. Seen alot but they just didn't want to bite. Pressure system that moved in? I don't know. But tomorrow is another day. Whites be very afraid, Zip the white slayer will be back![emoji226][emoji481][emoji12]
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Well others were out today and seemed to limit out, good luck
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X2. Hot bite from 9 till 11 took longer to drive to the lake than it did for 2 guys to catch a limit of whites. Kinda thin lookin fish but they brine faster that way. Good luck fellas. 7 to 9 inches of ice. Good hard ice.
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Thanks for the update Zip. Hopefully your next outing yields more fish landed.
I think this weekend after opening, I might try out Gull. |
Is pigeon still good for whites? Used to go there lots haven’t went in years.
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Good to read you guys limited out on Whites, you must of been at the right spot, our honey-hole at the Lighthouse area didn't produce. Cheers D. |
Dec 12th ..... Fishin buddies all had work & do other stuff, went back out solo to the Lighthouse area, was the first one on the ice just before 8:00 am and set up close to shore in 4 FOW. Moved 3 times, ended up 100 yds or more out on a gravel sand bar that produced lots of Whites last year. Watched a number of people come out with all there gear/tents and then pack up & start leaving at 11:00ish by 2:30 there was me and 2 tents remaining, I packed it up at 3:00 had enough. Another brutal day, seen 7 fish all day & caught 4 of them, 2 Walleye, 1 Pike & 1 White. That was better than most out today, everyone I spoke to didn't catch one & most didn't even see a fish. I keep a fishin diary, last year in these same spots I was fortunate to catch 29 whites over 7 days before my season ended on Dec. 20th, got a long ways to go to achieve that goal, but that's fishin, there are a lot of factors involved for a successful day. Walleye & Pike went for the 4 gr small Sebile Vibrato (Cdn Tire sell them), yesterday had a few Whites hit the chartreuse yellow W/W that's tied 10" above my Vibro, but no hook-ups. I swapped out the 2 treble's with smaller hooks, that the Whites can inhale, vibro calls them in for a look & the aggressive one's will hit it when it's lying down on the bottom & you twitch it. As well, I downsized my W/W today, was using a Daiichi Style 1530 #10 Wet/Nymph hook in Brass with gold glass bead, tipped with a Pink Mag. One improvement today that I really noticed was I had my 10" Jiffy and fishin 2-10" holes vs 2-8" holes the other day, I could see fish coming into my field of view earlier and was prepared for them. Fishin in shallow water you only have a split second to see them when their gill plates flare open ready to inhale your W/W, you have to be ready to set the hook. Having larger holes does make a difference when sight fishing. Last night we got another 3-4" of snow, it's snowing out now, that will make it more difficult hauling out your gear & don't forget to bring a shovel. Were off to Sunbreaker tomorrow with Scott & Scott, have a few spots to try, hopefully the forecast of some sun tomorrow. Good luck this weekend! A few pic's ..... cheers EDIT: In my first post I typed "Skantty" which s/b "Skawtty" .... sorry Scott, got it right, now. D. Nice Bottom in 4 FOW - See the W/W's https://i.imgur.com/hljv0aV.jpg Rock/sand Bar Bottom in 6-7 FOW https://i.imgur.com/ATlkKyV.jpg 4 gr Vibro & Chartreuse W/W https://i.imgur.com/dlaDHKq.jpg Brass W/W #1530 Sz 10 hook with gold glass bead. https://i.imgur.com/KRw0jrq.jpg |
Thanks for the great updates Zip. Always look forward to your posts as they are so informative. Hope ya have a lot better outing next time.
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If other forum members are planning to be at Sunbreaker tomorrow or possibly Sunday, perhaps we'll have a chance to meet/visit. Cheers D. |
Thanks for the update Zip, thought for sure you would nail em. See you tomorrow morning.
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I know this is probably a silly question but: Is there any way at all to catch whites on a tip-up? Anything that would make them swallow a tiny treble hook and move off?
I get one hell of a tension headache staring down a hole, to the point that I’ve basically give up any ice fishing that requires it. As a result there has been a conspicuous lack of candied whitefish in my house. Gonna have to try the old smack the little kastmaster into the bottom routine soon I guess |
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I'm sure someone here will be able to share something ... stay tuned. D. |
Dec 13th …. Drove by the Lighthouse Park this afternoon only 1 guy in red tent, he was gone by 3:00 pm. Decided to see what was happening in Norglenwold, drove down Sylvan Lane, the lake access road, it’s beat down like Hwy #2, drove on to the ice & took these pic’s. The Town Fire Chief, drove up & we had a chat, he confirmed the guys with the Holiday trailers are parked over 14-15 FOW on perhaps 10” ice, if you don’t feel like dragging your stuff out, this area may be an option this weekend. The smart guys are those who parked by shore, hope everyone parks far enough apart on the weekend so we don’t have a Lake Winnipeg, Balsam Bay repeat here.
A few pic’s taken after 3:00 pm today … is that you out there? D. https://i.imgur.com/d0k2LHV.jpg https://i.imgur.com/zYMckyb.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Wi9yFj4.jpg https://i.imgur.com/EBCT0nR.jpg https://i.imgur.com/83Krgyr.jpg Lake WPG, Balsam Bay - 12" ice 3 Trucks went in & this Trailer on Dec 7th, fortunately everyone got out. https://i.imgur.com/gqxNeeC.jpg |
Went out today caught 3 seen lots, game wardens were out in full force
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Yes I catch whites with jawjacker small tungsten jig tipped with Maggie
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3blade ... looks like you got your answer, invest in a couple JawJackers a few w/W & some bait and head out this week, sun will be out with above 0 temps, no better place to enjoy a sandwich & thermos of coffee or tea with some flavored X-Mass cheer out on the ice.
D. |
Dec 14 … finally it didn’t snow & the sun came out! Scott & I went out to Sunbreaker, loaded up the sled & walked out, there was 2 vehicles parked on the ice close to shore you could see the flood water in the tire tracks, I wouldn’t recommend it. We struggled pulling our gear out in at least 8-9” powder snow, it was a tough walk. Scott from Sundre & his Father-IL joined us, between the 4 of us, we must of drilled 50+ holes, ice was about 10”, we continuously moved from 4-5 FOW to 12-13 FOW, working a couple of drops we fished during the summer, we seen all of our Whites in the deeper water, they were cruising anywhere from 3-4 feet under the ice to 6-8 feet off the bottom, very few would hit our presentations & no hookups. Fortunately, a few Walleye were hanging around otherwise it was another one of those days.
There were quite a few groups/tents out everyone was in shallow, people started to leave just after lunch & for those remaining most everyone was moving out to deeper water in the afternoon. Noticed with all the snow, the water level was right at the top of the ice starting to cause some flood water everywhere we fished. Ice conditions will be a mess with the flood water, all the snow and warm temps later this week. If you were out at Sunbreaker today, hope you did well. No Pic’s my camera battery died. Cheers D. |
Whites on the jawjacker
I also have caught whites on a jawjacker.
Some tips that may help. Do not let your line freeze or even partially freeze in, they are usually lite biters. Any resistance and the hook is usually dropped. I often use mine inside a heated tent or use it in later March. Use the lightest trip tension setting possible and also use the lowest rod angle. They have soft mouths, you don't want to rip any bites out. And I always use maggots with the jawjacker. It seems to seal the deal on a stationary hook. As for hooks, most of my production comes from wireworms but have gotten a few on very small spoons like the very smallest Williams wobbler, gold or silver are favorite colors. Whatever you use keep them SHARP! Hope some of this helps you out. Good luck |
Zip, thought this was the day for your group. Next time, get em!
I was over at Gull. I thought heading over to Sylvan when I had to turn back from bush whacking to try and get to a spot... Went to Brownlows eventually. Didn't wet a line thought until 10:30. 10 inches of ice. Lots of vehicles out. 50/50 walked or drove. I walked since they plough right to the permanent shacks. Great day! Multi-species and almost caught a big, big pike. Perfect weather. Everyone was very socialable. Just an overall grand day to be out. May whites soon crowd your hook :) |
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D. |
Dec 15th …. Went out with Scott to the Norglenwold area, lots of people out, we finally found some active Whites in the shallows. Scott caught 2 Walleye, between us we got 5 Whites, should of had another 5, they were aggressive for about 1.5 hour and then starting coming in & turning at the last moment, then around 11:00 they just turned right off, we didn’t see anymore & departed at 1:00 pm just too many people. Scott caught the biggest, a nice fatty, on a Brass W/W with 2 Orange Beads, did an autopsy on the two largest, you’ll be surprised with the contents in their gut. We caught them on every color W/W’s in the pic’s below but Red they hit Red but no hook-ups, bright brass was the hot color, it resembled the fresh water shrimp, the dark colors represented the black scuds, we never used green, maybe it was my Green Glow Bead that attracted them, was surprised to see that many Caddis Larva Grubs & Houses in them. If you make your own W/W, these are the critters you should consider duplicating.
It’s been a tough week, today I even got a little excited when I got two Whites in the pail five minutes apart. Forecast tomorrow is a sunny day, may have to try this again. A few pics …. Cheers D. Norglenwold today there’s less than 10” ice ... is that you ? https://i.imgur.com/oGHf0UM.jpg Morning was Productive until 11:00 am https://i.imgur.com/V1SdHUP.jpg Largest was Female & didn’t Totally Spawn Out. https://i.imgur.com/2JwLLSg.jpg Interesting Autopsy Results of the Two Largest https://i.imgur.com/IS52eqE.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Pop80Rb.jpg https://i.imgur.com/8XEgccB.jpg https://i.imgur.com/pUN4pZL.jpg Nice Boneless Fillets for Supper https://i.imgur.com/cyvJVOQ.jpg These Worked Today. https://i.imgur.com/mvFdfiZ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/BSRnpSx.jpg |
thank you for sharing
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Nice work Zip and Scott!!
Glad you got em. Nice once too. Interesting on the back swimmer as well. I'll have to try fly fishing them with just a back swimmer on. Could be a fun time come next Sept. |
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Cheers D. |
Dec 16th .... went out solo to the same area we had some success yesterday. It was cold this morning -21 plus wind -26, my feet got a bit cold until the sun came out and then turned out to be a nice day. Seen 9 Whites all day, they were back to they're old neutral behavior, come it for a look, bumped the W/W or turn away & swim along side it, only caught 2 small Whites that inhale my Brass with gold glass bead & Brown Cat 5 with green glow bead. Also caught 2 Walleye, seen a 4-5 LB Pike staring at my Candy Cane W/W, pulled it up didn't want to slime/stink up my shed. Not many people perhaps it was due to the cold temps. Taking tomorrow off, forecast is warm but very windy, not great for fishin a front is moving in. D. |
This is coming from my fly fishing background but matching the hatch is a good term. A size 12 weighted olive scud and orange size 10 scud might produce more strikes in this case. As looking at what they are after is shrimp. Just somthing I would try.
Gbuss |
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Keep the updates coming Zip, the hard work will pay off.
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