Icefishing Ghost Lake (Reservior)?
 

Hey everyone,

My buddy and I are going to be having a trip to Ghost Reservoir west of Cochrane in January. I was wondering if people have had luck there before?
It says in the BM Alberta Fishing Guide that there is good winter fishing for trout.

Thanks

I have not heard of anyone ever having any luck there in recent years.

I do really well on Lake trout in December. Nice 3-5 lb average, several per trip. January.... slow for me...

That is the harddest lake on the planet to fish. I am sure more than a few on here would agree. I sure do wish you the best out there, But my suggestion is find another lake. Many a good fishermem has left that place empty handed.

Thanks for that, I haven't heard of many people fishing that lake, so that is good to know!! Is it hard to fish there because of it being such a big lake, or is it just over-fished?

It's because no fish and huge movements. There are fish there, just tough to pattern. Lots of ice heaves as well, that can be tough to get around as well. I have a spot that produces well early early ice but scarey as heck to get there. Down by the church in spring is good for burbs at night.

Huh, that's good to know, that lake caught my eye in the BM fishing guide because it had diverse fish population. which makes sense because of the river that flows into it. I really want to target char and trout this year and it looked like the perfect lake.

if ur looking for char hit up spray lakes great spot to hook into lots of lakers

Don't go, it has been so over fished, people keep every dam fish they catch in there. I used to fish it for year but it has been destroyed, as soon as the ice comes it turns into catch and keep season

Spray? Yes, I have seen and heard videos, stories, and documents about it, and a lot of people have over-fished that lake. It's really sad, we don't have many oliogotrophic lakes left with a good population of trout.

Somehow I doubt that. I only ever fished the top once, but downstream and upstream there is alot of fish.

I think this is exactly why.

Ghost Lake is exteremely over fished and should be turned into catch and relase only

Was a time
 

Several years ago a good friend and his brothers kept a shanty on the ice and had done so for several years. They gave up when they scattered to follow the work. However, they fished for whites and rainbows off the north shore about a kilometer west of the sailing club @ the parking lot.
Also, I have seen thousands of whitefish a couple of miles up up the Ghost River arm while boating but I don't know if there is winter access on the road that heads north past the private marina, or even if that part of the reservoir is open to angling.
Pressure ridges in the ice make this lake a dangerous place to drive and I know a couple of guys that have mistakenly driven over these fault lines and done some pretty serious damage to the front ends of their 4X4's. Not to mention the RCMP, fire trucks, ambulance and media types that arrive with the tow-truck.
You might think about a day at Gap Lake, a little further west past Exshaw. There is some seriously big browns in there. Stay in the shallow water just off from the last picnic table and be patient. Have pulled out or seen 5-8 lb trout there. There is always open water on this pond due to the winds howling thru' the gap so go easy! Never had any luck at Grotto pond,but it is a stocked pond and there used to be arctic char. Some years ago.
Hope this helps, Albertafisher.

Ghost lake
 

A appropiate name for the lake now a days, i have fished this lake for almost thirty years now, and have seen a large decress in fish over the last 7 to 10 years on the lake, dont get me wrong there are the odd large one in there but nothing like there was over the years. the number of fish spawning ie sucks and white fish has decressed greatly over the last few years ie this spring the suckers that spawn usualy in the Hundreds was a total of a hundred this year, and as others have posted catch and keep is true have reported lots of people through report a poacher over the years, now with the popularity growing for boaters and recreation on the lake with the future of over three hundred cabins coming to the lake the traffic will increase and i believe the fishing will suffer greatly on the lake, so if your comeing down in jan to fish wish you the best of luck.

Thanks you two that really helps! Big browns at Gap Lake eh? sounds fun, I'm sure I'll give it a try this year!
Cheers

Gap / Grotto
 

I too was told about big Browns in Gap Lake So I have spent the last few years trying to get one. And I mean trying I have spent many an hr on that lake, both from shore and from my pontoon boat. I have had a few fish but never have I seen a Brown of anysize to talk about. In fact the fish are few and far between. As for Grotto it is stocked with small rainbows I have never gone there for hard water. They are just pan sized fish and it gets a lot of pressure. I dont think there would be many fish left in there and the few that are will winter kill.