Ice Fishing Spray Lakes

[Mish]

How is the fishing out there? I can't seem to find anything in Google other than guided trips. I've heard there's decent trout coming out of that lake. I'm looking for something easy to get to as I have a small car with snow tires and I don't always have someone with me to push the car if I get stuck

[tchow]

You won't have to worry about getting stuck on Spray as there is no Vehicles allowed on there. For that matter, any Motorized Vehciles allowed on unless you know the CO there and hitch a ride from them..LOL

There are various places which people park and hike into the Lake. Haven't been up there this year yet but they plow the roads regularly. Lots of people go on that road for Icefishing, Cross-Country Skiing, etc..

[Mish]

That's good to know! Is it a long hike?

[tchow]

Depends on what depth you fish. Normally have to go a 1/2 km from vehicle to get into water about 30 ft+ There is a parking lot that some park at and walk on. Again anywhere from a couple hundred yards to ....
There will usually be people out there fishing. Hike isn't that bad, as whenever I go, I got a 10" Gas Auger, lots of Electronics on the Sled. This lake can get windy at times and nice to be out of the wind...
I've heard that fishing has been pretty good with average 1-2 lber being caught. There is big hogs in there, but hard to find. If you have a Flasher that will assist greatly. The Lakers can be found anywhere in the water column. Some work their Lures down 10'ft, Jig it and drop down another 10" Same thing done when bringing it up.

As for the Lake, it is fairly long and slender. Running North to South in the Mountains. Fantastic scenery if you haven't been thru there before.

[Pearl]

I went ice fishing for the first time in Alberta at Spray Lakes last weekend. The road from Canmore is good - no problem if you have snowtires. Made the mistake of hiking from the road out to the lake not using a set trail so the snow was really deep. I was with a friend and we used an ice tent and burned a hole in the seat with the coleman heater (we placed the heater under the seat). Just thought I'd mention it since you were asking about heaters in another link. I wouldn't go without a power auger. The ice was a couple of feet thick. Caught a 3 pound lake trout at 60 feet depth. Aren't allowed to use minnows and we forgot the smelts but used a squid type lures. Had several other bites and a great day. Let me know if you are going out again - and we need to hook up with a power auger.

[Mish]

Sounds great to me, Pearl. All I have is a hand auger. Why aren't you allowed minnows out there but you're allowed smelts?

[Pearl]

I am going to look on the buy/sell forum for a power auger. Minnows are considered a bait fish, smelts are not. There is a bait fish restriction at Spray Lakes. However, you can use maggots as bait for whitefish - we got a few nibbles.

[Pearl]

I couldn't find a power auger on this site but I'll post a want thread. I posted on UsedCalgary.com.

[theduke]

Originally Posted by Pearl

I couldn't find a power auger on this site but I'll post a want thread. I posted on UsedCalgary.com.

hey pearl, costco had some augers for sdale about a month ago for around 250ish and the are awesome they are eskimos i bought one and it seems better them my buddies 3hp top of the line jiiffy he got for 500 and its only a 1.8hp mine and mish as for spray lakes the fishing isnt to bad its hit and miss some days are good and some are so bad, 2 weeks ago my cus went up and caught a few lakers and a brown on olives believe it or not

[Outt and Aboutt]

Hi Mish
To save you part of the painful process of deciphering new regulations, the regulations refer to 'baitfish' not in the context of the kind of fish what we fisher(wo)men use for bait, but in the biological context of the natural fauna of small 'baitfish' in a body of water. Thus, when the regs say that 'baitfish' are prohibited, it means you can't use the type of fish that you would expect to see living in the lakes and streams of alberta as bait (minnows, darters, etc). However this does not include saltwater species of little fish that we would use for bait, such as smelts etc. (it took me a while to make that connection when I first moved here).

Obviously, baitfish are prohibited for use in lakes/streams where there is a danger of introducing an unwanted species. But as long as bait itself is not prohibited, you could use a saltwater species for which there is no possibility of them surviving (although they still have to be dead in the first place). So on Spray, 'baitfish' are prohibited (minnows, darter, etc), but bait is not, so you could use saltwater fish as bait, or worms, maggots, scented lures, etc.
The regs specify clearly the types of fish that are considered 'baitfish' and the kinds that are not. I forget which page, but it's not hard to find.
If that's half as clear as the water at Spray then it should be helpful.

ps Don't miss a chance to go fishing at Spray. It's an incredibly beautiful place (but windy as they get a lot of the time, be prepared).

D

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by theduke

hey pearl, costco had some augers for sdale about a month ago for around 250ish and the are awesome they are eskimos i bought one and it seems better them my buddies 3hp top of the line jiiffy he got for 500 and its only a 1.8hp mine and mish as for spray lakes the fishing isnt to bad its hit and miss some days are good and some are so bad, 2 weeks ago my cus went up and caught a few lakers and a brown on olives believe it or not

Thank you- I'll check out Costco

Fishing with olives - I think someone had vodka martinis in their thermos

[theduke]

Originally Posted by Pearl

Thank you- I'll check out Costco

Fishing with olives - I think someone had vodka martinis in their thermos

gotta have some fun while u wait for the fish to bite

[redneckflyfisher]

is there any lakes near Calgary that have trout I want to do some ice fishing and sick of fishing for pike