Badger Lake

[Bear7001]

Hello,

Thinking of heading to Badger this coming weekend. Wondering if anyone has been there lately and how the fishing is? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

[Brovacs]

I've found the fishing to be generally slowing down over the last couple weeks as the mid winter lull sets in. Lots of small to medium pike around but the bite is not crazy aggressive or consistent. Fish seem to move in slow on the Livescope and stare at the bait for a while before deciding to commit or move along. Jig and minnow and the deadsticks are far out producing more active baits like spoons, swimbaits, rattlebaits etc. I've fished 15+ days between this year and last year and so far haven't caught or seen any really big pike on the Livescope or aqua vu set near big deadbait. Caught a 36.25 and a 34" last March but that's not really anything to write home about. The big ones are in there but they seem to be few and far between compared to 10-15 years ago.

Ice access from the north end or the boat launch is good and not much snow on the ice. Last weekend there was 17-20" of ice so plenty to drive on.

[Bear7001]

Awesome Thank you. Will be heading there Saturday.

[DiehardFishingMan]

Thank you for this valuable information! Did you see any Lake whitefish on the Livescope? I am thinking of fishing for whitefish in this lake.

Originally Posted by Brovacs

I've found the fishing to be generally slowing down over the last couple weeks as the mid winter lull sets in. Lots of small to medium pike around but the bite is not crazy aggressive or consistent. Fish seem to move in slow on the Livescope and stare at the bait for a while before deciding to commit or move along. Jig and minnow and the deadsticks are far out producing more active baits like spoons, swimbaits, rattlebaits etc. I've fished 15+ days between this year and last year and so far haven't caught or seen any really big pike on the Livescope or aqua vu set near big deadbait. Caught a 36.25 and a 34" last March but that's not really anything to write home about. The big ones are in there but they seem to be few and far between compared to 10-15 years ago.

Ice access from the north end or the boat launch is good and not much snow on the ice. Last weekend there was 17-20" of ice so plenty to drive on.

[rafhone]

There will be white fish in badger lake, but its not really a white fish lake. Good luck.

[Brovacs]

I did see some Whitefish on the livescope. There isn't nearly as many around as Sylvan/Gull/Pigeon/MacGregor but I've caught a few over the years. I had one day earlier this year where all of a sudden the bite turned on mid afternoon and I caught 4 in about 20 min on a 2.5" rattlebait and a jig and minnow.

What I was most amazed by was how many micro perch there are in Badger. It's super cool to scan around and watch the big schools of perch be pushed around and scattered by the bigger predators. It made me hopeful that there was probably some bigger perch schooled up together somewhere. Spent tons of hours searching all over the lake and never found anything worthwhile. Caught a couple 7" and one 9" after sorting through tons of micros.

[calgarygringo]

I havent neen lately but we always went home with a few whites at the NW end just off the islands.

[Fradaburidi]

I saw them in the fall.
I went after them at the beginning of January but without any luck.

I didn't fish too long, the ice was continuously making noises, it might have been around 6'' if I remember correctly. While I was moving to another spot it cracked a few feet in front of me, the wind started to blow, no bites, so I left. On my way back I had to go around some open water near a pressure ridge that wasn't there before and I was the only one on the lake on a week day.

It was dark when I got there and I was wondering if a coyote or more would find me an attractive meal. I've heard later that that's unlikely to happen.

[AlbertaCutthroat]

https://open.alberta.ca/publications...n-summary-2023

Not looking great still.

[eagleflyfisher]

Originally Posted by AlbertaCutthroat

https://open.alberta.ca/publications...n-summary-2023

Not looking great still.

It’s been several years since catch and release on pike in badger.
This is supposed to help recover the population I assume.
Is the increase in walleye in the lake having an impact on this ?
Sure like to see it bounce back to what it once was.

I have witnessed some locals from the colony harvesting pike from the canal area.
F & W are aware.

[Smoky buck]

Originally Posted by eagleflyfisher

It’s been several years since catch and release on pike in badger.
This is supposed to help recover the population I assume.
Is the increase in walleye in the lake having an impact on this ?
Sure like to see it bounce back to what it once was.

I have witnessed some locals from the colony harvesting pike from the canal area.
F & W are aware.

Badger was a favorite lake when I lived in southern Alberta but it’s been a long time since I fished it properly outside of a few casts when I was antelope hunting.

I do have buddies in southern Alberta that still fish it and do ok on pike. What they have mentioned is the poaching is bad and they have called in lots of people. According to them the walleye population is really just ok not high so I don’t think this is why it declined