Cold Lake August Long Weekend

EZM · #1 07-30-2014, 01:31 PM

We are headed out to Cold Lake this weekend ............

Anyone want to share RECENT conditions, tips, reports?

The plan, morning and evening, is to run riggers, a planner board trolling to locate and then swoop in for some jigging action.

During the day time we will focus on Pike, Walleye, Perch hunting .....

58thecat · #2 07-30-2014, 02:05 PM

60-100 feet of water, hot out go a little deeper, was banging around the 50 foot mark last wk-end and had no problems. Did not try jigging but the word out there is to locate and jig.

-JR- · #3 07-30-2014, 07:31 PM

Just come pick me up and i will show you .
Kinda sucks that all the stalls are booked.

spinN'flyfish · #4 07-30-2014, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EZM

We are headed out to Cold Lake this weekend ............

Anyone want to share RECENT conditions, tips, reports?

The plan, morning and evening, is to run riggers, a planner board trolling to locate and then swoop in for some jigging action.

During the day time we will focus on Pike, Walleye, Perch hunting .....

isnt the civic holiday not for us albertans? You must be lucky.........

EZM · #5 07-31-2014, 10:58 AM

Thanks to all for the info ........ it will be fun.... as long as the waves don't kick up.

MercMike · #6 07-31-2014, 10:09 PM

was out a week ago in 50 FOW white tubes and a chunk of herring for stink on the hook we caught them steady from 5:00pm to 10:30 pm it was insane , semmed to not matter the time of day just locate and jig em up i should say jigging loosley because it would hit the bottom lift it up a foot and hold it and they would smash it what a blast !! ill be out this weekend good luck im sure you will catch lots of em

Lund rebel · #7 08-01-2014, 06:20 AM

I found I have the best luck when I locate the fanciest boat in the lake and follow it around

Have fun out there hope the weather holds out for you.

Nova · #8 08-01-2014, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lund rebel

I found I have the best luck when I locate the fanciest boat in the lake and follow it around

Have fun out there hope the weather holds out for you.

Hmmm. Seems as though I need a bigger, fancier boat. Purely for the purpose of misleading people for entertainment purposes.

justinO · #9 08-01-2014, 11:35 AM

Me and my GF will be heading up Saturday night or Sunday morning till Tuesday see you on the water

someone is going to catch a 20+ can't wait to see pics good luck.

58thecat · #10 08-01-2014, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lund rebel

I found I have the best luck when I locate the fanciest boat in the lake and follow it around

Have fun out there hope the weather holds out for you.

This seems to be a technique utilized out there sometimes. Even had double headers to have a boat pull up 10 yards away and start fishing, love the walmart mentality but hey it makes for entertainment, enjoying humans and how they interact!

Forecast looks awesome....Try fishing naked with Willie Nelson cranked, people wont come over and bug you then!

I might though,

ThreeD · #11 08-01-2014, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Forecast looks awesome....Try fishing naked with Willie Nelson cranked, people wont come over and bug you then!

I might though,

Good advice. I once used a similar technique on a Pastor who kept dropping by un-invited to "save me" and my room-mate at the time (we were renting a house in the country while working with the military out East).

One solid "naked door-opening" with a beer in hand (he was a former alcoholic) sent him packing for good.

Tight lines. I'll be out be out Sunday AM. Red 18' Lund Alasakan, 75 Merc. Suntop. Say hi if your trolling by.

Teamprotz · #12 08-03-2014, 06:05 PM

Or you could end up with a date !

silver · #13 08-03-2014, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThreeD

Good advice. I once used a similar technique on a Pastor who kept dropping by un-invited to "save me" and my room-mate at the time (we were renting a house in the country while working with the military out East).

One solid "naked door-opening" with a beer in hand (he was a former alcoholic) sent him packing for good.

Tight lines. I'll be out be out Sunday AM. Red 18' Lund Alasakan, 75 Merc. Suntop. Say hi if your trolling by.

I am running on memory here, so please bear with me. In one of the Russel books about the early years, he talked of a cook that had a hate on for cattle buyers, saw one coming and when the buyer got there, the cook was buck naked and stirring the pot of beans with the barrel of his 45 pistol.

The buyer left.

ThreeD · #14 08-04-2014, 10:56 PM

See...works every time.

EZM · #15 08-05-2014, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lund rebel

I found I have the best luck when I locate the fanciest boat in the lake and follow it around

Have fun out there hope the weather holds out for you.

You might have been disappointed in your tactic this weekend.....lol ... we found fish but we had to work for them.

Weather was great ...... except for Saturday night when a storm blew right by the lake and created some "electrical issues" for all of us out on the water.

TrophyPikeHunter got a nice sting off a graphite rod and we packed up in a hurry thinking "we were far enough away" watching the storm on the other side of the lake ....

I think my boat set a new speed record for packing up and getting up on plane !!!!! lol

Overall - fishing was OK, not spectacular, but OK. Biggest was 15 lbs - nothing special.

58thecat · #16 08-05-2014, 08:00 AM

I gave up on the lakers, too few and far between hits so targeted the Pike, even they were finicky but the 4" XRap was too tempting, largest one 36". Hard to stay away from other boats but hey it's the long wk-end...going to hang tires off my boat and accept the fact the potential for a fender bender is high!

saskpikeman · #17 08-05-2014, 12:10 PM

Was tough on Friday for fish over 75cm, close to 50 fish in the boat and only 3 over. Got a later start on Sunday but found quite a few quality fish.

EZM · #18 08-05-2014, 01:59 PM

SaskPikeMan .... we trolled past you a few times - I recognize you .... you guys did better than we did in terms of numbers - we probably caught a much higher ratio of of "overs" but they swam for another day ( except one that TPH kept ).

justinO · #19 08-05-2014, 05:15 PM

Awesome pics and stories guys glad everyone had a safe and fun weekend well besides the launch story I read about lol Me and my GF had an awesome day and a half no 20+ but we caught 62 total biggest was 13.92 lots in that 7-9lb range. Fishing was tough had to pull out all the tricks to catch them. Weather was incredible we would have caught more but we stopped often to dive and cool off in the water. I am going through all the pictures and videos now some great stuff and one amazing story I'll post soon

saskpikeman · #20 08-05-2014, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EZM

SaskPikeMan .... we trolled past you a few times - I recognize you .... you guys did better than we did in terms of numbers - we probably caught a much higher ratio of of "overs" but they swam for another day ( except one that TPH kept ).

Which day ?the only other boat was close to was a weldcraft jet boat was that u?. On Sunday I
Was all alone on the northwest corner of the lake

EZM · #21 08-05-2014, 05:41 PM

Is yours a Lund with an Evinrude? I was mostly around French Bay into the main lake .... not many Lunds with Evinrudes (if that was, in fact, you)....maybe not.

I have Lund Tyee (Black) with a 150 hp Honda ....

saskpikeman · #22 08-05-2014, 05:47 PM

I have a Lund w an evinrude but never went anywhere near French. I really don't fish that side of the lake much, Probably just another boat from brokers marine. They sold a bunch w. Etecs on the back. Actually some identical to
My tyee.

EZM · #23 08-05-2014, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saskpikeman

I have a Lund w an evinrude but never went anywhere near French. I really don't fish that side of the lake much, Probably just another boat from brokers marine. They sold a bunch w. Etecs on the back. Actually some identical to
My tyee.

I have not seen many with ETECs ...... great motor choice.

We had some luck dragging anchovie rigs, flatfish and Williams wobblers when trolling and the buzz bomb did the magic when jigging.

Overall - it wasn't as good as last time out ...... where I couldn't get the rigger down fast enough, but the fish were there ....

Found the (almost) submerged island out in the bay ...... lots of pike in there as well to keep you busy.

Great weather out there.

CBintheNorth · #24 08-05-2014, 10:39 PM

Awesome photos and updates guys! Keep 'em coming.

If you're thinking your weekend was just mediocre, remember, you could have spent the long weekend like I did- chasing 2 rug rats in diapers while the boat is tucked safely away for the second year in a row.

God I miss Cold Lake....

dwiebe · #25 08-06-2014, 09:58 PM

I don't fish that often, but I'm on year 11 taking my 3 boys on an annual trip and this year I'm looking for something new. We've never been to Cold Lake and we've never used riggers. Sounds like you guys know what you're talking about. Is anyone willing to share some GPS coordinates to a great spot for lakers? Is using down riggers necessary? Any other info is greatly appreciated. Its all about the boys!

Walleye101 · #26 08-07-2014, 09:01 AM

Nice looking fish. Congrats.

cube · #27 08-07-2014, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwiebe

I don't fish that often, but I'm on year 11 taking my 3 boys on an annual trip and this year I'm looking for something new. We've never been to Cold Lake and we've never used riggers. Sounds like you guys know what you're talking about. Is anyone willing to share some GPS coordinates to a great spot for lakers? Is using down riggers necessary? Any other info is greatly appreciated. Its all about the boys!

You don't need GPS points to catch Lakers on Cold Lake. You can catch Lakers just about anywhere on the lake, though structure helps. You do not need downriggers to catch Lakers either. Divers such as Pink Lady's, Jet Divers, Deeper Divers, Dipsy Divers will get you down far enough to catch fish. You can also use deep diving plugs or 3 way swivel rigs and weights as well.

Spoons, anchovy or herring riggs are the standard.

At this time of the year find water that is about 140 feet deep (you don't have to have your lures down that far though) and just troll along in an S pattern.

You can also jig for them. Large jigs generally white in color is what most will use. So again you do not need downriggers.

Be careful on Cold Lake, unless you’re in a big boat, if the weather is coming in your usually best to get going.

Good Luck to You

EZM · #28 08-07-2014, 02:35 PM

We found fish in 60 feet of water and in 300 feet of water. Fish seemed to be mostly concentrated from 60 to 80 feet down during dawn / dusk.

Trolling speeds that worked best, ironically, were a little faster than usual is what we found - 2.5 to 2.8 last weekend.

Find the structure around the mouth of french bay ( or a bunch of boats ) and the lakers will be around there somewhere. They also move around a little.

TROLLER · #29 08-09-2014, 11:24 AM

Post up GPS locations that maybe some guy took years to find?

Surely you jest