COW Lake?

HuyFishin · #1 05-17-2013, 02:12 PM

My Gf booked a campsite at cow lake, i've never been there or fished there. does anyone know how the campsite and the fishing is there?
how is the fishing even lol

Lefty-Canuck · #2 05-17-2013, 03:06 PM

Might see you there....never been there myself but I am going to a horse show with my wife in Rocky.....gotta find some pike to catch on the fly.

LC

#1younggun · #3 05-17-2013, 03:16 PM

Had a bit of a scare this winter, oxygen level was super low all over the lake I even spotted a school of perch on the camera that had succumbed due to this.

But all is good and the winter kill was minimal. If you like pulling in snotrockets all day this is an awesome lake. Can be some bigger ones to!

Liarsenic · #4 05-17-2013, 03:57 PM

Caught 4 pike on the fly today, walked down the bog east of the boat launch. Nothing huge all around 4lbs

Lefty-Canuck · #5 05-17-2013, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liarsenic

Caught 4 pike on the fly today, walked down the bog east of the boat launch. Nothing huge all around 4lbs

Very nice I will be wading from shore with the fly rod at some point over the weekend. Are there other pike waters near Rocky?

Never fished the area before.

LC

Liarsenic · #6 05-17-2013, 07:32 PM

Not too sure lefty, that's the only water body out west I've targeted pike on.

Liarsenic · #7 05-17-2013, 07:36 PM

And to answer the op there is obviously pike, as well as perch and the occasional brood rainbow

Gus · #8 05-17-2013, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sushi_man

My Gf booked a campsite at cow lake, i've never been there or fished there. does anyone know how the campsite and the fishing is there?
how is the fishing even lol

Campsites are nice, so is the lake as there is nothing else on that lake but the one campground, no cottages or anything. If you like fishing for pike it can be pretty decent especially in the early season. My 5 year old had never caught a fish until we went there last year... in an hour he had 7 pike and then he was too tired to real in anymore. I have had a few days of 30plus pike and some of the bigger pike I have caught have come from that lake. I haven't been there yet this year but as of last year there is still a disease in the pike population that causes red sores so its not recommended to eat them. It seems to me as if that issue is going away as I only caught one with a sore last year while a few years ago it seemed as one out of 5 had it. The lake has a large perch population but they seem quite stunted and small.

catchandeat · #9 05-18-2013, 08:48 AM

We used to fish at cow and all we ever caught was pike. There were some days where you'd catch lots but not very huge, most around 5-6lbs with the odd big guy. We've prett much given up on the lake however, as the trout are so few, the perch are pretty hard to find, and now many of the pike are diseased.... Fishing is still fine if you like c @ r, but I wouldn't even want to bring a diseased pike into my boat.
0.02$
Have fun! My friend caught one that was over 100cm was, pretty big fish!

Lefty-Canuck · #10 05-18-2013, 09:04 PM

Went today for a bit....not a lake you can wade in! I stepped in from shore and sunk in up to my crotch in looncrap lol.

So then I decided to walk along the floating bog of a shore, watching for sink holes and I managed to catch 2 healthy snot rockets on the fly rod.

LC

catchandeat · #11 05-18-2013, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

Went today for a bit....not a lake you can wade in! I stepped in from shore and sunk in up to my crotch in looncrap lol.

So then I decided to walk along the floating bog of a shore, watching for sink holes and I managed to catch 2 healthy snot rockets on the fly rod.

LC

Sounds like a fun day! I went fishing the clearwater river today. Tried lots of different pools with no luck, but as i'm leaving a guy pulls out a 3 and a half pound bull! Talked to him for a couple mins and he showed me what he was using. It was a deadly dick, basically a small silver spoon. Anyway sorry for the hijack

pike on the fly is always a great day.

Lefty-Canuck · #12 05-18-2013, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by catchandeat

Sounds like a fun day! I went fishing the clearwater river today. Tried lots of different pools with no luck, but as i'm leaving a guy pulls out a 3 and a half pound bull! Talked to him for a couple mins and he showed me what he was using. It was a deadly dick, basically a small silver spoon. Anyway sorry for the hijack

pike on the fly is always a great day.

I was wondering if the Clearwater was open...never fished it before...I crossed over it on the way to Cow Lake from Rocky. I might go for a walk down there tomorrow and see if I can get anything on the fly.

LC

catchandeat · #13 05-19-2013, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

I was wondering if the Clearwater was open...never fished it before...I crossed over it on the way to Cow Lake from Rocky. I might go for a walk down there tomorrow and see if I can get anything on the fly.

LC

Its definetely a fun river. Long walks generally between deeper pools, but it can be rewarding. Lots of browns and surprisingly bulls too, and the odd whitefish. Not to sure what other species exist in the caroline/rocky area, i'll probably be back out today

Lefty-Canuck · #14 05-19-2013, 09:10 AM

What flys and size are good for the fish there? I have some streamers and I also have some other goodies to toss....or I have some light spinning hear too.

LC

catchandeat · #15 05-19-2013, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lefty-Canuck

What flys and size are good for the fish there? I have some streamers and I also have some other goodies to toss....or I have some light spinning hear too.

LC

I don't really fly fish so cant help you out there haha, I'm just using some light spinning gear. There's some great information in past threads about different flys for spring fishing. The guy who caught the bull on his first cast(grr) was just using a small silver spoon called the deadly dick. I tried spinners cranks and spoons to no avail. It's a tricky river to fish, it flows pretty fast and in many places is fairly shallow.

bellr77 · #16 05-21-2013, 05:33 PM

Cow Lake is disgusting big pike but the tumors are just nasty, I refuse to fish there just cause I hate having to disinfect everything cause I would hate to spread those things to other lakes.

tmaetche1 · #17 07-07-2013, 10:00 PM

Was there today and had lots of fun. I was fishing from shore with a fly rod and landed 6 with plenty of lost fights(one with a fish that felt BIG and got away

). All were 4-6 lbs and heathly(no tumors). My dad caught 1 on a five of diamonds too. We were fishing east of the day use boat launch catching them anywhere from a metre to a km from the launch. BE WARNED it is very soft. I also put a fly in a small pond in the bog and caught a fish wasnt even connected to the lake!! Overall great day and will be going back for that big one

Good luck everyone

Liarsenic · #18 07-07-2013, 11:23 PM

Haha, you really do have to watch your step on that bog. And the little hole is connected to the lake. It is a floating bog.

tmaetche1 · #19 07-08-2013, 06:07 PM

Ya i was wondering if they could go under and into the lake or the ponds. I hated it when i was fighting a big fish and then it goes under my feet and im just sitting there with my rod thinking how am I going to fight you out of there

. But it gives a good challenge. And hearing all the stuff about the diesase i was suprised all of my fish were healthy

MikeGuo · #20 07-14-2013, 10:42 PM

which cow lake are you referring to?
The one NE of Edmonton, or the one west of sylvan lake?

Liarsenic · #21 07-14-2013, 11:06 PM

The one west of sylvan