Chain Lakes review & Spray Lakes Ice Fishing - New to the game

[johnnymacrds]

hey guys - first time poster so I am wanting to say hi, and thanks for all of the valuable information over the years of me creeping the forum. I have slowly been getting into fishing over the past 2 years (as i can slowly acquire the required gear HAHA)...

Anyways - I went out to Chain Lakes fishing last 2 weekends over the holidays and can provide some feedback...

Ice - 14-16" thick - but be careful, lots of idiots will drive 2ft from your tent cruising across the lake - it gets busy..
Fish - Caught 6 trout each time - most were 10-12" 50/50 split of farm trout vs lake trout.. either way just catching fish is a blast.
Depth - 12-15FOW
Lure - small jig yellow/green with velvetta/salmon egg/shrimp/worms.. the cheese was by far the best - thanks for the advice.
Location - i was about 50ft off to the left from the boat launch and 50 ft out from the shore..

This is a great place for family fishing - great to see everyone out enjoying fishing in the winter!

I am off to Spray Lakes this weekend and as someone new to the game (without a fish finder/camera) I am desperatly looking for some tips..

Location - from reading it looks like driftwood/sparrowhawk are good
Time - were gonna be trying for lines in water by 730 (an early rise driving from Calgary)

Can anyone help me out with setups for lures/depth?? I am impartial to what exactly i want to catch.. i am more of a catch and release kind of guy personally... just like to go out and have some fun.

Ill be out there Saturday morning - beige snowpants and a bright orange winter touque - come say hi...

[TROLLER]

Welcome to AO nice first post but am wondering how you figure you caught lakers in Chain.

You sure those were not bullies?

[ADH]

My fiancees family has a house in canmore so over the years I have done a lot of research on spray and spend the week between xmas and new years fishing it... What I have found is that if you do not yet have a flasher or something of the sort, the best bet is to find water anywhere from 50-100ft and fish the bottom. before I had a flasher i would rig a green jig head with a smelt. Rip the head off the smelt and thread it on the jig head as you would a rubber grub body. I would fish that rod dead stick 6 inches off the bottom. I would have another rod with a small to medium sized spoon and put either the smelt head or a smelt tail on it and work the spoon in the bottom 5 ft of the water column.

Lots will tell you to use buzz bombs or tube jigs but these are the setups i have had the most success with.

*** Remember to read the regs and understand the bait restrictions!!! NO BAIT FISH! Smelts are okay as they are not considered bait fish.***

Spray can be fun when its on! Lots of small ones but I have hooked into the odd 5-6 lber. Its nothing like cold lake but fun as hell and the fish are just as tasty.

Have fun and dont forget to post your results/ Pics!!!!

[LutherDLG]

I'm sure there will be much more experienced folk to chime in, but I'm headed to Spray this weekend as well, so I'm happy to share how I've been preparing.

I usually keep it simple - jigs with smelts, shiny spoons with smelts and white tube jigs. I don't fish with electronics (at least not yet) so I try to estimate how deep I am with a heavy lure and go from there. I plan to try a couple spots between 60-100 feet and see what happens.

I normally start on or near the bottom, bouncing bottom and then jigging a few feet up. If nothing happens, I'll move up the water column slowly - jigging and pausing until I find some action.

I'll be there Sunday, so leave some fish for me

[johnnymacrds]

Originally Posted by TROLLER

Welcome to AO nice first post but am wondering how you figure you caught lakers in Chain.

You sure those were not bullies?

I might be using the wrong terminology.. I guess what i meant was the different shape of the fins from Natural vs farmed trout.. does that make sense or am i off again?

[johnnymacrds]

Originally Posted by TROLLER

Welcome to AO nice first post but am wondering how you figure you caught lakers in Chain.

You sure those were not bullies?

Hopefully I attached the picture correctly..

[TROLLER]

All released trout in Chain but as in other lakes you do get different colours which is why you notice some more on the darker gray side.

Nice catch.