NSR is killing me

[Eggbert]

All summer I haven't caught a single thing on the north Saskatchewan river. I've been going at whitemud creek and across the river up and down stream on both sides. Also at hermitage park. I've been throwing different weight and colour jigs with minnows, grubs or worms. Also drop shot and pickeral rigs with minnows and worms. I'm fishing from shore. Not even a nibble in the dozen times I've been out. Minimum 5 hours at a time. Not able to go before sunrise or after sunset so am I just wasting my time?

[Talking moose]

I've been catching all day long.... east of the city.

[MrDave]

Try under the Waskatenaw(spelling might be off) bridge. Might be too far for you, but I had a blast there when I fished it.

[Eggbert]

Originally Posted by MrDave

Try under the Waskatenaw(spelling might be off) bridge. Might be too far for you, but I had a blast there when I fished it.

A little out of the way right now but I'll definitely check it out come spring

[Eggbert]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

I've been catching all day long.... east of the city.

Perhaps you'd like to share some information and help a newer angler

[Talking moose]

Originally Posted by Eggbert

Perhaps you'd like to share some information and help a newer angler

My spot is east of mr. Daves.... lol

[Etownpaul]

I've found the river slow in the couple weeks, and I've been getting skunked occasionally. That said earlier this season at herm we were pulling out 3-5 fish an hour quite regularly. My buddies went out to hermitage yesterday and said the bite is picking back up. They caught 6 in 3 hours.

I use a homemade rig with a 3 way swivel. 1-3oz Weight on the bottom of the swivel tied with 8-10"of 10lb test, hook baited with worm/leech/minnow off the side of the swivel tied on with 12-18" 30lb flouro leader. I just keep a 6" steel leader tied on my main line and snap that in to the top of the 3 way swivel. Leeches work best for walleye, worms got me more pike and suckers.

I usually cast as far as I can and let it sit for a bit. Then I get impatient after 5-10 minutes and start to reel it in. Most of the strikes come on the retrieve. So far I've caught pike, walleye, sauger, gold eye and suckers with this setup.

[Sundancefisher]

Originally Posted by Eggbert

All summer I haven't caught a single thing on the north Saskatchewan river. I've been going at whitemud creek and across the river up and down stream on both sides. Also at hermitage park. I've been throwing different weight and colour jigs with minnows, grubs or worms. Also drop shot and pickeral rigs with minnows and worms. I'm fishing from shore. Not even a nibble in the dozen times I've been out. Minimum 5 hours at a time. Not able to go before sunrise or after sunset so am I just wasting my time?

How far out are you setting the walleye goldeye rigs? I used to catch them close to shore. Like 15-20 feet out.

Jigs are best fished at outflows, holes, stream confluences.

Also hermitage could be fished out. Lots of poaching there for ever. Try hiking 20 minutes from an access point.

[Dweb]

The evening bite (7-9pm) seems to be most productive for me at NSR.

Chartreuse 3/8 ounce jig head rigged with an impulse leech.

Go to locations for me is anywhere around Frt Sask.

Don't be discouraged , just keep exploring and jigging!!

[linemanpete]

Best time for me lately is the 1 hour before/after sunset.

Little spinners for the gold eye have been working, however, a double dropper set up with a minnow and worm are always the ticket.

Try the 90 degree bend in Rundle Park.

[waterninja]

Originally Posted by Sundancefisher

How far out are you setting the walleye goldeye rigs? I used to catch them close to shore. Like 15-20 feet out.

Jigs are best fished at outflows, holes, stream confluences.

Also hermitage could be fished out. Lots of poaching there for ever. Try hiking 20 minutes from an access point.

Fishing is always slower when it is so hot out. I agree about fishing closer to sunset.
As for a part of a river being "fished out", I have never heard of that. Fish move up and down the river and if there is less competition in one area then new fish will move in. I agree that some people keep a lot of legal fish, but I have fished Herm a lot, and poaching fish is a VERY rare occurance at Herm, from what I have personally seen and heard. It's also one of the cleanest place's to fish as far as litter goes compared to other popular spots on the NSR.

[RavYak]

Originally Posted by Eggbert

Perhaps you'd like to share some information and help a newer angler

The best advice I can give you is to get out and go explore. Do some reading and try to learn how to read a river and how to target the species you would prefer to catch then go do some leg work. It might take you a few tries but stick with it and eventually you will find some good spots and won't have to deal with the thousand other anglers that go to all the spots people mention online(which is why you won't get talking moose, myself or most others to mention a spot on here).

Spots like Whitemud and Hermitage can still be good but they are overfished and you couldn't pay me to fish them beside the masses that go there...

Stick to the basics, use minnows for bait or chuck some jigs. Once you start finding a few better spots then you can play around with your techniques and figure out what you prefer.

[wildwoods]

My guess is that you are getting undetected bites. Maybe go to a faster tip rod than you are currently using. If you are dead sticking with a pickerel rig or drop shot, reel in until you feel the weight of your presentation. Sit in a law chair and either plant the rod in the ground standing almost vertically or keep it in your hands. The key is tension so you can detect the subtle bites. I guarantee if you are fishing with the things you've mentioned that you are missing the take. Reel up the slack in your line and let that rod tip tell you what's going on.

[cranky]

I dont often get skunked on the NSR no matter what time of day. But this year i have been skunked a few times. But then im checking out new spots more this year which aren't all productive for me.
You sure should have been getting something if you are fishing the hours you say you are.
Have you had success in the past on NSR? If so did you change up anything?

[NSR_RAT]

This time of year can also get very slow as well, due to water levels, clarity, water temperatures and the abundance of bugs, it'll pick back up as the temperatures start dropping and the bugs start dieing off. Like ravyak said, learn how to read a river and read up on underwater structure. When you figure out how to find the fish the rest is easy.

[bn.macph]

I've had rough luck in the NSR this summer too. Very few fish. Far less than in years past.

[NSR Fisher]

Guys, the NSR has been better than ever. My tip is put the time in and explore new areas. Learn to read a river, terms like "eddy" or "hole" or "current break" or "river bend" can help you get on fish in places you never even thought.

I saw a guy pull 15 walleye ranging from 14" to 22" out of the eddy right by that new "urban beach" Global keeps talking about. Just by the Mutart Conservatory where the river bends is a beaver dam.

pickerel rig and minnows.

If you're getting snagged and losing gear good idea to improve your knot tying skills and upgrade your line. For the NSR I use minimum 15 pound braided line (usually 20) and a heavy fluorocarbon leader. 20 to 30 pound Flouro and rated as "leader material" (remember there are different grades and styles of Flourocarbon, regular inline stuff is not nearly as tough as leader fluorocarbon).

Jigs work great but you need to learn to finesse them a bit. Find bottom and skip it along. Cast at about 10'o'clock from your targeted spot, let it drift into the zone, and jig it up. Don't be afraid to be aggressive with your jigging motions either. Long pulls, and slowly let the rod down after your jig up to keep your line tight, so many guys miss bites as their jig is falling because they just flop their rod down and let their line go slack after jigging upwards.

The devil is in the details as they say. Some simple adjustments can change your "luck" completely. Good fishermen create their own luck IMO.

[Dweb]

Caught at least a dozen small walleye/sauger today at the NSR river , with the cloud cover and slight wind chopping up the water made for a great day fishing.

Nothing huge but within 12"-20"

My buddy was crushing gold eye on Carolina rig with minnows

I was just jigging power grubs.....

[Dweb]

Sorry crappy pics from cell phone