Water clarity southern reservoirs

Duramaximos · #1 05-24-2011, 06:45 PM

Hi folks.
With all the heavy rain this weekend, and the forecast calling for more, I'm curious what the water clarity is like on McGreggor, Badger, Clear, Newell, etc. I'm planning a trip this coming weekend, but don't want to waste my time if the clarity is very poor.

Thanks.

Kokanee9 · #2 05-24-2011, 07:12 PM

I have not personally seen any of the lakes you mentioned, but I cant see the rain having a huge effect on a resorvoir that has water diverted to it (Mcgregor, Newell) compared to one that has a river running in one end and out the other end (eg. Ghost dam).
Perhaps by the inlets of Newell or Mcgregor, the water may cloud up a bit, but it should be hardly noticeable if you moved away from the inlet. Some surface runoff from farmlands in the immediate vicinity would have a slight effect, but I don't think we are getting any torrential downpours that are not being soaked up by the ground as it falls.

Duramaximos · #3 05-24-2011, 07:19 PM

That's what I thought last year before spending 2 hours driving to Badger to find the lake with less than 3" of visibility. I'm planning on hosting a couple guests this weekend so I need to choose my destination wisely...

Kokanee9 · #4 05-24-2011, 07:26 PM

Maybe a natural lake then like sylvan or gull. If you are from Calgary the driving time would be similar.

Thanks for pointing that out. I really didn't think it would have that much of an effect. I thought the snow melt runoff would do a lot more to lessen visibility compared to rain.

chubbdarter · #5 05-24-2011, 07:31 PM

im a fan of the off colored water

Duramaximos · #6 05-26-2011, 09:48 PM

Bumping this up... the weekend is fast approaching and I need some help choosing a lake to fish.

We have it narrowed it down to Travers, Badger, or McGreggor. How is the water clarity out there guys?

Lets say I decide to take a chance regardless of conditions, what do you suggest using in dirty waters? I don't usually have much luck with my favourite cranks and swim baits in the muck, and I'm not a big fan of tossing out a bait rig and waiting, same goes for vertical jigging...meh!
What do you think?

chubbdarter · #7 05-26-2011, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duramaximos

Bumping this up... the weekend is fast approaching and I need some help choosing a lake to fish.

We have it narrowed it down to Travers, Badger, or McGreggor. How is the water clarity out there guys?

Lets say I decide to take a chance regardless of conditions, what do you suggest using in dirty waters? I don't usually have much luck with my favourite cranks and swim baits in the muck, and I'm not a big fan of tossing out a bait rig and waiting, same goes for vertical jigging...meh!
What do you think?

Travers might be alittle crowded

CVR should be clearer water

Chris84 · #8 05-26-2011, 09:54 PM

I fished a southern Alberta reservoir(none of the ones mentioned) this past weekend and the water clarity was terrible. It took a little while to figure out what the fish were taking but once we did the fishing was great!

Good luck,

Chris

Duramaximos · #9 05-26-2011, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris84

I fished a southern Alberta reservoir(none of the ones mentioned) this past weekend and the water clarity was terrible. It took a little while to figure out what the fish were taking but once we did the fishing was great!

Good luck,

Chris

Come on Chris, share a tip or two! Shoot me a pm if you prefer.

Duramaximos · #10 05-26-2011, 10:11 PM

Thanks Chub!
I've never fished CVR before so I'll likely save it for a solo trip.

Chris84 · #11 05-26-2011, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duramaximos

Come on Chris, share a tip or two! Shoot me a pm if you prefer.

Go through the whole tackle box if you can. I was having some luck on spinners, spoons and rubber tails in shallow coves. Anything with any silver on it seemed to do the trick. We had to try out a few areas, trolling didn't work. Wherever we did find any fish, they were in great numbers so we drifted or anchored the area. We tried to go deep thinking that the water cleared up in deeper regions, but we didn't have any luck. By the way, we were fishing for pike.

Try some unconventional hooks too, we had some action on hula poppers too. I hope this helps,

Good luck,

Chris

Duramaximos · #12 05-26-2011, 10:41 PM

Cool. That gives me a few new ideas. Thanks!