Red Deer River between Drumheller and East Coulee

[nicemustang]

Hey All, Looking for some info on fishing the RDR between the above stated areas. I want to knock a couple of fish off my list and hoping in this area I can do that (sauger, goldeye, mooneye). I've never fished the river before so I'd appreciate any tips, PM is OK if you don't want to publically share. Am I looking for slow moving water, holes or what? Again, I'm not really sure.

Thanks in advance.

Goldeye and Mooneye are everywhere. Mostly, I have found, near the center of the river in just the regular current type areas. You won't be able to target Mooneye over goldeye in anyway, they are pretty much in the same areas and like the same stuff. Anything yellow or orange or a a red/white red devil has worked very well for me, worms for the wife. Where I fish it is probably 8-1 goldeye to mooneye but I do usually get one mooneye every outing. I fish a bit north of there though.

Sauger, good luck. In 30+ years of fishing the RDR I have only caught 2, both on the smallest red/yellow 5 of diamonds.


Just my experiences.

[nicemustang]

So I should look for holes if I want to find walleye and sauger but not necessarily if I want to catch goldeye?

I was thinking pickeral rigs but I guess I can try the spoon thing too.

Originally Posted by nicemustang

So I should look for holes if I want to find walleye and sauger but not necessarily if I want to catch goldeye?

I was thinking pickeral rigs but I guess I can try the spoon thing too.

Yeah the holes hold whatever Walleye or sauger OR pike that might be in the neighborhood, sorry I forgot that in my first post.

The wife does well with the pickerel rig with worms on goldeye/mooneye but she seems to struggle to get anything else. She plunks it right down in the middle or just a little her way of the middle. Lots of days she will out fish me with spinners but I don't have the patience to bottom fish.. I do put a worm under a bobber (or big grasshopper if I can get one) and throw it upstream and let it float down. I do have good luck with that especially if you do hit a school and you are on the right depth, pretty much every cast. It's the only thing I like about the goldeye, get on to them and you can catch a pile of them in an hour or two, they fight pretty well also .

Like I told the other fellow, I haven't been to Drum in so long I can't really tell you where a good place to start would be, I would if I could.

[Need More Fish'n time]

Originally Posted by troller

Sauger, good luck. In 30+ years of fishing the RDR I have only caught 2, both on the smallest red/yellow 5 of diamonds.

I had good luck my fist and only time on the RDR I caught a very nice & tasty Sauger. It was my second cast and I used a small "Storm" soft plastic perch with an ugly steel 6" leader. The rest of the afternoon I caught a nice fat goldeye casting a small jig with a black tail.

[nicemustang]

Ya I realize it might not be that easy. Thank for all the tips.

Now for the greedy part of the thread....really looking for a spot to try

[AK47]

I think water is still a little to high and muddy... wait for couple more weeks it should be much better. Good spot to try is near the bridge just near East coulee, there are some holes and some people fishing and catching all the time.

A few hundred yards up stream from the Morin bridge is a really nice spot too. What everyone else is telling you is perfect,, quick tip on catching grasshoppers; if you have one of those cheap comforter blankets, and old one where they seem to be getting stringier, bad word not stringy but hairier, lay it out where the hoppers are around. if they land on it, the barbs in their legs get caught in the hairs of the blanket and then they're stuck for you to pick them off,, they out-rank dew worms in my opinion. quick note on the dew worms, if you catch your own, keep them in the coolest soil possible or they tend to get less firm and lifeless. and when you thread the hook thru them try to cover as much of the hook as possible. I find just a snelled #10 or #8 without a pickerel rig is best. I fish them in deeper swifter currents so I can't recommend a weight type. Oh! and make sure your line is as tight as possible when waiting.
Goldeye are extremely addictive, grrrrrrrrrreat fun,,, I've never gone flyfishing for them but I imagine it would be something else.

Are you going to smoke them?

[nicemustang]

Yes thanks all for the tips. Never thought of the muddy water....guess that makes sense. As stated I haven't really river fished before. Wanted to go our after work tomorrow though, enjoy some nice weather...maybe I'll just go to Severn.

I wasn't sure if I was going to keep anything...but maybe I will. Are they good eating? I have to admit that I'm a smoking expert for whitefish, so if they are similar then I'd totally give that a try!

[AK47]

Originally Posted by nicemustang

I wasn't sure if I was going to keep anything...but maybe I will. Are they good eating? I have to admit that I'm a smoking expert for whitefish, so if they are similar then I'd totally give that a try!

Oh man, smoked goldeye is the only reason I fish Red Dee River. They are superior to any other smoked fish IMHO.

[MikeGuo]

Originally Posted by nicemustang

Yes thanks all for the tips. Never thought of the muddy water....guess that makes sense. As stated I haven't really river fished before. Wanted to go our after work tomorrow though, enjoy some nice weather...maybe I'll just go to Severn.

I wasn't sure if I was going to keep anything...but maybe I will. Are they good eating? I have to admit that I'm a smoking expert for whitefish, so if they are similar then I'd totally give that a try!

Where do you usually go to fish for whitefish? winter or summer? I'm have a tonne of trouble catching them (beginner here).