Bass Fishing in Alberta

[mszomola]

Just came from Ontario in January , beautiful province !

But no bass fishing out here is hurting big time. I dont understand the big deal , the trout are non native , the walleye is hurting , this province needs a fish to bridge the gap and bring in more rec fishing as opposed to lets go out and catch our limit today.

Other things being missed is the big industry following with bass , the tournaments , the events , the bass club conservation efforts. With bass fishing you could take a ton of pressure off the prized fish in alberta and spread the love around a lot more.

hows Island lake doing these days ?

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by mszomola

Just came from Ontario in January , beautiful province !

But no bass fishing out here is hurting big time. I dont understand the big deal , the trout are non native , the walleye is hurting , this province needs a fish to bridge the gap and bring in more rec fishing as opposed to lets go out and catch our limit today.

Other things being missed is the big industry following with bass , the tournaments , the events , the bass club conservation efforts. With bass fishing you could take a ton of pressure off the prized fish in alberta and spread the love around a lot more.

hows Island lake doing these days ?

x2,Seems to be the Trout Capital of the World out here.I heard that bass would'nt survive our cold alberta winter's??? or thats atleast what they tell us? I heard that theres a Bass lake near Edmonton???? If yaa want some good bass fishing the closest place around here is in BC,they have some great bass lakes that i've fished dozens of times!!!

[italk2u]

There are atleast a dozen threads on this topic..please click on "search" at the top and type in "Bass fishing"
It'll save a lot of time, effort and redundancy

[Rockymtnx]

mszomola, welcome to Alberta and the Alberta Outdoorsmen Forum.

Originally Posted by mszomola

But no bass fishing out here is hurting big time. I dont understand the big deal , the trout are non native

Where did you get this information from? All others are native.

Originally Posted by mszomola

the walleye is hurting

Hurting? On the weekend I was at a lake and caught over 100 6-7 pound walleye. Even a few that were over 9 pounds. We fished this lake for three days. On Saturday I seen three boats, Sunday four boats, and Monday not a single other boat. Being a long weekend and a lake with this many big fish there should have been a couple hundred boats on it. I think people are wanting fish with in 30 mins of the city and not willing to go get them. Like I explained there are a ton of fish out there in Alberta. People just have to get out there and get them.

Another problem is we only have so many lakes in Alberta. If you compare Alberta to SK, MB, BC, & ON we have way fewer lakes, which equals to more fishing pressure. The lakes everyone believes are a problem are all within an hour of Edmonton or Calgary. YES some f these lakes are being over fished.

Number of natural fish bearing lakes:
Alberta 800 (Yes eight hundred)
Saskatchewan 94,000
Manitoba 110,000
Ontario 250,000

Originally Posted by mszomola

With bass fishing you could take a ton of pressure off the prized fish in alberta

Many years ago Alberta made the decision that no new non native species fish or animals would be introduced to the province. The theory is that every time you introduce something new there are dramatic effects to the rest of the ecosystem around it. Ie: You release bass into a lake, they put pressure and competition on the other species there. You may get fish competing for the same food source. Eventually one of them will have to give in a thin themselves out. The introduction of new species to a ecosystem is sometimes like playing with fire. A prime example is the introduction of perch to lake Sundance in Calgary. Do a quick search on it in the fishing section and you will see the havoc it has caused.

Another thing to mention is that bass were introduce to Alberta many years ago. As you will find out they did not make it. Our winters are cold and harsh and they don’t seem to reproduce. Sure I would love to have bass to fish here in Alberta, but it’s just a fact of life, they don’t belong here!

Sorry to rain on your parade but this is why we don't have bass in Alberta.

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

I heard that theres a Bass lake near Edmonton????

The lake that was stocked near Edmonton does not have any left in it. There have been no records of any being caught for several years now.

[FishingMOM]

Originally Posted by Rockymtnx

Hurting? On the weekend I was at a lake and caught over 100 6-7 pound walleye. Even a few that were over 9 pounds.

For Those of us who grew up fishing walleye in the great lakes 6-7lb fish is hurting
we are used to 12-17lb fish

Only time we got the little ones was threw the ice

[wildman]

anyone looking for bass or 17lb walleyes are in the WRONG PROVINCE!!!!!
ps. IMO would be cool to see some trout ponds switch to bass!!! we have prenty of potholes full of mud-trout!!!

[jesse34567]

You might have luck at island lake, if any small mouth are their they are small.

[noslack]

Finally found some bass!! Can anybody guess where I caught these bad girls and boys??

[DANOMAN]

My guess is somewhere near vernon B.C.????? Oh crap i forgot your probably here ! i say gatineau?

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by Rockymtnx

mszomola, welcome to Alberta and the Alberta Outdoorsmen Forum.


Where did you get this information from? All others are native.


Hurting? On the weekend I was at a lake and caught over 100 6-7 pound walleye. Even a few that were over 9 pounds. We fished this lake for three days. On Saturday I seen three boats, Sunday four boats, and Monday not a single other boat. Being a long weekend and a lake with this many big fish there should have been a couple hundred boats on it. I think people are wanting fish with in 30 mins of the city and not willing to go get them. Like I explained there are a ton of fish out there in Alberta. People just have to get out there and get them.

Another problem is we only have so many lakes in Alberta. If you compare Alberta to SK, MB, BC, & ON we have way fewer lakes, which equals to more fishing pressure. The lakes everyone believes are a problem are all within an hour of Edmonton or Calgary. YES some f these lakes are being over fished.

Number of natural fish bearing lakes:
Alberta 800 (Yes eight hundred)
Saskatchewan 94,000
Manitoba 110,000
Ontario 250,000


Many years ago Alberta made the decision that no new non native species fish or animals would be introduced to the province. The theory is that every time you introduce something new there are dramatic effects to the rest of the ecosystem around it. Ie: You release bass into a lake, they put pressure and competition on the other species there. You may get fish competing for the same food source. Eventually one of them will have to give in a thin themselves out. The introduction of new species to a ecosystem is sometimes like playing with fire. A prime example is the introduction of perch to lake Sundance in Calgary. Do a quick search on it in the fishing section and you will see the havoc it has caused.

Another thing to mention is that bass were introduce to Alberta many years ago. As you will find out they did not make it. Our winters are cold and harsh and they don’t seem to reproduce. Sure I would love to have bass to fish here in Alberta, but it’s just a fact of life, they don’t belong here!

Sorry to rain on your parade but this is why we don't have bass in Alberta.




The lake that was stocked near Edmonton does not have any left in it. There have been no records of any being caught for several years now.

Thanks for the answer's!!! your hands must be cut from all them Eyeballs.A guy I work with goes to calling lake for walleye every year and he catches hundreds of 6 pound walleye just like you did Congrats on the more than succesful fishing!!!

[whitetail Junkie]

[QUOTE=wildman;645160
ps. IMO would be cool to see some trout ponds switch to bass!!! we have prenty of potholes full of mud-trout!!![/QUOTE]

x2 I wish the Alberta Govenment would get there azz on the Bass.I'd love to fish them in alberta,good eating aswell,taste like perch!

[Rockymtnx]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

Thanks for the answer's!!! your hands must be cut from all them Eyeballs.A guy I work with goes to calling lake for walleye every year and he catches hundreds of 6 pound walleye just like you did Congrats on the more than succesful fishing!!!

I will start a new thread with some pictures for everyone in a few days.

[mszomola]

Thanks for the replys! I appreciate the incites !

Couple of questions ,

one poster makes mention of 100 6-7 lbs walleye over the weekend.( funny it's a round number ) and I'm not surprised you didn't mention the lake which concludes to me you either fished pine coulée and caught something more like 1-1.5lbers. Just because I'm from Ontario could mean I was born at night but not last night.

Secondly , I know of the great bass fishing in bc , I've had some great outings on Windermere and tie lake , just got back from osoyoos had a blast. Thing is though why do we have to drive to other places and spend money in other provinces when we can use the energy to establish some opportunities here? The bass clubs back home had come up with tremendous efforts , including stocking programs , revitalizing marshes and wetlands , building bird houses , planting trees , taking kids out fishing ( that's another thing I noticed but does every kid learn to ride seadoos nowadays? ) anyways the sport thrives back home. And I'm sure great things would happen in Alberta if it were embraced.

[mszomola]

Noslack I would Love to know if it's an Alberta lake

To the other poster about starting a new thread with pics I'll be sure to contribute a few of my own, even tell you how and where ( there's alot of anglers it seems no matter where you go think they have these incredible spots and special approaches but last I remember in some tournies back home those same folk were getting slayed

[209x50]

Originally Posted by mszomola

Thanks for the replys! I appreciate the incites !

Couple of questions ,

one poster makes mention of 100 6-7 lbs walleye over the weekend.( funny it's a round number ) and I'm not surprised you didn't mention the lake which concludes to me you either fished pine coulée and caught something more like 1-1.5lbers. Just because I'm from Ontario could mean I was born at night but not last night.

Secondly , I know of the great bass fishing in bc , I've had some great outings on Windermere and tie lake , just got back from osoyoos had a blast. Thing is though why do we have to drive to other places and spend money in other provinces when we can use the energy to establish some opportunities here? The bass clubs back home had come up with tremendous efforts , including stocking programs , revitalizing marshes and wetlands , building bird houses , planting trees , taking kids out fishing ( that's another thing I noticed but does every kid learn to ride seadoos nowadays? ) anyways the sport thrives back home. And I'm sure great things would happen in Alberta if it were embraced.

Congrats on calling a mod a liar on your second post. I know the lake that Dan was on and if they only caught 100 it was a slow 3 days.

[209x50]

Originally Posted by FishingMOM

For Those of us who grew up fishing walleye in the great lakes 6-7lb fish is hurting
we are used to 12-17lb fish

Only time we got the little ones was threw the ice

Ahh horse feathers! I have fished the great lakes a lot and a 12 pound fish was a pre spawn female that got your picture in the local paper. They weren't evry other fish between the 17 pounders on the line LOL!!!

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by mszomola

Thanks for the replys! I appreciate the incites !

Couple of questions ,

one poster makes mention of 100 6-7 lbs walleye over the weekend.( funny it's a round number ) and I'm not surprised you didn't mention the lake which concludes to me you either fished pine coulée and caught something more like 1-1.5lbers. Just because I'm from Ontario could mean I was born at night but not last night.

Secondly , I know of the great bass fishing in bc , I've had some great outings on Windermere and tie lake , just got back from osoyoos had a blast. Thing is though why do we have to drive to other places and spend money in other provinces when we can use the energy to establish some opportunities here? The bass clubs back home had come up with tremendous efforts , including stocking programs , revitalizing marshes and wetlands , building bird houses , planting trees , taking kids out fishing ( that's another thing I noticed but does every kid learn to ride seadoos nowadays? ) anyways the sport thrives back home. And I'm sure great things would happen in Alberta if it were embraced.

Rocky is one of the best guys on here,I Dont think he would lie.I Caught my limit of Three walleye the other day that were all around the Five pound mark and alot more legal size fish got thrown back.Alberta has great walleye fishing.

Sounds like your alittle home sick for Ontario.Sure there are somethings there that Alberta does'nt have,but now your Living in the Wild West with the Rest of us Conservatives.Even though we dont have Bass,Yaa still got to take advantage of what we got!!! Good Luck Fishing

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by FishingMOM

For Those of us who grew up fishing walleye in the great lakes 6-7lb fish is hurting
we are used to 12-17lb fish

Only time we got the little ones was threw the ice

Why is it so many people from Ontario come out here and complain about how much better everything was back home? The border is open in both directions, feel free to head back to your fishing heaven. More fish left for us.

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by mszomola

Thanks for the replys! I appreciate the incites !

Couple of questions ,

one poster makes mention of 100 6-7 lbs walleye over the weekend.( funny it's a round number ) and I'm not surprised you didn't mention the lake which concludes to me you either fished pine coulée and caught something more like 1-1.5lbers. Just because I'm from Ontario could mean I was born at night but not last night.

Secondly , I know of the great bass fishing in bc , I've had some great outings on Windermere and tie lake , just got back from osoyoos had a blast. Thing is though why do we have to drive to other places and spend money in other provinces when we can use the energy to establish some opportunities here? The bass clubs back home had come up with tremendous efforts , including stocking programs , revitalizing marshes and wetlands , building bird houses , planting trees , taking kids out fishing ( that's another thing I noticed but does every kid learn to ride seadoos nowadays? ) anyways the sport thrives back home. And I'm sure great things would happen in Alberta if it were embraced.

Yup, it would be great.


But it's TOO COLD!

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

Why is it so many people from Ontario come out here and complain about how much better everything was back home? The border is open in both directions, feel free to head back to your fishing heaven. More fish left for us.

Our Fishing Aint like Ontario,but our Hunting is 100% Better,more Birds,more Big Game animals.

[DarkAisling]

Originally Posted by mszomola

one poster makes mention of 100 6-7 lbs walleye over the weekend.( funny it's a round number ) and I'm not surprised you didn't mention the lake which concludes to me you either fished pine coulée and caught something more like 1-1.5lbers. Just because I'm from Ontario could mean I was born at night but not last night.

Maybe not, but you clearly need to get out a little more. PCR is not the only lake where an abundance of walleye can be caught. I can think of three other lakes where those kinds of numbers are possible, with much bigger fish than the ones at PCR. Am I going to give you the names of these lakes? NFL.

And, if you'll reread his original post, he indicated that he caught OVER 100: not 100. There was no "round number."

I think you just need to accept that this is not Ontario. It will never be Ontario. Most of us westerners hate Ontario, and have no desire to emulate Ontario. If you miss it that badly, go back. Otherwise, get with the program: the western program!

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by DarkAisling

I think you just need to accept that this is not Ontario. It will never be Ontario. Most of us westerners hate Ontario, and have no desire to emulate Ontario. If you miss it that badly, go back. Otherwise, get with the program: the western program!

Long Live The South!!!! I mean the West

[Chris K]

Well here is my 2 cents. Alberta does have some hidden gems, and yes you can catch some very good fish here. (things were on a whole though better in general 10 years ago for quality of fish) Once some of them get to be general public knowledge though, look out because they wil get raped and pillaged in a hurry. With that being said I do feel however than our walleye fisheries as a whole are going down hill in quality. Forage bases in a lot of our lakes are not in good shape, and the quality of fish are reflected in this. Skinny fish with big heads, that basically look like torpedos. This happens with the other predatory species in these lakes as well. Managing strictly on catch rates though, wow do things ever look amazing...everybody is catching piles of fish now. With the management strategies in the province and the walleye closures, we now have bigger more serious problems. What are we going to do with the population explosion? Now a lot of lakes have too many fish and they have been spawning so successfully that it's hard to go anywhere and not catch fish.

I don't know if anyone here has ever been to Kenora or Winnipeg or Thunder bay, but their winters are just as cold as ours and I just don't buy the line that it's too cold here for smallies. All the Lake of the Woods bass there are along the central railway line in Canada, and were brought there in the early 1900's in big milk cans from the great lakes. They are not native either, but being much closer to the source, they took hold with far less effort than it would take here. I would love to see them up here, but it won't happen with our governments stance, and besides, there is not much left for them to eat in most of our lakes here anyways.

The quality of almost all the fishing is better to the east of us and that's why I go there each summer. I enjoy the diversity or species and the different fisheries. Until I go back again, I will have to make due with what we have here. It is a real shame what Slave Lake has become. It is our biggest lake and has so much water to hold fish, yet the diversity of year classes is gone, and we basically catch smaller sized fish with a 5 pounder now being a big walleye for Slave. Anybody and their dog can go out and catch piles of fish and it's great to catch a lot, but after a while it starts to get old. Remember when it used to be a bit of a challenge to catch fish there?

I fish all over Western Canada, and into the States and I really feel our fisheries have declined greatly here in Alberta in the past 5 to 10 years compared to other places I have been. Yes we have a lot of pressure on the lakes we have, but I feel it can be much more evenly distributed and it would only benefit everyone. I think the management strategies are related to the funding for fisheries. There is not enough money to go around for biologists and enforcement, and they do not have a pulse on every single lake in the way I feel they should due to budget restraints. If more funding was really readily available and there was an infusion of manpower I think that our fisheries would improve. It would be a very slow improvement, but I would like to see better management of year classes so we have a balance of quality and quantity. It is a real feat to catch a true bonafide 10 pound walleye in Northern Alberta, and not a lot of people can claim having done that in the last 5 years. It's a feat in Southern Alberta too (you have a real shot at a 13 in a few places), but it's a lot easier to do down there...but I am not telling where I would go and do it or it might get a little tougher to do!

Chris K

[hard_azz]

Originally Posted by WayneChristie

Why is it so many people from Ontario come out here and complain about how much better everything was back home? The border is open in both directions, feel free to head back to your fishing heaven. More fish left for us.

Oh man do i agree... i work in the patch and i have dealt with my fair share of outta province workers and i dont know how many of them i have heard complaining about more then just the fishing in alberta and i always have the same response "if ya dont like wat we got then u know wat to do about it"

Im a born and raised alberta boy and have bin fishin the waters of this great province since i could walk and i love the fish we have here and i think we need to make sure we can take good care of the ones we have before we make them fight for food with strange species.

Unlike ontario we dont need to abuse our wilderness to help our economy... we have oil that keeps our economy running just fine. Fishing isnt a job out here its a weekend pass time. So please to all of you from outta the province dont try to change wat we have, we like it here and if u dont then thats ur problem.

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by hard_azz

Unlike ontario we dont need to abuse our wilderness to help our economy... we have oil that keeps our economy running just fine. Fishing isnt a job out here its a weekend pass time. So please to all of you from outta the province dont try to change wat we have, we like it here and if u dont then thats ur problem.

I agree with you except for the abuseing of wilderness.I'm sorry but I know of alot of destroyed\abused wilderness in alberta as a Result from the oil Patch Rapeing the Land.

[hard_azz]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

I agree with you except for the abuseing of wilderness.I'm sorry but I know of alot of destroyed\abused wilderness in alberta as a Result from the oil Patch Rapeing the Land.

ya i can understand ur point and i am part of the environmental end of things... i dont agree with how the environment is treated in some cases... but there is a lot of effort put into keeping/restoring our wildlife areas.

[Private Ear]

Originally Posted by hard_azz

Oh man do i agree... i work in the patch and i have dealt with my fair share of outta province workers and i dont know how many of them i have heard complaining about more then just the fishing in alberta and i always have the same response "if ya dont like wat we got then u know wat to do about it"

Im a born and raised alberta boy and have bin fishin the waters of this great province since i could walk and i love the fish we have here and i think we need to make sure we can take good care of the ones we have before we make them fight for food with strange species.

Unlike ontario we dont need to abuse our wilderness to help our economy... we have oil that keeps our economy running just fine. Fishing isnt a job out here its a weekend pass time. So please to all of you from outta the province dont try to change wat we have, we like it here and if u dont then thats ur problem.

Us born and bred Albertans are tough to come by these days!

It seems to me that logging has put more interim pressure on the wild areas of Alberta that oil and gas. I say interim because both industries are required to reclaim the areas that they have exploited.

[Rockymtnx]

Originally Posted by mszomola

Couple of questions ,
one poster makes mention of 100 6-7 lbs walleye over the weekend.( funny it's a round number )

If you re-read my post I said “I was at a lake and caught over 100 6-7 pound walleye.” No mention of catching exactly 100. This number also doesn’t include the many under 6 pound or many over 7 pound walleye that I caught.

Originally Posted by mszomola

I'm not surprised you didn't mention the lake which concludes to me you either fished pine coulée and caught something more like 1-1.5lbers. Just because I'm from Ontario could mean I was born at night but not last night.

Actually it’s no secret what lake I was at. Most of the guys here already know I was at Winefred Lake. So no I was nowhere near Pine Coulee. If you are looking for good lakes to catch lots of Walleye it’s no secret the following are great lakes:
Winefred (Big Walleye)
Calling (Big Walleye)
Pigeon (Lots of 3 pounders)
Newell (A wide variety of sizes)

Once again you seem to be one of these people who are focused on the fishing within 150 kms of their home. If there’s no fish in that comfort zone then the whole province is crap.
People need to get out there and explore the province. It’s a big area and there are tons of great fishing opportunities if you look.

[hard_azz]

Originally Posted by Private Ear

Us born and bred Albertans are tough to come by these days!

It seems to me that logging has put more interim pressure on the wild areas of Alberta that oil and gas. I say interim because both industries are required to reclaim the areas that they have exploited.

yes we r hard to come by anymore... i have to agree with the logging industry does put a little more pressure on the wild areas... but it really doesnt compare to the air polution of other provinces lol

[ESOXangler]

Originally Posted by hard_azz

Unlike ontario we dont need to abuse our wilderness to help our economy... we have oil that keeps our economy running just fine. Fishing isnt a job out here its a weekend pass time. So please to all of you from outta the province dont try to change wat we have, we like it here and if u dont then thats ur problem.

How does that make any sense? I get it your a great albertan, so am i but that makes no sense. In ontario they have clear cutting and some mining. Here we have clear cutting, mining, oil and gas. And its everywhere.

And all the guy did was call bull****, some one should be able to do that. And he called it on a MOD, Holy ****!!! Sure Rockymntx is a hellva guy for taking on a thankless job but i dont think he needs minions defending him. Im sure he laughed at the accusation. You're not a true fishermen/woman if your not atleast a little bit of a bull****ter. and sometimes somebody might call you on it and you shouldnt get offended cause they didn't take your word for gospel.