Flyfishing for Goldeye in Edmonton

[FishlessFool]

Early tomorrow morning I think I might try fly fishing for goldeyes. I got some yellow stimulators, orange and yellow chernoble ants and some black foam ants.

The guy at the shop reccomended that I try fishing from Sir Wilfred Laurier park, but I've been kind of eyeing a couple gravel bars on google map; The gravel bar north of Henrietta Louise Park and the Gravel Bar by Victoria Golf Practice Facility.

Would anybody reccomend any of these or any other places? Advice is appreciated.

[theking]

your gunna love fly fishing for goldeye i do it down south here and i love the fight they put up they equal any trout any day of the fly. Ahhh now i wanna go, thanx,thanx alot!

[0liver]

Forget the gravel beds, head down to whitemud creek on a drizzly overcast day, and go over near the Cambell bridge [its the one you cross right before turning right to Fort Edmonton park] and get down under it, zip your flys around under the bridge for a couple hours and you will have a goldeye on every other cast.

if its not raining just walk up and down the creek and cast where overhanging trees provide shade or where you can make out a nice deep pool.

you may even have a lil hammer handle snap at your fly so be ready!

[Dust1n]

whatever you learned for trout forget it....Bright colored flies with and unnaural drift and swing works.

i cast downstream with an orange stimmy. then strip in quick 2-3inch jerks. shallow dark/muddy water is where you wanna be fishing.

[FishlessFool]

Should I put a toothy critter leader on if I fish in Whitemud Creek that way? Would it put off the Goldeyes?

[Dust1n]

Originally Posted by FishlessFool

Should I put a toothy critter leader on if I fish in Whitemud Creek that way? Would it put off the Goldeyes?

it would put off goldeyes but you might be able to get the odd dumb one everyone gets. 6lb tippit max is good. remeber you want your line to snap before your rod

[FishlessFool]

Originally Posted by Fish Hunter7

it would put off goldeyes but you might be able to get the odd dumb one everyone gets. 6lb tippit max is good. remeber you want your line to snap before your rod

I've got a 100$ Scientific Anglers rod and reel combo. If I snapped my rod off I wouldn't be so upset if I still brought in a decent fish, hehe.

Thanks for the advice.

[Dust1n]

Originally Posted by FishlessFool

I've got a 100$ Scientific Anglers rod and reel combo. If I snapped my rod off I wouldn't be so upset if I still brought in a decent fish, hehe.

Thanks for the advice.

it wont snap if your drag is set dont worry about it

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by 0liver

Forget the gravel beds,

or where you can make out a nice deep pool.

You beat me to it.
I had no idea there were so many avid Goldeye anglers here.

I have never tried flies on Goldeye despite having fished for them since the early 1960s. But I have thought about trying it for years.

I would love to know more about fly fishing for Goldeye. Most of my questions have already been answered right here, I know a lot of things applicable to bait fishing them would also apply to Fly fishing for them, but two questions remains.

I don't want to hijack fishlessfool's thread, but he/she might find the answer to my questions helpful too.

So I wonder, does anyone know, How much difference does water clarity make? The water I fish is almost always murky enough that one can seldom see more then six inches down.

And what about time of year? Will they hit a fly all summer long or is there a best time to switch to flies?

Up here, the water is normally murky till early fall. By then the tributaries are so shallow that fishing them is pointless. The fish are all out in the main river.
But they don't bit very well on bait that time of year. So would flies work better then?

[Dust1n]

Originally Posted by KegRiver

You beat me to it.
I had no idea there were so many avid Goldeye anglers here.

I have never tried flies on Goldeye despite having fished for them since the early 1960s. But I have thought about trying it for years.

I would love to know more about fly fishing for Goldeye. Most of my questions have already been answered right here, I know a lot of things applicable to bait fishing them would also apply to Fly fishing for them, but two questions remains.

I don't want to hijack fishlessfool's thread, but he/she might find the answer to my questions helpful too.

So I wonder, does anyone know, How much difference does water clarity make? The water I fish is almost always murky enough that one can seldom see more then six inches down.

And what about time of year? Will they hit a fly all summer long or is there a best time to switch to flies?

Up here, the water is normally murky till early fall. By then the tributaries are so shallow that fishing them is pointless. The fish are all out in the main river.
But they don't bit very well on bait that time of year. So would flies work better then?

Best time of year is to get them in the spring in the muddy flats.
dry flies work just about all year from latespring to late fall.
the brighter flies the better/more movement.
the visablity doesnt make a diffeance but i find that the murker the water more goldeye.

bright wooly buggers work too on the swing and then stripper upstream

[Rudy198]

not trying to highjack your thread but does anyone know if i can catch Goldeye in the NSR by Fort Sask.?

[BGSH]

you can catch goldeye any where in the river, you dont need a pool for them they are everywhere

[0liver]

Anywhere that you catch suckers, you will catch gold eye. Back eddies and seams in currents where its a slow mix that slowly stirs the bottom really gets them going.

like shawn said its almost impossible to NOT catch a goldeye, if you want 100% chance to catch a goldeye, hate to say it, but PICKEREL RIG with a big fat half of a dew worm on each hook. with only a little bit floating in the current, or else you will have the little .3 pound fish nibbling it off every cast and have you going crazy wondering if your getting bites, bottom, or nothing.

like I said, with flys, try the creek first. the pool under the bridge is a great spot trust me.

[Dust1n]

Originally Posted by 0liver

Anywhere that you catch suckers, you will catch gold eye. Back eddies and seams in currents where its a slow mix that slowly stirs the bottom really gets them going.

like shawn said its almost impossible to NOT catch a goldeye, if you want 100% chance to catch a goldeye, hate to say it, but PICKEREL RIG with a big fat half of a dew worm on each hook. with only a little bit floating in the current, or else you will have the little .3 pound fish nibbling it off every cast and have you going crazy wondering if your getting bites, bottom, or nothing.

like I said, with flys, try the creek first. the pool under the bridge is a great spot trust me.

iv had the best luck with skating a big foam dry in the foam slackwater. anywhere were there is bubbles

[0liver]

good point, the foam line @ Goldbar Treated wastewater Spillway makes for awesome goldeye fishing in the evenings. if you tyed on a big black wooley bugger, you would probably get a nice walter to suck it up.

quik question, whats the biggest goldeye you guys have caught?
[sorry for the hijack]

[Dust1n]

just over 2lbs

[NSRfishing]

caught two goldeye at hermitage to bad they both swollowed the hook float away belly up i hate catching goldeye does not take much to kill one i was fishing the hole under the power lines that stretch of river loaded with goldeye and walleye

[FishlessFool]

Originally Posted by 0liver

like I said, with flys, try the creek first. the pool under the bridge is a great spot trust me.

I tried this spot the other morning when it was pretty cloudy out. No bites, I didn't even see anything rising. Do you think I would have better luck coming in the evening?

[0liver]

maybe in the evening it would be better, and also, if you cross the quennell bridge and walk down [more like hike down LMFAO] to the spill way directly across from whitemud creek, you can get lots of goldeye past the riffle to the left of the outfall, and also under the quenell bridge proper.

[FishingFrenzy]

Okay, So everyone is dishing out the individual locations but how about the kind of PLACES do you find goldeye? By that I mean do you find them off the edges of sandbars? fast water? slow water? creek mouths? deep holes? slow shallow spots? rocks? mud? sand?

That what I would like to know, what are the physical characteristics of GOOD goldeye spots? I want to go to the places nobody knows about, discover my own holes, beat my own trails. Thats all part of the sport for me..

[biggamehunter]

^Im gonna fish the mouth of the whitemud creek from the NSR (where Oliver said) on friday and satuday. PM me if you wanna join me