fishing in alberta

[sk2008]

hi all, new to the forum here, been lurking for while

I went out fishing for the first time yesterday after I moved to Alberta 8 years ago, it was great to dust off my old fishing gears. but why so many lakes have catch and release on walleyes here? even pikes and trout for some lakes, it's nice to practice that but won't it be nicer to let people keep one?

i moved here from Saskatchewan, I've been fishing there for many years, mainly Diefenbaker Lake, Buffalo Pound lake, Avonlea etc. fishing there was great, 90% of time I could bring home a keeper or two at the end of the day, kind of like a reward in a way.

anyway, i went to Pine coulee, i was hoping to catch at least one pike as a reward but after catch release ~25 walleyes in ~3 hours the fun was going down hill a little bit. then i packed up my gears and went to Eagles lake for ~2hrs and got no luck, not even a bite.

it was great to pick up those fishing gears again though , might have to pick up some fly fishing lesson, seems like there's more trout type fish than anything around here.

[DiabeticKripple]

Originally Posted by sk2008

hi all, new to the forum here, been lurking for while

I went out fishing for the first time yesterday after I moved to Alberta 8 years ago, it was great to dust off my old fishing gears. but why so many lakes have catch and release on walleyes here? even pikes and trout for some lakes, it's nice to practice that but won't it be nicer to let people keep one?

i moved here from Saskatchewan, I've been fishing there for many years, mainly Diefenbaker Lake, Buffalo Pound lake, Avonlea etc. fishing there was great, 90% of time I could bring home a keeper or two at the end of the day, kind of like a reward in a way.

anyway, i went to Pine coulee, i was hoping to catch at least one pike as a reward but after catch release ~25 walleyes in ~3 hours the fun was going down hill a little bit. then i packed up my gears and went to Eagles lake for ~2hrs and got no luck, not even a bite.

it was great to pick up those fishing gears again though , might have to pick up some fly fishing lesson, seems like there's more trout type fish than anything around here.

our angler to lake ratio is too high to allow harvest on some lakes in AB. the lakes close to calgary, red deer and edmonton would get fished out in a few years if they opened it up.

I think the tag system would work good, then ESRD can limit the amount harvested per year

[pinelakeperch]

Originally Posted by sk2008

hi all, new to the forum here, been lurking for while

I went out fishing for the first time yesterday after I moved to Alberta 8 years ago, it was great to dust off my old fishing gears. but why so many lakes have catch and release on walleyes here? even pikes and trout for some lakes, it's nice to practice that but won't it be nicer to let people keep one?

i moved here from Saskatchewan, I've been fishing there for many years, mainly Diefenbaker Lake, Buffalo Pound lake, Avonlea etc. fishing there was great, 90% of time I could bring home a keeper or two at the end of the day, kind of like a reward in a way.

anyway, i went to Pine coulee, i was hoping to catch at least one pike as a reward but after catch release ~25 walleyes in ~3 hours the fun was going down hill a little bit. then i packed up my gears and went to Eagles lake for ~2hrs and got no luck, not even a bite.

it was great to pick up those fishing gears again though , might have to pick up some fly fishing lesson, seems like there's more trout type fish than anything around here.

Were you fishing near the bridge at Pine Coulee?

[sk2008]

Originally Posted by DiabeticKripple

our angler to lake ratio is too high to allow harvest on some lakes in AB. the lakes close to calgary, red deer and edmonton would get fished out in a few years if they opened it up.

I think the tag system would work good, then ESRD can limit the amount harvested per year

i guess so, but also the amount of walleyes here is very limited too in both numbers and lakes that have them.i need to pick up my fly fishing game for trouts since they have 100x more and less restrictions.

Originally Posted by jhutter

Were you fishing near the bridge at Pine Coulee?

yes i was, but not that close as there's too much boat action going on that day, you are not the guy that jumped off those rocks, right? haha

[pinelakeperch]

Originally Posted by sk2008

i guess so, but also the amount of walleyes here is very limited too in both numbers and lakes that have them.i need to pick up my fly fishing game for trouts since they have 100x more and less restrictions.


yes i was, but not that close as there's too much boat action going on that day, you are not the guy that jumped off those rocks, right? haha

Most certainly not, haha. Just seeing how good the fishing is there at this time of year. I haven't fished there this early before.

[nobodysbetter]

I would love to start fishing again been so busy

my 11 yr old wants me to take him pike fishing anybody know a good spot off shore within an hr from calgary?

[GrandMasterFish]

Originally Posted by DiabeticKripple

our angler to lake ratio is too high to allow harvest on some lakes in AB. the lakes close to calgary, red deer and edmonton would get fished out in a few years if they opened it up.

I think the tag system would work good, then ESRD can limit the amount harvested per year

So long as there is proper enforcement, you can make all the laws you want if no one's there to enforce they really don't matter.

Illegal fishing is poaching.

[Sleddawg]

Originally Posted by nobodysbetter

I would love to start fishing again been so busy

my 11 yr old wants me to take him pike fishing anybody know a good spot off shore within an hr from calgary?

Crawling Valley is great. Little further than an hour but definitely some great shore fishing there.

[lds]

Originally Posted by nobodysbetter

I would love to start fishing again been so busy

my 11 yr old wants me to take him pike fishing anybody know a good spot off shore within an hr from calgary?

Glenmore reservoir. Caught 5 pike in about 2 hrs last year. That was the only time I fished it but it surprised me. If you use google maps you can see where the river used to run so stick to that cuz it drops off and the pike like the drop offs.

[Russ C]

Originally Posted by nobodysbetter

I would love to start fishing again been so busy

my 11 yr old wants me to take him pike fishing anybody know a good spot off shore within an hr from calgary?

Or try Eagle lake just east of Strathmore for pike / walleye.