Nordegg / Edson May long Weekend

The Anvil · #1 05-20-2008, 11:48 PM

Went to Nordegg for the long weekend... like most places was rather busy but over all it was expected.... lots of young highschool noisy groups camping.
Most of the streams were still fast flowing and murky... The Shunda was not all that bad, didn't produce anything for myself but it was on the murky side... I did see one guy catch a decent whitefish... he quickly released it.

The best fishing was at two local lakes... Fish lake and Goldeye lake.
Caught a real nice Bow on Fish lake.

The Girl Caught Two real nice trout at Goldeye Lake... Now I am a little confused... these fish were nice and pretty and looked like a Rainbow/brook trout hybird... when first caught they were a nice healthy color and yummy looking fish....after 30mins on the life line they had darkened up a great deal......here are a few pics of the Goldeye Lake trout.

Here is what the first Goldeye lake hybird rainbow/brook or brown Trout looked like when first caught...for the record the better half...lol my lady caught these next two.

Goldeye lake first Trout fresh caught.

Second trout caught fresh....once again by the Gal.

Then this is them after they were in the water for 30mins on the life line... the water was real cold....seeing how there was still ice on wednesday.... I do not get why they changed color so dark.

BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES · #2 05-21-2008, 01:03 AM

Awesome pictures buddy .

#3 05-21-2008, 07:55 AM

Nice job. Those are definitely purebred rainbows, they start losing their color right away after they're out of the water. Next time you're out, if you can get yourself on the water, fish that opposite end of the lake from the campground (Goldeye) there is a huge weedbed dropoff, if you flyfish or even spinfish with spinners or spoons, you can literally watch the rainbows chasing your hook/fly. It's an adrenaline rush alright, especially when there is a bigger fish.

SNAPFisher · #4 05-21-2008, 08:08 AM

Nice report! Those pics are making me relax

That is a nice bow in the first pics. Thanks for the report.

Not sure why those fish would turn color so quickly. That is not something that I have witnessed before.

duffy4 · #5 05-21-2008, 11:39 AM

Goldeye is one of my favorite trout lakes. I fish it several times a year. Had some great days there with my kids on the ice or in the canoe.

Rainbows and Brook trout will not cross. Ones a trout and ones a char.

Have a good one.

Morph1 · #6 05-21-2008, 11:55 AM

Nice fish , great pics man,
Is that Goldeye lake to the right of Hinton ?? if not could I get directions how to get there ,

thanks.

#7 05-21-2008, 03:05 PM

Hey Morph. It is maybe 10-15 minutes west of Nordegg, just keep following Hwy11 west of rocky, and once you get through nordegg, keep your eyes peeled on the NORTH side of the highway there will be a sign. You will go past Fish(Shunda) Lake first, it's on the south side of the highway, goldeye is not much further. Goldeye has no power and water at the campground (but smaller and quieter) and Fish has power and water in loops 3 and i think 4, but they are further from the lake.

Morph1 · #8 05-21-2008, 04:00 PM

Thanks Tundra, will have to check this area out.
Those lakes look gorgeous

Cheers !

The Fisherman Guy · #9 05-21-2008, 09:43 PM

AWESOME Pics Anvil! Those are some beauty rainbows, thanks for posting!!

#10 05-21-2008, 09:57 PM

Nice fish, I've noticed that kind of coloration early spring on several mid elevation lakes, very nice. I drove by Fairfax Saturday and it was still frozen solid. The thing that's neat about that coloration is its resemblance to the native rainbows in the headwater streams, especially when they find their ways into a lake or highly productive beaver dam sort of scenario

.

#11 05-21-2008, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrs

Nice fish, I've noticed that kind of coloration early spring on several mid elevation lakes, very nice. I drove by Fairfax Saturday and it was still frozen solid. The thing that's neat about that coloration is its resemblance to the native rainbows in the headwater streams, especially when they find their ways into a lake or highly productive beaver dam sort of scenario .

No kiddin

Anyways, they are pretty nice looking lakes, nothing like you'll find in Jasper or K-Country but still, beautiful.

The Anvil · #12 05-21-2008, 11:35 PM

Thanks everyone....
I had a blast out there.....looking forwards to Late July and August... the stream fishing gets real good out there then.

One of my favourite spots however is Snaring River in Jasper... I have caught numerous Rocky mountain whites over the years....and one Bull trout.

#13 05-22-2008, 04:48 PM

'The Anvil' if you are looking for big rockies and bull trout you should stick closer to Nordegg.

hint hint

BBJTKLE&FISHINGADVENTURES · #14 05-22-2008, 04:58 PM

tundra buck know his stuff Jon this guy could pluck a trout out of pigeon .

#15 05-23-2008, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BIGBADJOHN

tundra buck know his stuff Jon this guy could pluck a trout out of pigeon .

That'd be a sight to see. If they were in there, I'd be on them like I am on a cold beer on a hot summer day.

#16 05-23-2008, 08:01 PM

Hey guys I just found a couple pictures from Shunda lake a couple years back, with a lower-end camera.

Shunda(Baldy) Mountain on the left, and Coliseum on the right. Coliseum is an awesome hike for anyone interested; Baldy you can drive 2/3 of the way up, not my cup of tea.

Here is an evening on Fish Lake, look at how many fish were rising at that moment.

danhunt · #17 05-24-2008, 12:00 PM

I'd hazard a guess that the difference in colour is due to the fact that the fish in Goldeye Lake are likely spawn bound. It happens a lot in lakes with no inlet/outlet stream, or even a decent chunk of gravel where the fish can at least go through the motions and get rid of their eggs or milt. If you look at the tail of the fish from Fish Lake, its all ratty and torn up, possibly from digging a redd, while the tails of the other two aren't. I've seen rainbows in BC that were still dark as late as the Canada Day long weekend. Sometimes you can look at fish that you've just landed and not be sure if it's "clean" or not, but when you bonk 'em they colour up quick like those two did you know.

On a side note, you can interbreed trout and char, but you likely wouldn't get a cross between a Rainbow and a Brookie because they are spring and fall spawners respectively. You can cross a Brown and Brookie because they are both fall spawners, and the resulting offspring is called the Tiger Trout. They are supposed to be extremely agressive, to the point where a lot of places where they are stocked are exclusively catch and release to keep them from getting fished out too quickly. I don't know of any around here, but there are some lakes in eastern SK and in MB that have them. There is some natural hybridization if both species exist in the same water, but only about 5% of the eggs are naturally viable, and even if they do hatch and grow in to fish the adults of such a cross are sterile. I've heard that hatcheries have been able to increase the viability by quite a bit by shocking the fertilized eggs.