I thought its time to give an update on my last 2 outings on Pigeon Lake. In past years this lake has slowed for active fish around mid January. This year with some above average warm spells, the bite has held strong all winter.
At the beginning of February I ventured out for a half day of fishing. The temperatures had started to return to below zero, after our above average warm spell of +10°C. Prior to nearly two weeks of above zero temperatures, Pigeon Lake was covered in deep snow and flood ice. Snowmobiles struggled to move anglers to their favorite honey holes and it seemed like the season might be a write off. Post melt down, Pigeon Lake was mostly bare ice on the South shore with 6” of rock hard snow pack on the North shore.
With bare ice on the South shore, I believe these conditions attributed to the cranked up bite. The clear sunny days seemed to produce great numbers of fish in shallow water. Visibility under the ice was phenomenal and I’m sure the fish could see for miles. When looking down your hole, the under ice surroundings were intensely lit up. On this day I managed two and a half hours of line time that gave me a total of 16 fish. The bite was on fire and as fast as you could drop you lure down, the fish would power off the bottom and indulge your bait.
More recently, I decided to try my luck this past weekend. I returned to old faithful, a spot that produced so well only two weeks prior. Old faithful did give up some fish but not nearly as many as she did last time. Between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. I managed to land 6 fish. In my book, that is slow for what this lake is capable of producing. Not to mention the fact that I moved three times and drilled 30 holes, all for a six fish achievement. With overcast skies and a low barometer reading I decided to head back to the cottage for lunch and a quick nap. In the past I have found that these weather conditions yield slow daytime bites, but often can trigger primetime-feeding windows around sunrise and sunset. Time to move on.
Around 3 p.m. I strapped back into my ice gear and returned to the lake. Since I only caught a few fish in shallow water this morning, I chose to move out to deeper water between 18’ and 20’. Up to this point I didn’t find any schools of fish stacked tight. For this reason I drilled my string of holes spacing them about 60’ apart. The large distance between holes helps to cover large sections of the ice quickly. With a string of 10 holes drilled I was ready to begin my hunt for primetime walleyes. The area I set up on would soon prove to be exactly what I had been searching for. There was an active school of baitfish in the area and the walleye school trailing behind was massive. I fished through several of my holes until I found the all mighty producer. This lucky hole landed me 21 fish on Saturday evening, bringing my total for the day to an impressive 27. The fish were putting the feedbag on. Often the flasher would show three fish all swimming off bottom to take a run at my bait. Unfortunately the action had to end, all thanks to a rookie move I made, only bringing one can of minnows onto the ice. It’s hard to walk away from such aggressive action all because the minnow tub runs dry. Oh well there’s always tomorrow.
Well tomorrow did come. Although my time would be limited as I needed to be in Edmonton for mid afternoon. I armed myself with two full tubs of minnows and returned to lasts nights godly honey hole. Upon arrival I re-drilled the old holes that had frozen over. Additionally, I drilled a hole for my tip-up about 20’ away from my tent. Soon I realized the school of baitfish was still in the area and hot on their tails was a hungry school of walleye. The tip up quickly became more of a nuisance than an effective fishing tool. The two scenarios’ I faced were either; I couldn’t get the tip-up bait to the bottom without catching a fish, or I couldn’t make it back to my tent without having a flag go off. It was only after I set the hook on something big enough to snap off the stinger and bend my jig hook wide open that I decided to put the tip-up away. It was time to settle into my tent and enjoy some non-stop walleye action. The bite held strong all morning and lasted until about 1 p.m. Fish were still biting, however they required a little more finesse to convince them into taking the bait. Successfully I managed to finish off both tubs of minnows, and even resorted to a twister tail at the end in a greedy attempt to land more fish. Total count for the day was 46 fish. Majority of the fish were walleye, but there were a few pike in the mix.
As much as we all love the warmth of our ice huts. It’s often worth it to break down and make moves around pursuing those active fish. For me, I won’t be back on this lake until she thaws into open water. What a great way to wrap up my last ice fishing day on Pigeon Lake. Pictures to follow!
February 1, 2014:
February 16, 2014:
Pigeon Lake Update, With Pictures
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