Steepbank and Goodwin Lakes

[AxeMan]

A buddy and me headed up the old Conklin road north of Lac la Biche this weekend. We pulled my 14 foot aluminum boat up the old washboard sand road for 95 kms and fished Steepbank and Goodwin lakes. I used to go up there quite bit about 15 to 20 years ago. Things haven't changed all that much except for the logging by Alpac and the big fire a few years back, both of which I think did the area some good.

The fishing was different than I remember though. We caught Pike just about every cast in Steepbank like the old days but they were much smaller than they used to be. 2 pounders are the norm now instead of the 5 pounders of the past. Still, it is a very pretty lake and we camped above little Steepbank in a great little spot. Blueberries and pincherries are thick up there so the bears should be well fed.

The big surprise was Goodwin lake. We fished it on Sunday afternoon and caught many 2 pound Pike as expected. That is all I have ever caught in the past also. As we were coming off the lake we met a group of eastern European guys also loading their boat. He asked me in an accent how we did. I said lot's of small ones. He said, "no big ones?" I told him confidently that the lake had no really big fish. He then told me that they caught a couple of 18 pounders, a 23, a 25, and a 26. I thought to myself ya right and thought in my mind that he was talking inches. I asked if they kept them and if I could have a look. He said sure and then I saw the biggest group of Jacks that I have ever seen in my life. I still can't believe it and am still in shock. He said the big ones were biting in the morning. I will be back soon. Funny thing, we talked to an old guy that we met on the road at steepbank that told us that the fish in Goodwin have grown up.

We saw many whitetails and a couple of moose. One really good buck. There were lots of caribou and bear tracks also.

It's been a fun month. First the trip to the Yukon, then a great Walleye weekend at Touchwood, and then this.

Little Steepbank
Little Steepbank.JPG

Camp above Little Steepbank
Steepbank Camp.JPG

[Walleyes]

Beautiful country that is,, makes me home sick big time..

Thx for these pics Axe can't wait to get back home for some time this fall...

[Wulfespirit]

Nice post and - like Walleyes - brings back some memories. As great as some of the lakes in that region are, I still can't help but shudder about thefts and confrontations with some of the locals up there.

Did you have any problems?

I'd love to do some fishing up there again - but not without at least 3 of 4 guys and 2-3 vehicles. Definately not a place I'd want to bring my daughter.

[AxeMan]

Wulf, we never had any problems. Actually, I have never had any problems in the Lac la Biche area personally. I don't think Lac la Biche is any worse for than a lot of other places in Alberta. Use common sense and lock up your valuables. There are far more really nice people up there than not we have found over the years. My grandpa homesteaded at Beaver Lake and our family has been fishing the area for many years.
The only trouble we ever had was a few windows were broke in the house trailer on the homestead and my uncles truck window was smashed at Heart lake once.

I wouldn't let a few bad apples spoil the areas limitless potential for awesome fishing and camping.

[Wulfespirit]

Originally Posted by AxeMan

Wulf, we never had any problems. Actually, I have never had any problems in the Lac la Biche area personally. I don't think Lac la Biche is any worse for than a lot of other places in Alberta. Use common sense and lock up your valuables. There are far more really nice people up there than not we have found over the years. My grandpa homesteaded at Beaver Lake and our family has been fishing the area for many years.
The only trouble we ever had was a few windows were broke in the house trailer on the homestead and my uncles truck window was smashed at Heart lake once.

I wouldn't let a few bad apples spoil the areas limitless potential for awesome fishing and camping.

I'm not saying that you're guaranteed to be walking into a warzone. I, too, have been on MANY trips to the area without incident in the past.

However, several trips to Heart, Goodwin, Wapau, Beaver, Pinehurst, Missawawi, LLB lake, and Goodfish also suffered from thefts from vehicles, thefts from boats, thefts from trailers/motorhomes, confrontations with drunk/high locals in both broad daylight and the middle of the night, confrontations with locals demanding money for whatever phoney BS they were pitching, and local disputes sometimes violently resolved right in the midst of public and kids.

While you're right things like this can happen anywhere, I've been lucky enough to have never had a problem in the north and northwest regions of the province.

[AxeMan]

Wulf, how was the fishing on your trips to Goodwin and Wappau? Like I said I am still in shock at those fish that I saw at Goodwin. The guy I met said he has taken some really big jacks out of Wappau as well. We went to Wappau but the lake was pretty messy with blue-green algae. We did not fish it. It is certainly a different lake than Steepbank and Goodwin.

Walleyes, what is your experience at Goodwin? Any big ones?

[Wulfespirit]

Wappau was a haven for monster pike - but I believe there was an off and on partial winterkill happening due to it's lack of depth. The last time I fished it was 2002 and while it wasn't quite as productive as it was in the 80s and 90s, we still caught several big pike in the 10-20lb range (along with lots of smaller ones too). Their didn't seem to be any problem with numbers as at some times during the day, you could literally drop anchor and pull a pike in on every cast for 1-2 hours at a time.

I fished Goodwin roughly once a year between about '95 and '02. It wasn't quite as good for huge pike as Wappau but the numbers were decent and there WAS a few monsters in there. The nice thing about Goodwin was that occasionally you could find a decent school of perch (we'd find them about every other year) and catch a bunch in the 1lb neighbourhood. While there's supposed to be perch on Wappau, we never found them there as everywhere you went seemed to be teaming with pike.

I'd never seen blue/green algae on Wappau but given its shallowness and our weather this summer, I believe it. Probably worth hitting early in the year or in mid-fall.

[Wulfespirit]

Just thinking that we used to see a ton of black bears and even the odd grizzly up there too (always had to cover/hide everything at camp). Do you happen to see any?

[AxeMan]

We didn't see any bears on this trip but saw a lot of black bear tracks and scat. We have seen many blackies on previous trips. I shot a nice blackie on the shore of Steepbank several years ago. In 1987, I saw a grizz near the Logan river bridge. With the amount of blueberries up there this year a bear could fatten up without having to walk a hundred yards....lol. We had the 12 guage can of bear spray in our lean-to just in case.

[Walleyes]

I have never fished Goodwin. My time spent on and around the lake we were always out for moose or on a friends trap line. We have taken a couple dandy moose out of there over the years. I have fished Wappau but all I have ever seen come out of it were hammer handles but I do know of some nice fish coming out of there. A friend of mines son landed a 22 lb'er onto the shore on Wappau 2 years ago. The kid was 9 years old and landed the fish on 10# test line, not a bad accomplishment for a kid.

As far as these tales about the locals,, well some area's like Heart and maybe Goodfish are some places to be aware of but for the most part it is no different than nay other place in A.B. if you mind your business the boys will mind theirs. The main thing is to mind your business..

[Wulfespirit]

Wappau had huge pike in the late 80s and early 90s - I have no idea if they're still around but if you know someone who landed a 22lber, it's a good sign.

You're right though - there were days where you'd nab a 2-5 pounder on every cast. But there were also days where every second fish was 10+ lbs.

[foxrider]

wapau and little steepbank lake has always been a favorite lake of mine. me and my dad are planning to go back there this summer for a few days. we were last there in 04. we always went a little ways past the point. we caught a fish every second cast if not every one. when my dad cooked supper i would be catching fish just by casting off the beach. its a great area for quading too. as for encounters we seen some bears but never any drunken or high locals.

[bark284]

Steepbanks down to steepbank lake but wappau lake supports good size fish that will pull your drag have tried goodwin once but it was windy and caught one from shore on first cast. The may river looked full thought it would look like freeman river.