Wab access update (March 1)

Geezle · #1 03-02-2011, 07:23 AM

Well, it was too cold for work yesterday, so I headed out to Wab for the day. Was cold as hell out there, but it was sunny and at first there wasn't a breath of wind, so it actually didnt' feel so bad

The morning was really slow, but when mooseknuckle showed up a little after 1pm things took right off...he must have brought some good mojo out with him. We weren't keeping track but must have iced at least 15 pike between the two of us...most were in the 6-8lb range...no lake monsters for us that day.

Access isn't quite as good as it was with the snow we got recently but I was still able to drive out in 2wd. There's probably enough snow now that the guys with cars won't be able to drive like they could for the past couple weeks. Another inch or two of snow is forecasted for today so depending on how it drifts the lake may be 4x4 only soon. For now if you've got a truck with decent clearance even with no 4x4 you SHOULD still be okay.

Just for fun here's a couple pics from my outing on Sunday

maclennanchris · #2 03-02-2011, 07:52 AM

Looked like a fun day. Rye and I are thinnking Sunday for heading out. Still have yet to meet Terry. Anyhow let me know what you have going on.

mooseknuckle · #3 03-02-2011, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maclennanchris

Looked like a fun day. Rye and I are thinnking Sunday for heading out. Still have yet to meet Terry. Anyhow let me know what you have going on.

Perfect thinking of heading back out on Sunday. Yesterday was one of the best days I've had out there this year at least for quantity! Like Geezle mentioned nothing over 10lbs yesterday but at least a dozen in the 7-9 range and they were hitting everything, Crocker, mackeral, smelt, etc.

maclennanchris · #4 03-02-2011, 11:16 AM

Sounds good....pm me with the deats. We are thinking of heading out pretty early??

Geezle · #5 03-02-2011, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maclennanchris

Looked like a fun day. Rye and I are thinnking Sunday for heading out. Still have yet to meet Terry. Anyhow let me know what you have going on.

Sunday is looking promising

alodar · #6 03-02-2011, 08:08 PM

Hey Jay of u still got my number send me a text if ur heading out I might be able to make it aswell but that being said I won't be if I can't get rid of all that Junk I'm trying to removed from my old house..... u got a truck or a trailer that takes a class 2 hitch I can borrow my truck broken not firming on all cylinders.... rocker ARM popped off and mangled... cant afford to fix it atm

Kim473 · #7 03-04-2011, 04:38 AM

Those pike sure look like they have been eating alot. Nice and fat. Anyone other than me think they should reduce the amount of pike in that lake so that the other fish may grow in numbers a little. Whites, Perch etc... Seems like there is an awfull amount of large pike in there. 5lbs plus. IMO I think they should stock Wab with about 5,000 adult Perch (10") and reduce some pike. Would be interesting to know what the pike have been eating. Maybe even stock some Bass in it. Just my two cents. Oops worth 2.5 cents now.
Ever see any whites in your spot Geezle? Probly what the pike have been chasing. Used to be some nice and lots of White fish come out of there years back but I think the Pike have been eating them. Used to see alot of nice Burbs in there also.

Geezle · #8 03-04-2011, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kim473

Those pike sure look like they have been eating alot. Nice and fat. Anyone other than me think they should reduce the amount of pike in that lake so that the other fish may grow in numbers a little. Whites, Perch etc... Seems like there is an awfull amount of large pike in there. 5lbs plus. IMO I think they should stock Wab with about 5,000 adult Perch (10") and reduce some pike. Would be interesting to know what the pike have been eating. Maybe even stock some Bass in it. Just my two cents. Oops worth 2.5 cents now.
Ever see any whites in your spot Geezle? Probly what the pike have been chasing. Used to be some nice and lots of White fish come out of there years back but I think the Pike have been eating them. Used to see alot of nice Burbs in there also.

I've never seen a white down the hole myself, but from time to time somebody in the area comes across one. I'm pretty sure that on the average I'm fishing too deep to really be coming across whites on a regular basis.

I don't know about stocking perch in there...I've regularly been coming across LOTS of small perch, and I'm guessing that if a person was to search around enough and actually target them, you'd most likely find some big ones in there. I've also caught some spot tailed shiners on a tiny jig out there

The walleye are really the missing link in this lake. I've read that there are some pretty wild fluctuations in the populations of perch and bait fish because there just aren't enough walleye to eat 'em up. If SRD's stocking plan works out and we get a good self sustaining population of walleye they'd help clean up the tiny perch so on average they get bigger, and they would also provide food for the pike, as well as their own angling opportunities.

Bass in Alberta lakes has been discussed many times and won't work.

It'll be a sad sad day when they open Wab up for retention again...it's an amazing fishery as it is right now, but in the future if/when they open it up I see the lake getting hammered like Isle