Lake Minnewanka

[rena0040]

I'm hoping to get out in the next couple weeks but have never been on the lake let alone fished there.

Is there anyone with experience on the lake willing to tag along and show me around and what to use. I'll supply the boat, truck and gas.

I dont have downriggers though, but have spining and fly gear.

Thanks

[Safety D]

Its a tough lake to fish. good luck !!!

[wildcat111]

right now the fish are biting on a red midge , i was using a 14 ft leader and fishing in about 20 ft of water, look for the guide boats. some people were also jigging but didn't due as well as the fly fisherman.its nice if you have an anchor also.

[mikebossy]

are the guide bats nymphing as well? they only ever used to jig in 50 to 100 feet of water or troll later in the year.

[tight line]

was there jigging w/ tube jigs may long, marked about 50 good fish on my sonar, they would come right up and check it out but wouldnt hit... guess ill be flyfishing next spring.

[TROLLER]

Was there yesterday and the guides are not using the fly yet. One told me they won't even get to the nymph till July at earliest.

Anywhere there is water flowing into the lake you will find schools with lakers in the area.

Best place to start is with the jig and white tube. A few k down the lake you will see the campground on your left, good place to start, after that you can watch the guides and where they are fishn, just make sure you give em some room

[rena0040]

Thanks for the tips guys, what size flies and tube jigs are you using? i have some white with black speckled tubes about 3-4" that worked well for bulls in lower k over the winter, is that about right?

[TROLLER]

Pretty well anything white will work. I have caught em on red and white tube skirts.

If you troll right now you don't need much weight, I have just been flat lining either a cyclops or apax behind a small diamond troller about 2 mph.

[BeeGuy]

What is a diamond troller?

[TROLLER]

Small diamond shaped blades you can get em in ford fender or many other brands.

[TROLLER]

Should rephrase most guys call em willowleaf

[BeeGuy]

You're using them as a small flasher ya?

[TROLLER]

Yup then about 5ft behind that a large silver grey apex with a gigano single hook. Or with about 2ft of leader a cyclops

[rena0040]

Thanks for all the tips, I'm heading out Monday morning, any recent updates on whats working, water condition and how deep the fish are.

[Gust]

Beeguy, that bigg brassy flasher I gave yiou would be before the lure, the willow leaf, truck, diamond troller.

[tight line]

Ya seen the guides using the diamond flashers!

[blackmamba]

was at Mini yesterday , and the water is back to normal levels , however visibilty was only about 4ft .. pretty muddy and lots of debris on the lake , becareful of deadheads ..

[rena0040]

i made it out today, it was my first time on the lake so i cant really judge normal water levels or clarity but it looked pretty murky and there is a ton logs, bark sticks and full trees floating around the lake.

Surface water temp ranged from 46-51, we fished anywere from 15-100 feet of water and got nothing but marked fish at all levels. i did meet a guy who showed me a few spots and what to bring for the next trip, as an added bonus he gave me a 10lb trout.

i'm planning on trying again next week, hopefully the water has cleared up a bit

[BeeGuy]

Originally Posted by rena0040

i made it out today, it was my first time on the lake so i cant really judge normal water levels or clarity but it looked pretty murky and there is a ton logs, bark sticks and full trees floating around the lake.

Surface water temp ranged from 46-51, we fished anywere from 15-100 feet of water and got nothing but marked fish at all levels. i did meet a guy who showed me a few spots and what to bring for the next trip, as an added bonus he gave me a 10lb trout.

i'm planning on trying again next week, hopefully the water has cleared up a bit

what did he suggest for your next trip? any lure suggestions?

what size of boat do you have?

and a 10lb trout???? uh sweet!

[BeeGuy]

How was the wind at different times of the day?

[rena0040]

He showed me his minnewanka box, lots of tube jigs in white, green, orange and blue. I was surprised at the spoons he uses, big green and blue pike spoons jigged off the bottom. I'll be giving them a shot next week.

I have an old 17ft fibreglass closed bow, its real deep so it handles rough water well. The wind was pretty calm till about 2:30 when we started heading in.

[BeeGuy]

Thanks for the update