Fishing spots east of Calgary

[Jorg]

Just thought I would share some fishing spots I have found and some possible fishing holes that some of you might want to explore this winter. All within 45 min of Calgary.

Graham creek reservoir
Found this little gem this summer a small lake about 2.5 km long shaped like a Y. With my castable sonar I recorded depths of 28 feet max. Had some good pike fishing days with approx 50% being legal size my largest was 6lb4oz. I released all fish.
How to get there--
Take Yankee valley Blvd(Township Rd 270) east from Airdrie approx 10 kilometers till you hit highway 791 turn south approx 3 kilometers you will hit a T intersection go approx 1 kilometer east till you hit the 791 intersection park there. Walk about 150 meters north and you are there. I've always fished on the east side so don't know to much about the rest of of the lake.

Bruce lake
Found this place about 5 years ago.It is a group of 3 lakes I have only fished the north lake and the middle lake.The north lake contains mostly smaller pike with the odd legal size and is prone to winter kill. The middle lake is sweet lots of pike and again about 50% over legal size. Locals told me a 28 pounder came out of there once (could be BS) I have not caught anything over 5lbs but the fishing is still good.I kept a few pike a few years ago for a fishfry and found them to be of poor eating quality possibly due to the heavy algae blooms in the summer time. I'm hoping to fish the south lake soon as it is the biggest.

How to get there--
Take highway 566 east from Balzac and keep going approx 27 Kilometers or about 7 kilometers east of highway 9 on the 566, you will see a big house on the lake shore on south side of road

Inverlake
This place is hit and miss some years it is a top notch fishery(abot 4 minutes from my place) some years it is poor all depends what gets sucked in there.In 2002 we were nailing trout like crazy off the bridge All between 4-6.5 pounds with a healthy dose of small pike thrown in. But it is mostly a pike spot and prone to winter kill. A couple years ago they put in a new pipeline beside the bridge and ruined the fishing hole there but still might be worth walking out and drilling some holes as one never knows what is in there.

How to get there--
Take Highway 1 east from Calgary till you hit Inverlake road intersection(just before the Chestermere intersection) turn north and follow road for a couple kilometers it is on the north side

Dalemead reservoir
A reasonable sized body of water, fishing used to be real good 20 years ago but then it slowed down and I stopped going but might be worth checking out as it contains a good assortment of fish Pike,perch,burbot and the odd trout

How to get there---
Take highway 22X east from Calgary once you pass highway 9 it is a few more Kilometers the lake is on the north side.

Body of water east of Irricana
Now I have not fished this body of water yet. But I did drive to it last summer. We decided it would be to hard to lauch the 12 footer because of all the cattails and shallow water near the outlet which flows into the rosedud river. So we went to Bruce lake instead. But this body of water might still be worth checking out as there were many schools of minnows cruising around near the outlet on the north side. I'm thinking where there are little fish there are probably big ones too.

How too get there--
Go east on the number one Highway till you hit Highway 9 go north turn east on the road just before the Irricana entance road go about a kilometer and then turn south onto a dirt road follow till you hit the lake you will see a watergate there.

Hope this helps I will post some more soon.

[superspud]

thanks jorg. i have fished a few of these places (dalmed and bruce withen the last two years and have found them to be pretty poor fishing. but im sure all these lake are so prone to winter kill it could be good any one year and bad the next.

this is awsome info though.

[pecker]

Originally Posted by superspud

thanks jorg. i have fished a few of these places (dalmed and bruce withen the last two years and have found them to be pretty poor fishing. but im sure all these lake are so prone to winter kill it could be good any one year and bad the next.

this is awsome info though.

fished bruce lake last winter a couple times . heard it was good for pike , it was surrounded by private land . only access was off the north end road , need a good 4x4 to get down the ditch. caught a few pike at 22-23" . heard it may have been winterkilled . we were fishing 2ft. of water under 3ft. of ice near the middle. thanks for the info on the other lakes jorg , will have to give them a try. always willing to try find the honey hole .

[muley300]

thanks for the info

[nicemustang]

Awesome info. Never knew any of these lakes had fish and the acreage I live on is so close (prairie royale estates). Inverlake....that where all the geese are all fall which I watch to hunt Willl have to try it out, as well as Graham res...that's so close!

[Jorg]

Originally Posted by pecker

fished bruce lake last winter a couple times . heard it was good for pike , it was surrounded by private land . only access was off the north end road , need a good 4x4 to get down the ditch. caught a few pike at 22-23" . heard it may have been winterkilled . we were fishing 2ft. of water under 3ft. of ice near the middle. thanks for the info on the other lakes jorg , will have to give them a try. always willing to try find the honey hole .

Were you fishing the middle lake (the second one) ? My sonar has recorded depth up to 18 feet there and it has always been good fishing---and yes they screwed with the access a while back I used to drive my van out to the middle lake but now I'm leery about taking my 4x4 down

[Drano]

Originally Posted by Jorg

Were you fishing the middle lake (the second one) ? My sonar has recorded depth up to 18 feet there and it has always been good fishing---and yes they screwed with the access a while back I used to drive my van out to the middle lake but now I'm leery about taking my 4x4 down

I was at bruce last year with pecker and a few other people were out there as well. I found a few spots at 9 feet deep using my sonar.{North Side} We did manage to catch some pike but they seem to be just below the legal size.
When it was time to leave one of the vehicles ahead of us ripped of his front shroud and damaged his radiator, we had to wait for him to get unstuck before we could go.

The entrance is just off the ditch on the north side. It is tricky getting down onto the ice but you have to be really carefull going back up as it may get soft and your tires sink a bit.

Hope this helps... good fishing to all.

[SuCraM]

Originally Posted by Jorg

Just thought I would share some fishing spots I have found and some possible fishing holes that some of you might want to explore this winter. All within 45 min of Calgary.

Graham creek reservoir
Found this little gem this summer a small lake about 2.5 km long shaped like a Y. With my castable sonar I recorded depths of 28 feet max. Had some good pike fishing days with approx 50% being legal size my largest was 6lb4oz. I released all fish.
How to get there--
Take Yankee valley Blvd(Township Rd 270) east from Airdrie approx 10 kilometers till you hit highway 791 turn south approx 3 kilometers you will hit a T intersection go approx 1 kilometer east till you hit the 791 intersection park there. Walk about 150 meters north and you are there. I've always fished on the east side so don't know to much about the rest of of the lake.

Bruce lake
Found this place about 5 years ago.It is a group of 3 lakes I have only fished the north lake and the middle lake.The north lake contains mostly smaller pike with the odd legal size and is prone to winter kill. The middle lake is sweet lots of pike and again about 50% over legal size. Locals told me a 28 pounder came out of there once (could be BS) I have not caught anything over 5lbs but the fishing is still good.I kept a few pike a few years ago for a fishfry and found them to be of poor eating quality possibly due to the heavy algae blooms in the summer time. I'm hoping to fish the south lake soon as it is the biggest.

How to get there--
Take highway 566 east from Balzac and keep going approx 27 Kilometers or about 7 kilometers east of highway 9 on the 566, you will see a big house on the lake shore on south side of road

Inverlake
This place is hit and miss some years it is a top notch fishery(abot 4 minutes from my place) some years it is poor all depends what gets sucked in there.In 2002 we were nailing trout like crazy off the bridge All between 4-6.5 pounds with a healthy dose of small pike thrown in. But it is mostly a pike spot and prone to winter kill. A couple years ago they put in a new pipeline beside the bridge and ruined the fishing hole there but still might be worth walking out and drilling some holes as one never knows what is in there.

How to get there--
Take Highway 1 east from Calgary till you hit Inverlake road intersection(just before the Chestermere intersection) turn north and follow road for a couple kilometers it is on the north side

Dalemead reservoir
A reasonable sized body of water, fishing used to be real good 20 years ago but then it slowed down and I stopped going but might be worth checking out as it contains a good assortment of fish Pike,perch,burbot and the odd trout

How to get there---
Take highway 22X east from Calgary once you pass highway 9 it is a few more Kilometers the lake is on the north side.

Body of water east of Irricana
Now I have not fished this body of water yet. But I did drive to it last summer. We decided it would be to hard to lauch the 12 footer because of all the cattails and shallow water near the outlet which flows into the rosedud river. So we went to Bruce lake instead. But this body of water might still be worth checking out as there were many schools of minnows cruising around near the outlet on the north side. I'm thinking where there are little fish there are probably big ones too.

How too get there--
Go east on the number one Highway till you hit Highway 9 go north turn east on the road just before the Irricana entance road go about a kilometer and then turn south onto a dirt road follow till you hit the lake you will see a watergate there.

Hope this helps I will post some more soon.

Graham creek reservoir is located on private land. I actually know the landowner. You need permission to fish there. He used to let the public fish it a few years ago but a handful of idiots ruined it. Now if he sees someone fishing there without his permission and yes he lives within binocular distance away to see the whole resevoir and will send the rcmp in to give you a ticket.

[Albertadiver]

Thanks for sharing, and thanks for the heads up suCram about the private land.

Just waiting for happyfishpercher to sign on and freak out about his favorite lakes being named on the board again!

[Jorg]

Originally Posted by SuCraM

Graham creek reservoir is located on private land. I actually know the landowner. You need permission to fish there. He used to let the public fish it a few years ago but a handful of idiots ruined it. Now if he sees someone fishing there without his permission and yes he lives within binocular distance away to see the whole resevoir and will send the rcmp in to give you a ticket.

I fished there a dozen times last summer met many people there everybody said it was cool to fish there. If there is a problem just park at the canel about 100 meters east of the 791 intersection and walk in that way.

[FishorDie]

Has anyone tried fishing this inverlake latley?

[slingshotz]

Originally Posted by Drano

I was at bruce last year with pecker and a few other people were out there as well. I found a few spots at 9 feet deep using my sonar.{North Side} We did manage to catch some pike but they seem to be just below the legal size.
When it was time to leave one of the vehicles ahead of us ripped of his front shroud and damaged his radiator, we had to wait for him to get unstuck before we could go.

The entrance is just off the ditch on the north side. It is tricky getting down onto the ice but you have to be really carefull going back up as it may get soft and your tires sink a bit.

Hope this helps... good fishing to all.

If Bruce Lake is a set of three lakes, is this the way in to the northern lake? Anyone have a link to what the lake looks like? Google maps doesn't have this area in high resolution.

[Chris89lx]

Anyone have info or tried these spots lately?

[brianscott]

Hiked throught the snow to GCR a while backto check it out, All dried up, looks to have about a foot of Ice then a whack of mud.
If it was good we were going to find the owner and ask to fish but it wasnt worthwhile

Found the Irricana body of water but didnt have snowshoes to get there and my buddies jeep isnt up for plowing through 2 feet of snow to get there

Not a mark on it though


This was over a month ago, I dont think things have changed.

[Buck Krazy]

Bruce is great in the spring when all the other lakes are closed.