what's up with joussard?????

[junglejay7320]

it all started about 13-15 years ago....

i mean i started fishing slave lake 13-15 years ago....i could go anywhere and hook up with decent fish....cut bank,joussard,driftpile,faust,narrows.....
15-20 walleye and some size...a couple of perch, nice fat jumbo's and a chance @ a 20 pound northern....that's what my day was like @ slave 15 years ago....
it seemed to pretty good until i built a shack and placed it @ joussard....
the first couple of years was good,but only the pan fryers 2-3 pounders....
this last winter just sucked.....i could go 4-5 hours with out seeing a walleye on the camera....this winter was even worse....go all day with one walleye on the ice between 4 guys and hope that prime time would give us our limit,but not even close....

i'm thinking it's fished out around joussard...to many shacks...there's around 200 shacks on the ice @ it"s peak....

[Elk Chaser]

Not to mention how many nets are under the ice!

[Safety D]

Joussard is DEAD !!!!!!!

[Mike_W]

Slave see's alot of pressure pretty much year around. Also alot of native substanice fishing goes on in the spawning areas and times.
Slave has been a pretty good fishery that has been somewhat forgot about with all the other conservation efforts in already collapsed lakes.
I think that SRD needs to take more of an preventative stance on the lake in general I would like to see a small slot limit in place 40 cm - 47cm and one per year around make it a little harder to get a fish for the frying pan.

[bearbait]

its the 200 + shacks...the fish know whats going on when theres 500 baits in the water..we can still do 200+ fish a day in the spring and fall so the populations are still there...i think they just steer clear when theres that much pressure along a drop off..if theres 200 shacks all with one fish thats 200 fish a day...get away from the crowd and u will be rewarded with fish..

good luck..

[outdoors forever]

The west side of Lesser Slave has been terrible all winter. I have a shack out at cutbank and it was bad this year. There were only about 12 - 15 shacks out there so I'm not sure if the fishing pressure is the issue.
My buddy hooked up a on a great 23 inch walleye the last 1/2 hour of our last day before we moved our shack off. Score!! ( caught 4 Burbot that afternoon as well )
Besides that, really slow.
Late May early June is usually FANTASTIC around Shaws Point and Hilliards Bay, however. Hope that trend continues.

[AlbertanGP]

13-15 years ago I lived in Slave Lake, worked four days a week and spent the rest fishing. Now I live in Grande Prairie, but I own property in Joussard. I spend probably 50 days at the lake in the summer, but only get out occasionally in the winter due to my kids' hockey. So I guess I'll throw my 2 cents in here since I am rather passionate about the lake.

First off, I am going to agree the lake is not what it was back in the late '90s. I can actually catch more fish now then I did back then, but they are all the same size now. Back then, you would go out and catch fish from 17" - 24" (and of course some bigger once in awhile)...you never knew what you were going to get when you had a fish on. Now all the fish seem to be the same size at right around 18" or so. It's almost like they are all the same age class. I really noticed this after coming back to the lake around 2006 to start fishing again...it definitely wasn't the same experience I remembered from 10 years earlier.

Before buying property at Joussard, I talked to the head biologist at F&W in charge of the lake to see what was up. I didn't want to buy property on a lake with a dying fishery. He told me there were actually too many fish in the lake and that he didn't expect the fishery to collapse any time soon. My fishing over the past couple of years more or less confirmed this as again I can catch more fish now then I could back then (and I used to finish in the money in the GWC so I have a general idea how to catch walleye ). A year or two ago a local friend in Joussard who was born and raised there told me he thought there were too many fish in the lake as well and that they were stunted. This got me to thinking of all the fish I had cleaned in recent memory and the fact that they always had empty stomachs. It also brought to mind fish we've caught like this 9lb8oz fish back in 2008.



This fish had the head of a 12-13lb fish with absolutely no body on it. It looked goofy, like it was either really old or starved. It came up like a log, literally, and never fought at all even at the side of the boat. I have amongst other degrees a B.Sc. in Biology, but I haven't been able to figure out exactly what's happening in the lake...yet. I can tell you this though, it's not fished out. I haven't been skunked once since returning to the lake back in 2006. A tip regarding the open water season...learn to adapt. You can't just drag a bottom bouncer around Slave and clean up any more. That's all I did in the '90s. Last year I rarely bottom bounced at all...it just doesn't seem that productive anymore. If you have a variety of techniques at your disposal (rigging, jigging, cranking, slip floating) and you know when to use them, you really shouldn't have a problem in Slave in the Summer.

Now the comments on ice fishing, and this season in particular, are a bit more perplexing to me. I only made it out around the Christmas holidays, but we had fantastic fishing. You can read about it here if you like. Again, it's hardly fished out. Not all spots are created equal amongst those 200+ ice shanties though. Many people are perfectly happy to just plunk their shack out on the ice and hope for the best. I hammered fish in one spot and it was dead 30' away. Went back to the original spot and was on fish again. So if someone wants to say the fishing was poor the last month or so (which isn't the story I got BTW) then that's fine. But if you tell me it was bad all year, I'm gonna put the blame on you because that simply was not my experience.

Oh and bear, those shacks are not along a drop off. I've mapped several areas of the lake, including where all the shacks are. It's a big flat all the way across. Well, it tapers slowly to be honest, but it's essentially flat. It's human nature that when there are only a few shacks out there ( I was out the first and second weekend the shacks were placed) they seem to be in a line. People think they are on to something and keep propagating this line until suddenly it looks like everyone is magically perched on a dropoff. I'd show you a map of the bottom there, but it's boring. Here's a more interesting example of a two mile stretch of Big Grassy...



Again, the fish are there if you do your homework. But I do agree with the OP, it's not the same lake it was in the '90s. Cheers.

[Shmag]

Well i lived in slave since 92 so i guess i could give some feed back.
dhigson good post btw, and what technology is that mapping from??? 3d sonar???

It has been a strange year this year no doubt, but i have expereinced what dhigson said as well. One spot is dead and move 30 ft over and just hammer them. However for the most part i feel the lake is and should be a big concern to fisheries. I feel the population is there but they are skinny(starving). Every year in the east end derby's the biggest two day weight total's seem to be dropping by close to a 1/2 to 1 pound every year. Telling me the bigger fish are definetly getting thinned out.

As much as i hate to admit it, But (yikes) here it goes... i don't have any faith in the fisheries to fix it. The limit's over the past few years should be proof they don't have a clue on what is going on or how to approach a solution to fix it. They have gone to 3 limit, to a 1 limit, to a 2 limit, to a slot limit, now 2 in winter and 1 in summer????????????????????????

For one if you are going to commit to a slot size you have to be in for a long haul. It will and needs 6-7years to show it's benefit's. They do it for a year or two and give up on it???????????????? The main reason they claim is it is too confusing for people to figure out...come on

Put the damn slot size back into effect release your healthy spawners...let's say that size being 18-24 inch's is to be released...how hard is that to understand??? Take your 1 fish either under 18 inch or over 24 and thats it. Its only protecting 6 inches of fish. 6-7 years from now after the protected fish grow out of the slot you will have some nice fish back in the lake and keep that cycle going.

I am sure there are lots that would disagree and thats fine, thats just my fix

[firegod74]

For me its all backwards. I moved here in the winter of 2006. The summer of 2007 the fishing was too good. If there is such a thing. The kids caught so many that between landing fish and re-baiting you wouldn't have time to rig up your own rod. We finally started only pretending to put a minnow on their hooks and throwing the hook back in the water bare so we could have a break. We decided to only keep fish over 50 cm instead of the legal 43 because the fishing trip would be over in an hour if you kept the little guys. We still only keep 50's. What I see is not many young fish (perch size) being caught. Thats where my concern lies. I don't know what it will be like in another 5 years or so.

This is my only winter of really trying to ice fish. Our spot wasn't hot by any means. Like the previous poster said, we got in the line with everybody else and hoped for the best. I was never skunked though, and thats all I ask for when sitting on a frozen lake.

This summer I'll GPS the ridge with my fishfinder and hopefully the winter fishing will be as good as the summer.

[AlbertanGP]

Shmag, I use a program called Dr. Depth to parse the log files off my HDS units. I'm not sure how familiar with mappng you are, but this is the same system Bruce "Doc" Samson uses/teaches. I have all sorts of maps like that for places like Andrew, Shaw Creek, and lots of other little interesting features on the lake. I'm running two Structure Scan units on my boat this season, so I am not sure how much maping I'll need to do now. My boat has over $10,000 in electronics on board. I regularly get heckled leaving the marina in Joussard for not giving the fish a chance. I think those guys on the dock are just jealous.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm in Joussard right now. Yesterday I stopped and talked to the fellow who won the Golden last year. He confirmed to me that ice fishing was absolutely fantastic this past season. Not so much at Joussard, but other areas in the West Basin coughed up several fish upwards of 12 pounds. Unfortunately, most of them were kept. On a brighter note personally, seeing these large fish caught in the winter and nowhere to be found in the Summer caused a light bulb to come on in my head. I think I know the summer pattern those large fish are on. I've been suspicious of it since I lived in Slave Lake back in the '90s, but never felt the need to put the hours in the confirm it. I do agree with Shmag, the larger fish on classic structure are getting thinned out.

[Shmag]

Originally Posted by dhigson

Shmag, I use a program called Dr. Depth to parse the log files off my HDS units. I'm not sure how familiar with mappng you are, but this is the same system Bruce "Doc" Samson uses/teaches. I have all sorts of maps like that for places like Andrew, Shaw Creek, and lots of other little interesting features on the lake. I'm running two Structure Scan units on my boat this season, so I am not sure how much maping I'll need to do now. My boat has over $10,000 in electronics on board. I regularly get heckled leaving the marina in Joussard for not giving the fish a chance. I think those guys on the dock are just jealous.

Back to the topic at hand, I'm in Joussard right now. Yesterday I stopped and talked to the fellow who won the Golden last year. He confirmed to me that ice fishing was absolutely fantastic this past season. Not so much at Joussard, but other areas in the West Basin coughed up several fish upwards of 12 pounds. Unfortunately, most of them were kept. On a brighter note personally, seeing these large fish caught in the winter and nowhere to be found in the Summer caused a light bulb to come on in my head. I think I know the summer pattern those large fish are on. I've been suspicious of it since I lived in Slave Lake back in the '90s, but never felt the need to put the hours in the confirm it. I do agree with Shmag, the larger fish on classic structure are getting thinned out.

Gee i will have to look into the mapping, might have to rob a bank to get me started though.lol Pretty sweet technology. I don't suppose you would care to share the tidbit of info for their summer patterns through a pm would ya.lol
If you don't ask you won't receive...so had to throw it out there

[AlbertanGP]

Mapping is not expensive, if you have a unit with an SD card currently. The biggest cost is your time and fuel if you're hardcore into it (imagine spending all day travelling off plane at <5mph in tight little grids and you can't fish because catching fish disrupts your passes). To be honest, I've never come across anyone else who did it for more than a day after I showed them how. But I can help you out if it still sounds like something you want to do. There is something to be said for knowing exactly what a place like Cutbank looks like in 3D and pulling into a group of 30 boats on a sunny August evening and having doubles on before the anchor hits the bottom.

That pattern I am keeping to myself for a couple of reasons. First, I believe it to be worth some money in tournaments if it pans out. The first time will be a free pass since no one fishes the pattern. And I think to be honest it would take the smarter guys two or three to really catch on. Secondly, I like the thought that there may yet be an unpressured group of fish in the lake. Well, there is another group as well that I've only seen a few better tourney guys exploit but that's another story. Save to say, in my opinion, the biggest fish in Slave are not on drop offs most of the time.

And the wheels start turning....

[Shmag]

Originally Posted by dhigson

Mapping is not expensive, if you have a unit with an SD card currently. The biggest cost is your time and fuel if you're hardcore into it (imagine spending all day travelling off plane at <5mph in tight little grids and you can't fish because catching fish disrupts your passes). To be honest, I've never come across anyone else who did it for more than a day after I showed them how. But I can help you out if it still sounds like something you want to do. There is something to be said for knowing exactly what a place like Cutbank looks like in 3D and pulling into a group of 30 boats on a sunny August evening and having doubles on before the anchor hits the bottom.

That pattern I am keeping to myself for a couple of reasons. First, I believe it to be worth some money in tournaments if it pans out. The first time will be a free pass since no one fishes the pattern. And I think to be honest it would take the smarter guys two or three to really catch on. Secondly, I like the thought that there may yet be an unpressured group of fish in the lake. Well, there is another group as well that I've only seen a few better tourney guys exploit but that's another story. Save to say, in my opinion, the biggest fish in Slave are not on drop offs most of the time.

And the wheels start turning....

Hey, no problem with the pattern, it would be a tough sell if it was the other way around,lol.

Anyways i would love to learn more about the mapping, i love to fish but unfortunately i am a real dummy when it comes to computers and electronics. I feel the only buttons they should have is on and off. So i might be a tough student to teach, but will give you 100% if your willing. I have a Lowrance LMS-332 would that be compatable, Have a gps map card for it not sure if thats the card your speaking of. PM me whenever you have the time to talk about it. Don't really want to hi-jack the guy's thread.

Sorry bout that junglejay!!!

[Drewski Canuck]

In late June and through August, try going out into the "void" and look for fish in the first 15 feet on your sounder. typically schools of whites and tulibee. Try pulling a diving plug, such as a chartreuse Canadian Wiggler, at about 3 miles an hour. Just keep going round and round and through the school and tell me how you make out. You might notice big arcs at about 20 feet under the tulibee.

Tell us how you make out. You will only catch big fish, as 18 inchers can't take out a 1/4 pound tulibee.

Drewski

[AlbertanGP]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

In late June and through August, try going out into the "void" and look for fish in the first 15 feet on your sounder. typically schools of whites and tulibee. Try pulling a diving plug, such as a chartreuse Canadian Wiggler, at about 3 miles an hour. Just keep going round and round and through the school and tell me how you make out. You might notice big arcs at about 20 feet under the tulibee.

Tell us how you make out. You will only catch big fish, as 18 inchers can't take out a 1/4 pound tulibee.

Drewski

Ah yes, open water trolling. How long does it take you to find those schools? What is the cone angle of your depth finder in 15' of water? How long can you stay on that school? Open water trolling sounds neat when you read about it. Then you get rudely snapped back to reality where in Alberta you are only allowed one line per angler. Two guys tournament fishing the basin of Slave Lake looking for roaming schools of ciscoes slow enough not to scare them off when you pass over them, and then trying to stay on them pulling planer boards is a tough sell. I've caught those fish too. But I did it with a boat load of people and a 80' wide planer board spread. They were nice fish, but you're putting your eggs in one basket to try to fish that pattern with two lines in a tourney. Might be a different story with the new side finding technology though. That's one of the things I want to try it on this Summer.