Sylvan Lake Report

[Gslice]

Fished from noon to 3:30. I caught 13 whites, saw a big burbot and had 2 walleye bites (missed 1). My 2 other buddies caught 3 whites and the other caught 1. good bites throughout the day in 10FOW. When the hurricane arrived, it didnt seem to have much of an impact on bites. But the 80km/h wind was blowing all my things away so we decided to call it. We were north from the boat launch, so no wind protection from the trees

Road conditions when leaving was terrible. High wind and low visibility. Not sure how much snowfall accumulated, but if I were to guess, I would say its still drivable.

[huntnhooks]

loving the pics of your hook creations. thanks. ill give back when i can.

[Zip-in-Z]

Originally Posted by Gslice

Fished from noon to 3:30. I caught 13 whites, saw a big burbot and had 2 walleye bites (missed 1). My 2 other buddies caught 3 whites and the other caught 1. good bites throughout the day in 10FOW. When the hurricane arrived, it didnt seem to have much of an impact on bites. But the 80km/h wind was blowing all my things away so we decided to call it. We were north from the boat launch, so no wind protection from the trees

Road conditions when leaving was terrible. High wind and low visibility. Not sure how much snowfall accumulated, but if I were to guess, I would say its still drivable.

Hi Gslice .... we noticed you & your crew were close to our location & then moving all over the lake, I've had a lot of success being mobile & hunting fish in the shallows, too. Well done, the next time I see you out there, I'll stop by & say Hi!



Z-Z

[Chukman]

Great lake to ice fish on. All my buddies want to visit in the winter, some during the upcoming free fishing weekend. So take a kid fishing and get 'em hooked for life.

[Zip-in-Z]

Originally Posted by huntnhooks

loving the pics of your hook creations. thanks. ill give back when i can.

Tks ... for the feedback, I have a number of "go-to" W/W's & other hook presentations that I use during the course of the day. I fish 2 rods 24" apart in my portable, on occasion I've caught Whites on a W/W dead line when I'm tying on a new W/W, after a while I've narrowed down what works for me at Sylvan. Lately the brass with dark bead or the dark black with 2 dark beads (as per the pics in this thread) have attracted more interest & bites than my other colors at any time during the day. I made these from components (beads/wire) I purchased from Michael's the art supply store & hooks from any fishing store. Saturday my hooks must of been dull as I lost a number of Whites & one nice Walleye just under the ice trying to get them in the hole.

Member bwackwabbit gave me a few of his custom W/W to try out, his are a bit different than mine, so once I have the opportunity to conduct some field trials this coming week, I may have a few new creations to share and of course with include pic's, too.

Huntnhooks .... look forward to your future post.



Z-Z

[Zip-in-Z]

We got about 4 inches of heavy wet snow this morning, around noon it stopped & the sun came out, it was melting a bit & then the wind came up, instant white out conditions. I was planning to try Norglenwold again on Tuesday, that drop off area and see if those big Whites would be interested in some new W/W creations. Drove out around 4:30 to see what the access road looked like, the wind had calmed down and the road didn’t appear to bad at the entrance so I proceeded forward, there were tracks/ruts from a truck that were blown in a bit so I thought “I can do this”, that was a big mistake, my GMC SUV got hung up before I even got to the ice. I tried shoveling myself out but the combination of warm weather and soft snow with no traction defeated me. I was wet, tired, mad at myself and beat up and finally called for help.

Richard from Richlen Towing in Sylvan (403 -887-5932) came out in 15 minutes, cost me $60.00 which was more than fair & reasonable for his effort to rescue me and I finally got home around 6:00 pm, the Mrs. was happy to see me.

Richard's outstanding service was greatly appreciated, I recommend you keep his name & number handy in the event you need some help while out & about in Sylvan.

I don’t plan on breaking any new trails in the morning.... Beware if you’re the first out tomorrow!



Z-Z

[1bluZebec]

Feels nice catching a fish on a hook that you have made or tied. I'm still working with mine that I've made to see which ones work best. I do one hook in multiple sizes aswell. So far I've had my best luck on the copper with oily blue bead. The perch will eat it up too. I've caught them on quite a few different colors and combinations.

[Zip-in-Z]

Stayed off the lake today after yesterday's beating, my tail between my legs, I decided to go out to see if anyone got on to the ice at Norglenwold this afternoon.

Took these at 2:30 I could see three different areas on the rut road that people took out their shovels. I'm wondering if Sidekick got out on his own or needed help .... have a look. The snow was soft and deep, everyone was dragging bottom, getting out would be a challenge, to say the least.



Z-Z

[briverb]

Thanks for posting pics of the conditions. Great indicator to ensure I have my come-along, tow straps and shovels. Hahahaha.

Keep 'em comin'.

[BPman]

Got some bad news this morning. My buddy at Norglenwold and I built our ice fishing shack in early December and put it out Dec 31 about 100 yds in front of his house. Got 2 days of fishing in it. This morning it was really windy there with gusts estimated at close to 60 mph. At 07:30 it was okay and 15 minutes later he looked out and it was gone..... the wind picked it up and rolled it down the lake so now smashed to bits. By the marks in the snow it was airborne a few times for a hundred feet or so. Apparently even the individual plywood sheets are broken, as are the 4' X 6" skids. On the positive side, nobody was in it at the time! Apparently we might be able to salvage the door and window for souvenirs.
We caught only one fish in the shack during it's 15 day life span on the ice - darn!
Can't even make good firewood from the scraps.
Might have made for a cool video....

Oh well - back to the tent for the rest of this season.

[BPman]

Open message to the whitefish at Sylvan Lake: "... I'll be back..."

[Zip-in-Z]

Originally Posted by BPman

Got some bad news this morning. My buddy at Norglenwold and I built our ice fishing shack in early December and put it out Dec 31 about 100 yds in front of his house. Got 2 days of fishing in it. This morning it was really windy there with gusts estimated at close to 60 mph. At 07:30 it was okay and 15 minutes later he looked out and it was gone..... the wind picked it up and rolled it down the lake so now smashed to bits. By the marks in the snow it was airborne a few times for a hundred feet or so. Apparently even the individual plywood sheets are broken, as are the 4' X 6" skids. On the positive side, nobody was in it at the time! Apparently we might be able to salvage the door and window for souvenirs.
We caught only one fish in the shack during it's 15 day life span on the ice - darn!
Can't even make good firewood from the scraps.
Might have made for a cool video....

Oh well - back to the tent for the rest of this season.

Hey BPman .... some report, I stayed home today, was sippin my morning coffee, the spruce tree's were shakin, the wind was howling, the I heard this major crash-boom-bang .... all the snow on the Sylvan Lake G&CC club house roof came tumbling down just like an avalanche we lost 3 sections of our condo fence. That was some major wind we had today, on a positive note, the snow has significantly melted and it may be easier getting around on the ice again.



Z-Z

[BPman]

Regardless, I will be back there this weekend but it should be warm enough to sit outside, which is my preference anyway. Bad habits die hard.
At least the G&CC roof didn't collapse from all the snow!

[Bernie420]

Slow afternoon in palm today. Two small (average for sylvan) walleye and no other fish seen. In about 5-7 fow. Anyone else have luck or was it just a slow day?

[Zip-in-Z]

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get out and post any updates nor pic's due to a recent death in the family, traveling to Wpg for a funeral ... very sad, wish there was a sad face that would be appropriate under the circumstances, give your Mom a hug & tell her you love her, and make her smile while you still can ...... life's to short!



Z-Z

[BPman]

My buddy and I spent about 2 hours each day last Friday and Saturday late afternoons off Norglenwold but not much action as we got only one white and lost 2. Slush seemed to be firming up a bit but still marginal for anything other than snowmobiles.

Returned yesterday for the whole day but fairly slow with 2 walleyes and one white released and 4 whites catch and cook. Highlight was a pike of about 18 lb after going more than 2 weeks without a take on the big herring setup. There seems to be a trend toward deeoer water over the past 2 weeks or so: our whites are now coming from about 12' depth and the pike from 18'. We saw only a few fish pass under the tent hole, over 12' depth.

Good news is the slush seems to have firmed up a lot as the snow has settled and no longer insulates the slush from freezing. Water wasn't coming up through the holes either so no longer contributing to creating more slush. Should be drivable by next week and maybe even this weekend - but I won't be the first to try it, regardless... Good luck.

[Zip-in-Z]

Got back from WPG, weather was brutal, -43C with the wind chill, no place like home. Went out to Dickson trout pond yesterday with the guys, caught a few Rainbows and enjoyed the day. This morning they said it was going to be windy & cold, not even close, got out to RR23 around 10:30, very little to no wind, -12C and a big bright blue sky, the sun kept my shed nice & warm.

There was really no one out fishin this morning; I was the 3rd vehicle on the ice. There was 23” to drill through (16” dark & 7” white), got set up in 5 FOW, over a sand weed area that I fished before, seen a few Whites and one Pike that wanted my dark W/W, but got blanked today! Departed about 1:30 there were 9 groups on the ice when I left, that tells me it's been slow.

A few more guys were hauling out their shacks & others were moving them around. The snow has basically vanished, the surface slush was frozen, the lake access road was in good shape. I imagine you’ll start to see a number of guys heading out to new areas over the next few days.

Stopped at Norglenwold, it looked like a diagonal parking lot with a number of vehicles fishin down the sand/weed shelf, perhaps the Burbs are doing their thing & the Whites aren’t far behind, something to check out next week.

Some pic's from today ....



Z-Z











Norglenwold area .....

[Zip-in-Z]

Got my to-do-list completed & went out at 2:30 this afternoon, came across Big Foot who was injured & off his footing, dragged him back & covered up the owners gear, tied him back down, hope he stays put & the owner appreciates my rescue efforts! Wish the owner had his name & number on the outside of his tent, it would of made it easy to reunited them.

I GPS'd a spot I had some success earlier this month, no more slush or flood water, it's all frozen, there was about 8" of white ice & 15" or more of dark ice. Had a few nice Whites suspended and almost motionless, reminded me of Lake Trout just hanging in the distance watching. The sun was going down, the fish activity picked up, had a small Pike bugging me, then a few small Walleyes came into camera range & kept going, around 5:00ish the Whites moved in, caught one on a brass W/W and at the same time the other one inhaled my tiny jig/minnow head .... got me a double, iced one lost the other just under the ice. Had a few more Whites come in for a look but kept going, so that's when I called it & packed up.

The ice was burping, belching, cracking & making all kinds of strange noises, a sign of cold weather and stress cracks, that normally helps increase ice thickness. Car said it was -22, when I was departing, the ice was shivering, too!

A few pic's from today ...




Z-Z

[Zip-in-Z]

Hola Amigos ... practicing my Spanish ... off to Cancun tomorrow for 3 weeks.

Cerveza .... esperar ... dos cervezas, por favor ... abrazos & besos !



Adios Amigos ... volver en tres semanas !


Z-Z


.

[bwackwabbit]

buena suerte y líneas apretadas!

Amigo!

[briverb]

Have not made it out there this year yet. Finally going tomorrow with the pooch. I am assuming after that cold snap, it should be fine to drive on at most places?? Driving on at RR20 as usual. How are the ruts?

Bringing the tacoma.

Truck and dog have been dying to get back out on the ice.

If you see a short guy through a red ring to his dog, pop by with your pooch. She is 15 months old and loves people and dogs.

[Zip-in-Z]

After 3 weeks in Mexico, it was nice to get back out on the ice again.

Was on Gull on Saturday, seen lots, caught a few Perch but no monsters so Bwackwabbit & I decided to try RR23 today. What a beauty day, sunny, +8C, we started in 5 fow moved to 18 fow and didn’t see many fish so we decided to try a bit deeper on the sand bar north/west of all the shacks. Drilled a test hole, dropped the camera down in about 20 fow and had a Burb attach it. Drilled a few more in the area, more Burbs surrounded the camera. Got set up and we couldn’t believe it we were on top of a sand gravel hump with a huge numbers of Burbs doing their mating ritual thing followed by too many Whites to count, include a few Walleye and a couple of Pike, it was fun to watch. Unfortunately, very few were interested in taking a hook, pieces of minnows/smelts got a few to commit, but the show was amazing! I took a few pics of the Marcum, Bwackwabbit said he took a video from his camera and would post it later. Lake access is great in comparison to Norglenwold.

Plan to go back later in the week to try this area once again, enjoy the pic’s.



Z-Z

[bwackwabbit]

Fun day for sure!
Beat the heck outta the Skunk @ Gull on Saturday...

Looked for fish for a day and a half and then "We Found 'Em!"

http://youtu.be/i1U_XHm8UUw

http://youtu.be/GjtQTHezCac

[Zip-in-Z]

Bwackwabbit ... that Burb video is amazing ... it's X-Rated Burb Porn!

The Whites in the second video aren't camera shy when it come to Burb treats!

Well done, I'm impressed .....



Z-Z

[bwackwabbit]

Thanks Zip! For the comment and a great weekend.

The FishPhone is proving to be my best purchase this season.

[Fishhunter]

Awesome just gives ya buck fever doesn't it. Thanks

[Rabdo]

wow bwackwabbit, those are 2 amazing videos!! thanks for sharing

[Zip-in-Z]

Went out to Norglenwold in the late afternoon, what a beauty day, sunny +9 C, very little wind & no one was ice fishin, decided to try a spot I GPS'd out on the open lake that I found with a sand/gravel bottom next with a weed bed in 21 fow & did very well last ice season. Drilled a test hole, was quite surprised to find 24“ from the bottom of the hole to the water with 1.5” of flood water, WTF! Got set up about 3:00 pm and stayed for a couple hours, managed to catch 3 small walleye, had a few Whites come for a visit but not all that interested, had Mr Pike show up, about 5-6 lbs with a big belly, hung around for a while but couldn’t convince him to take a jig & minnow. Packed up around 5:30, there were a few trucks out when I was leaving and lots of puddles near the lake access, tomorrow’s another day.

Here’s a few pic’s from today, enjoy!



Z-Z

[Gslice]

Originally Posted by bwackwabbit

Fun day for sure!
Beat the heck outta the Skunk @ Gull on Saturday...

Looked for fish for a day and a half and then "We Found 'Em!"

http://youtu.be/i1U_XHm8UUw

http://youtu.be/GjtQTHezCac

what's the underwater camera you use and how do you like it in terms of battery life?

[bwackwabbit]

Originally Posted by Gslice

what's the underwater camera you use and how do you like it in terms of battery life?

I use a Vexilar FishPhone and love everything about it.
I usually fish full days and have never gone below 1/2 battery life yet.