Pine Coulee Reservoir - Please Help

WalleyeDeitz · #1 02-08-2009, 10:36 AM

Hey all, I read about Pine Coulee in this forum and decided to try it yesterday. As the lake was new to me, we looked a google earth maps and decided where to fish.....diddnt work. Had a few tip ups out and sat in a little shack jigging. Managed to pull up one small pike but that was it. Then we moved over near the boat launch and set up a bunch of tip ups and fished a couple hours into dark....that seemed to work a bit better as we caught a few ling on the tip ups. Could anyone please provide me with a couple tips on this lake as I think I am going to pull my little fifth wheel there this weekend and fish the nights? Is the bridge a good spot? Is there a bit of current there bringing in the bait fish?

When I was out there I was surprised at how many people were using minnows....honest mistake though as this was a new lake, I had just read the regs on it....no minnows allowed...dont know if I understand this rule if you can still use smelts.

Any help or tips on how to catch some fish at this lake would be greatly appreciated.....dont care how big the fish are, just want to rip some lips....

Thanks in advance.

James Henry · #2 02-08-2009, 11:35 AM

We were there yesterday, we go North 700m from the boat launch on the West shore in abou 20' of water. Minnows are not allowed but smelts are. We use the jigs tipped with life like 4" rubber fish we get from the Fishing Hole. The day time action there is sometimes slow but it picks up after dark with numerous Lings and Eyes. Good luck, we have had 50 fish days and we had days just looking at the scenery..........

trainerdave · #3 02-08-2009, 02:13 PM

Hey, Walleye Deitz....You are not allowed to use bait fish - which does not necessarily mean you are not allowed to use fish for bait. Herring and Smelt are not considered bait fish as they are ocean fishes-according to regs. Check the regs. as they are very specific. Bait fishes are a very important food resource for the fish in some lakes, so they need to be preserved. PCR has a newly established walleye fishery and the desire is to have minnows available for them to eat. You can bring your own after all....There is also the danger of people moving unwanted species of fish into certain lakes, so little danger of frozen/dead fish coming back to life and taking over.