Fly fishing for pike in fall
 

Interested who gets out for fall pike fishing and wouldn't mind getting a PM if possible for some southern lakes to try.

I've fly fished eagle and clear but both have such bad algae I believe those are both off the list.

Keho can fish good at this time of year, but the wind can be an issue.

ahhh I kinda forgot about Keho,

Thanks!

There are no secrets to pike fishing in Southern AB.

Crawling Valley is about the same distance from Calgary as Clear Lake. The spring fishing was phenomenal and has been getting better every year for the last 5 years. Outside of spring time, they are a little tougher to catch though since most of their food sources tend to hang out in deeper water (walleye and whitefish).

There are other places like MacGregor. I have never had success there with a fly rod. I know that others have, but I have not cracked the code yet. It is a big piece of water.

I would say there are a lot of secrets in Southern Alberta for Pike, theres no ONE lake that produces the best... Most Reservoirs produce good pike and walleye fishing period. Have to get out there and start pounding the shallows and transition zones from deep to shallow. Fall pike are very aggressive as well, fishing larger flies (6" plus) will single out the smaller fish and give better chances at the larger girls out there. Find some maps, find transitions and start plugging flies. If your wrist isn't sore half way through a day you aren't trying hard enough lol

G Luck

You are re-iterating what I mean: there is no reservoir/lake that produces best (although, I have not yet caught a big one out of Crawling Valley yet). In the fall, the fish can be so extremely moody. At the family cabin, I have an 'afternoon run' through a couple bays. Some days, I have to work for a single fish, while other days, it is possible to land 25+ fish in an afternoon. Fall does not have the consistent relentless action of late spring/early summer. A big girl will have a home range of about 100m, but where she is and exactly what she wants to eat can only be discovered by putting in the time. I guess they are not so much 'secrets' as they are 'truths that are not yet known'.

I have a different regime for my fly selection though. Fall is definitely time for somewhat bigger flies, but by increasing fly size, you eliminate smaller fish, In my experience, bigger flies do not increase the chances of a big girl. Furthermore, moving smaller fish will indicate the distribution of larger fish---Big girls will not share their territory, but the food does not know this---hammer handles are food for big mama. I have caught 10 fish over 100cm on my fly rod in the last 6 years, 6 of which have been on flies less than 6" (whoah 666), while the others were caught on flies that were not much bigger. By only using big flies, you eliminate this data. Once you find an area filled with hammer handles, then move to a big fly at critical structure points.

Joe Cermele wrote an article that 100% aligns with my experience: https://www.fieldandstream.com/artic...-big-northerns

Not sure about fall, but I'd give Rolling Hills Reservoir a try for big pike. It doesn't get the attention CVR, McGregor, Badger and Newell get. There's also a small pond on the west side of the lake prior to entering the campground that has some fish in it.

they seem to be more aggresive if you can locate them