Cow Lake Derby
 

anyone got any info and tips? besides dont eat the mutants that is :bad_boys_20:

cow is slow....period

got to like your chances in a derby where last years winner weighed less than a smoky!! :sHa_sarcasticlol:

ya its just a slow year though

Should get out from the rig the day before the derby so hope to make it there.
Who all is going out there?
SG

im going tommrow hopefully either that or gull lake

flygirrl invited the wife and myself up for the derby, so hopefully the weather will cooperate. I got a few nice pike in there the one time I fished it this summer, hopefully they will have a category for them too this year.

Ment the derby sorry.
SG

Any details on the derby?

Derby? When?

I guess its usually the family day weekend

How many times have you been out here??? Have you gone out with anyone that knows the lake?? Seriously.....

Darcy, Wayne, I will be there with all the rugrats and plan on bringing home all the prizes again. :sHa_shakeshout: They have always had good support and donations for prizes in the past. Hope the weather turns out good.

Im bringing my perch killer lures, so I will give you a run for the money :) do they have a recent website or something?

Been to the derby many times in the past 5 years. Fish Cow Lake offten in summer and a fair bit in winter ( not this year so far) Some nice pike there and I doubt very much they will allow the pike to weigh in. If your looking for the big perch Ive only seen bigger perch there once and it wasnt in the derby. The derby is just a fun day I think the cost is like 10.00. Cow lake store hosts the derby. They have the store, restaurant and cabins there although I would imagine the cabins are booked as this is a popular derby.

We had better have an AO gathering out there, I would rather see some of us win this!!

ya i have we dryed all over with the flasher and cam (most places) and iv been out there a few times and F&W even said no one caugth any...founatantly see watched me bring in a 14lb pike at the boat launch :) it used to be an awsome lake EVERYwhere you went to now its locaation location

Sure wish they would have left it a trout fishery! But cant keep everyone happy. Hope to see everyone at the derby. Now just have to make sure I can get away from this rig by then.
SG

sheep i wanted it a trout fishery too....

Used to pull alot of great rainbows out of that lake.

ya nice broods but it would have made it better if theyre reasents and that size

No not broods! Cow was a a rainbow lake before it died off. Then the Perch were introduced along with a few brood stock. Then they put in the pike.

Was an awesome trout fishery in its day! We caught natural rainbows back then bigger than the broods of now.

SG

Just like any lake, spend some time and find the fish, pretty simple. You should spend as much time figuring out how to post a pic, as you do telling everybody how to fish every lake in alberta. Might lend a little more credibility to you than just trying to get your post count up......

alright ill email some pics to ya alright then you can stfu and be happy like everyone else unlike some people like you that u always back talk and yes i fish a differnt lake mostly everyday cause i got a truck and can use it whats your email

Ya cows slow, Up to this year we limit out most the time. last year at the derby my buddy got 4th, he won a auger a tent and a rod holder.

whatever next year should be better when the perch spawn and they grow fast to....just that they keep getting fished out to easy

have you ever called one of those call centers in India?

The one time I fished Cow last summer there were thousands of little perch, you could see them flying into the air everytime a big pike crashed through the schools. Toss a spinnerbait in the middle of the commotion and catch pike like crazy. Worked for me. We saw some pretty decent sized perch in other spots as well.

in the summer it was incredibal just off the docks even...we got in a belly boat and fly fished for em using the 4wt pheasent tail nymph .we seen a bunch of sucekrs to

bows
 

Natural rainbows?? I think this was a trout stocked lake for years before some goof tossed in some perch.

No "natural rainbow" lakes in Alberta
 

Cow lake, like most prairie pothole lakes stocked with trout, was always a pike/perch fishery before trout was introduced.

Lakes that have rainbow trout in them either had pike/perch fisheries, or just minnows, or were devoid of fish before stocking efforts.

Therefore, with the exception of brood stock rainbows, Cow is "back" to its original state.

The only natural rainbows in this province occur in the Athabasca and Peace watersheds, flowing water. Only by beaverponds or flooding would they have gotten into stillwaters.

Just to clarify, I assume by "natural" you meant native. Of course, there are differences between native versus wild populations.

A native population is one that previously existed before the 18th century, before any white man came up with the idea of stocking fish.

All native populations are wild, but not all wild populations are native. Many brook trout fisheries are now wild (population replaces itself by natural recruitment), but were never native. The Maligne Lake/river system is an excellent example of wild fisheries exist for both brooks and rainbows where no native fisheries existed previously (except near the mouth of the Maligne/Athabasca).

Just wanted to clarify what you meant by natural vs native vs wild vs stocked.

Cheers,
Smitty