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01-24-2022, 09:51 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 587
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Fished Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Saturday we fished 90-120 FT with very little success, Sunday we fished 170 FT and caught 5.
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01-24-2022, 10:32 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: At the end of the Thirsty Beaver Trail, Pinsky lake, Alberta.
Posts: 25,292
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I think they are into the February blues I call it in which they move deeper and push up edges when bait goes by plus I bet the dead sticks will start to outfish jigging so lay a 6 sucker or herring on the bottom in deeper water ya never know!
We need a diver to get down there and gives us the scoop.
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01-24-2022, 08:16 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: North of Redmonton
Posts: 1,640
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Well, I finally made it back after my maiden voyage to Cold Lake. Before I say anything about the trip, I have to thank mlee for helping me with some spots to try before I left. He also shared some mapping with me that got me to thinking and downloading the social maps for the lake for Lowrance and Garmin. Garmin in particular is very thorough and mlee reports he has contributed largely to that social map, so huge thanks for that. I also have to thank 58thecat for providing huge insight into the lake itself, the different fishable areas, and what tends to work when and where. He even came out on Friday morning in a miserable biting wind just to take us on a tour and show us some spots without fishing himself. We met up again Saturday as he and his wife came to fish by us for the afternoon. It's a real treat to meet the people on the forum whose online personalities you like and find you have a lot in common when you meet them.
On to the fishing. We fished 40-75 fow on the point north of the Provincial Park, 15-145 fow out around Garnet, and 50-100 fow at the point near Garnet that leads into French Bay. We caught one small laker near the PP (weren't there for long before heading off with 58thecat), four lakers and three burbot around Garnet (where we camped in 35'...one laker came at 2am ), and one over at the point (again we only spent maybe an hour there). Keep in mind that's in three full days of fishing. Was it slow? Yeah. But I missed some fish I can only blame myself for with my girlie man walleye hooksets. And I had electronics issues that kept me from going much deeper than 75 fow (my son-in-law fished much deeper with his new Vexilar FLX-30...awesome unit). And the chasers....oh the chasers. If I could have caught just half the fish that chased more than 40' up the water column, I'd have been in the double digits myself. I was watching Weavster's videos to see what I was doing wrong, but the fish just wouldn't commit. I had several follow right up to 10' from 70' down.
A couple of things I learned that may help someone else out... - Make sure you come prepared. We had Jaw Jackers and iFish Pros, but my tip up rods were spooled with mono. We did get it sorted, but we didn't fish with our second lines as much as we should have and it likely cost us. I've also been sitting on a cranky HB Ice55 that would have been nice to have had at my disposal if I had sent it out for service sooner.
- Understand your electronics. I thought I did. But I have not ice fished with either live imaging product in water beyond 25' before. So when I had issues on Cold Lake, I struggled to get things dialed in.
- Fish the entire water column. Your electronics are a cone beam. It's easier to miss fish higher up than on the bottom. Many times we'd attract nearby fish by reeling all the way up and letting it fall again.
- Find the balance between working the depths at a given spot and making a larger move. Yes they may be more active elsewhere (they are almost certainly more active somewhere if you're contemplating a move), but no one ever caught a fish without a hook in the water.
- Don't get too hung up on T.C. Moto jigs. With all the YouTube videos you'd swear they are the only way to catch a laker. We did catch fish on them. But after trying several different T.C. Motos, bucktail jigs, maribou jigs, airplane jigs, jigs with plastics, spoons, and Jigging Raps, the only lure that got smashed with conviction for us (rare as it was) was a 1oz VMC Neon Moon Eye Jig with a 5-1/2" Storm 360GT Searchbait.
- There are some big fish in Cold Lake. This guy's not a monster (I didn't weigh or measure him), but I'm happy with him as my first laker through the ice.
Last edited by AlbertanGP; 01-24-2022 at 08:41 PM.
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01-24-2022, 09:00 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 217
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Awesome!!!
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01-24-2022, 10:11 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Wainwright
Posts: 636
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Glad everything worked out. I kind of under appreciated
Cold Lake for a lot of years and choose to do my laker fishing in saskatchewan....but I've spent a ton of time there the last 12 months and it's a great fishery.
Good point on the electronics too....I've got mine dialed in real good to about 100-110ft....I don't spend any time deeper than that and I'd expect my garmin ducer would be washing out a bit past there anyway.
We had the same deal with chasers last weekend....80-15 feet then turn and burn.
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01-24-2022, 10:21 PM
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Edm.
Posts: 5,213
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You have to play Cat and Mouse with them really hard so they get really mad and bite . I guess 58thecat knows all about that ! Ha ha !
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01-24-2022, 10:32 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 424
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Looks like you had a fun trip GP! Congrats on the first lake through the ice
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01-25-2022, 06:53 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: At the end of the Thirsty Beaver Trail, Pinsky lake, Alberta.
Posts: 25,292
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I think AlbertanGP brings up a valid point to having success on this lake whether the bite is on or not....be willing to move....ensure you bring many lures,baits etc to try different presentations...play the water columns and keep your cell phones in a zipped up pocket or it goes bloop...bloop...bloop!
ohh and don't eat apples on the ice too...one bite resulted in two broken off front teeth and then two hours in the dental chair....as you age apple sauce is a better choice
awesome meeting you fellas could see you got the bug now
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01-25-2022, 08:06 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: North of Redmonton
Posts: 1,640
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mlee
Glad everything worked out. I kind of under appreciated Cold Lake for a lot of years and choose to do my laker fishing in saskatchewan....but I've spent a ton of time there the last 12 months and it's a great fishery.
Good point on the electronics too....I've got mine dialed in real good to about 100-110ft....I don't spend any time deeper than that and I'd expect my garmin ducer would be washing out a bit past there anyway.
We had the same deal with chasers last weekend....80-15 feet then turn and burn.
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There are a couple of lakes I can pop into B.C. to fish lakers. although the ones with the big fish either don't freeze or aren't particularly safe due to the dams. I'll probably try some next year, but I need to get out and map them first this summer.
I think you might be able to tickle 100' with live imaging if you go everything dialed in just right. 70-80' is a more practical limit though. I'll be shipping that Ice55 flasher out this week.
Quote:
Originally Posted by -JR-
You have to play Cat and Mouse with them really hard so they get really mad and bite . I guess 58thecat knows all about that ! Ha ha !
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Yeah I get that you're trying to get an instinct bite and not let them get too good a look at your offering...just wasn't happening. Reel slow and they just followed it. Speed it up a bit to try to trigger them and they just peeled off. I have some footage from the Active Target since the Lowrance units record. I'll see if I can post some up this weekend when I am back at my lake house and see if anyone has any feedback.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Weavster
Looks like you had a fun trip GP! Congrats on the first lake through the ice
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Yeah it was a good trip. Not disappointed at all even though the action was a bit slower than we'd hoped. We're gonna try to head back out in March, depending on how a trip to Diefenbaker pans out. I sent you an email recently too.
P.S. Next time out with your Active Target, can you make a video showing your settings the way you did for your HB? There aren't as many settings on the Lowrance as the Garmin, but you're getting a way better return in 75' than I was able to dial in. Cheers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 58thecat
I think AlbertanGP brings up a valid point to having success on this lake whether the bite is on or not....be willing to move....ensure you bring many lures,baits etc to try different presentations...play the water columns and keep your cell phones in a zipped up pocket or it goes bloop...bloop...bloop!
ohh and don't eat apples on the ice too...one bite resulted in two broken off front teeth and then two hours in the dental chair....as you age apple sauce is a better choice
awesome meeting you fellas could see you got the bug now
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Sleds or the Ranger would have definitely helped us this trip. The snow started getting a bit deeper late Saturday, and we had to drive over some overflow to come off Sunday. The poor little Taco(ma) won't haul my Ranger, so she'll probably wind up on the block this Spring.
My son-in-law dropped his phone in the hole in 120 fow watching YouTube videos when he got a bite. He was suffering withdrawal and contemplating his life choices the rest of the trip.
Broken teeth wouldn't be a problem if you lived on the other side of the province next to me.
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01-25-2022, 08:40 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Stony Plain
Posts: 1,157
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Thanks for the write up GP. A lot of great info there. Congrats on your trip!
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01-25-2022, 08:49 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Dodge City
Posts: 1,283
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Sounds like a decent trip some don't even land one on there first go, congrats on the first ice laker. They definitely can be moody.
Couple I've gained some confidence in when it's slow are a storm rippin shad in pearl phantom and a pk flutter fish- red dot glo. Little piece of anchovie to sweeten. Never know though...
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01-25-2022, 01:14 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: At the end of the Thirsty Beaver Trail, Pinsky lake, Alberta.
Posts: 25,292
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlbertanGP
There are a couple of lakes I can pop into B.C. to fish lakers. although the ones with the big fish either don't freeze or aren't particularly safe due to the dams. I'll probably try some next year, but I need to get out and map them first this summer.
I think you might be able to tickle 100' with live imaging if you go everything dialed in just right. 70-80' is a more practical limit though. I'll be shipping that Ice55 flasher out this week.
Yeah I get that you're trying to get an instinct bite and not let them get too good a look at your offering...just wasn't happening. Reel slow and they just followed it. Speed it up a bit to try to trigger them and they just peeled off. I have some footage from the Active Target since the Lowrance units record. I'll see if I can post some up this weekend when I am back at my lake house and see if anyone has any feedback.
Yeah it was a good trip. Not disappointed at all even though the action was a bit slower than we'd hoped. We're gonna try to head back out in March, depending on how a trip to Diefenbaker pans out. I sent you an email recently too.
P.S. Next time out with your Active Target, can you make a video showing your settings the way you did for your HB? There aren't as many settings on the Lowrance as the Garmin, but you're getting a way better return in 75' than I was able to dial in. Cheers.
Sleds or the Ranger would have definitely helped us this trip. The snow started getting a bit deeper late Saturday, and we had to drive over some overflow to come off Sunday. The poor little Taco(ma) won't haul my Ranger, so she'll probably wind up on the block this Spring.
My son-in-law dropped his phone in the hole in 120 fow watching YouTube videos when he got a bite. He was suffering withdrawal and contemplating his life choices the rest of the trip.
Broken teeth wouldn't be a problem if you lived on the other side of the province next to me.
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Haha
The broken teeth was a result of a high stick 30 years ago and when I took my mouth guard out of my mouth the front teeth stayed in so I put the mouth guard back in and finished the game, wasnt going to leave the ice then nor now might miss out on the action!!!
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01-26-2022, 08:38 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 217
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Hopefully the weather change the next few days will turn the bite on. Any recent reports on snow and accessibility? Gonna be a fun weekend!!
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01-26-2022, 04:17 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 236
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Went out for a few hours this morning via the PP launch. The lake is in good condition in that area, 23 inches of ice where I went. Had to push 2 older gentlemen out because they drove a truck out with bad all season tires. The bite itself was very slow, lots of active fish, just not hitting much. Managed a few fish but definitely a below average day.
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01-27-2022, 02:35 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Cold Lake
Posts: 530
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Has anyone fished Garnet point lately? I'm wondering how thick the ice is?
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01-27-2022, 03:47 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 39
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Ive been sitting in French bay since noon Ive had lots of lookers no biters. Frustrating
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01-27-2022, 05:02 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: At the end of the Thirsty Beaver Trail, Pinsky lake, Alberta.
Posts: 25,292
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Quote:
Originally Posted by splake0
Has anyone fished Garnet point lately? I'm wondering how thick the ice is?
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17 to 20 ish
Good solid dark ice
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01-27-2022, 05:23 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Cold Lake
Posts: 530
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 58thecat
17 to 20 ish
Good solid dark ice
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More than 10 years since I fished CL. Im going Saturday. Still got all my spots on my GPS.
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01-28-2022, 06:07 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: At the end of the Thirsty Beaver Trail, Pinsky lake, Alberta.
Posts: 25,292
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Quote:
Originally Posted by splake0
More than 10 years since I fished CL. Im going Saturday. Still got all my spots on my GPS.
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Good luck....if I can say anything to anyone right now is bring lots to presentations as these fish are finicky this time of year....ohh and I think I should verify your coordinates today and report back...pm me
Hint...6 herring or sucker, pop holes in it and lay on bottom....a piece of sucker belly or minnow on your lures....just enough to make the chase a bite!
Seem to be more success deeper 70-120fow.....again hope things work out for you.
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01-28-2022, 07:11 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LLoydminster
Posts: 1,253
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I too am headed out Saturday to try some new areas. Local fishing report says cold lake is on fire . Really ? Lol
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01-28-2022, 07:17 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Cold Lake
Posts: 530
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 58thecat
Good luck....if I can say anything to anyone right now is bring lots to presentations as these fish are finicky this time of year....ohh and I think I should verify your coordinates today and report back...pm me
Hint...6 herring or sucker, pop holes in it and lay on bottom....a piece of sucker belly or minnow on your lures....just enough to make the chase a bite!
Seem to be more success deeper 70-120fow.....again hope things work out for you.
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Thanks for the tips/info. I dont use bait.
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01-28-2022, 11:55 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 217
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 58thecat
Good luck....if I can say anything to anyone right now is bring lots to presentations as these fish are finicky this time of year....ohh and I think I should verify your coordinates today and report back...pm me
Hint...6 herring or sucker, pop holes in it and lay on bottom....a piece of sucker belly or minnow on your lures....just enough to make the chase a bite!
Seem to be more success deeper 70-120fow.....again hope things work out for you.
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You aint kidding. Im washing every hook I got.
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01-28-2022, 01:42 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 39
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second day out here. out at the marina today. im running out of hooks to try. slow is an understatement. 👎🏻👎🏻
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01-28-2022, 03:22 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 217
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aly69
second day out here. out at the marina today. im running out of hooks to try. slow is an understatement. ππ»ππ»
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Any ideas on the night bite? Burbs maybe?
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01-28-2022, 03:47 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 39
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thats a wrap for me. packed ur in. defeated. lol.
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01-28-2022, 03:59 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: At the end of the Thirsty Beaver Trail, Pinsky lake, Alberta.
Posts: 25,292
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Well watched a fella 40 yards from me on a dead stick take a beauty 36er
Biggest one I have seen this season.
We were not fishing with them but chatted and when his buddy hooked up and then the dead stick went off well once he hauled it up through the ice all four of us were hooting and cheering!!! What a beauty laker had the length and weight/mass too!
Seems to be off the bottom, slight bouncing presentation, with a minnow on produced!
We were off a shelf that went 50 to 150 but action was mid shelf 100.
Good luck out there!
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01-28-2022, 04:01 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: At the end of the Thirsty Beaver Trail, Pinsky lake, Alberta.
Posts: 25,292
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Elchinodiablo
Any ideas on the night bite? Burbs maybe?
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You can pick them of in 40 fow but the bite is slow too
March usually is go time for burbs
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01-28-2022, 05:31 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 217
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 58thecat
Well watched a fella 40 yards from me on a dead stick take a beauty 36er
Biggest one I have seen this season.
We were not fishing with them but chatted and when his buddy hooked up and then the dead stick went off well once he hauled it up through the ice all four of us were hooting and cheering!!! What a beauty laker had the length and weight/mass too!
Seems to be off the bottom, slight bouncing presentation, with a minnow on produced!
We were off a shelf that went 50 to 150 but action was mid shelf 100.
Good luck out there!
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Wow!! Wicked. Hoping tomorrow is better. Was out at French today, 1 smaller one on the deadstick and the wife got a 31 on the chase. Hope to find a better spot.
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01-28-2022, 09:12 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: North of Redmonton
Posts: 1,640
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Sounds like a continuation of last weekend. That 36"er must have been a sight to see.
I just booked a three day trip fishing with Adam Konrad (FishingGeeks) on Diefenbaker in March. Gonna hit Cold Lake on the way back for a few days again. Hopefully they'll be turned on a bit by then. I'll be watching here closely.
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01-29-2022, 06:46 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: At the end of the Thirsty Beaver Trail, Pinsky lake, Alberta.
Posts: 25,292
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlbertanGP
Sounds like a continuation of last weekend. That 36"er must have been a sight to see.
I just booked a three day trip fishing with Adam Konrad (FishingGeeks) on Diefenbaker in March. Gonna hit Cold Lake on the way back for a few days again. Hopefully they'll be turned on a bit by then. I'll be watching here closely.
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Yeah it was funny as he hauled it up he says mine is bigger than yours to his buddy and pulled it up with one hand straight up...thats when the cheering and hooting started....this more than likely would have won the up coming tourney.
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