Tough going this year

[RACKER]

I was wondering if anyone else is finding this year a lot harder to catch fish more than most years. Was out to Pigeon on the weekend and made it out to my favourite spot that always produces catches and lots of fish on camera but only managed 7 wallys in 6 hrs. There was hardly any fish movement as well. Not sure if the wind had a factor either. Middle of the lake only had 9 in of good ice too. This isn’t the only lake I’ve been at this year that was slow. Just curious how everyone else’s luck has been.

[SamSteele]

sns2 and I were out at Slave this past weekend and found it slow as well. Fish were there, just really picky. Those we caught were barely hooked. We ended up getting our fish, but it took us a while.

I've been up to Lower Chain north of Athabasca and found that fishing action was sporadic. Hot and heavy for 30 min or so, then quite for a couple hours, then hot again.

[yoteblaster]

VERY slow for me as well. Fish very lethargic and numbers way down

[HuyFishin]

Been to Coal, Lac La Nonne and Devils.

All slow for me..

my wife had better luck then me lol

[TimboLefty]

Been out half a dozen times to 3 different lakes and have found it to be slow as well. Have talked to a few others on lakes who agree. Unsettled and unseasonable weather maybe to blame?

[NSR_RAT]

Very slow for me as well, pretty much exclusively fished Wabamun and Lac st Anne and haven’t been seeing anything on the camera in multiple spots and depths, this is completely opposite of the last few years, and the ones I have been seeing on the camera are mostly lathargic and not interested.

[PlayDoh]

Same for me in Southern AB. Maybe they’ll get active soon, or just later. The Pike don’t seem as lazy, but the eyes seem not very interested in doing much, and that’s when one gets out of bed and even swims around.

Not that I’ve been out dozens of times, but enough to notice the trend. We haven’t gotten much snow in the south, and the ice is decent and seems like it’s better than anything south of Edmonton. So I have no clue why.
Maybe it’s the baitfish? Maybe their calendar is off by a month? One would guess with warmer weather they would be more active. Yet perhaps there is more baitfish around, so they can afford to be picky? Like spring vs summer.

[Mitchthefisher]

Worst year I've ever had on pigeon and im not the only one I know having bad luck.. barely seeing anything down the hole or on cameras, and not catching **** all either.

[swampy45]

15 different lakes this winter... all been very slow fishing.

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by Mitchthefisher

Worst year I've ever had on pigeon and im not the only one I know having bad luck.. barely seeing anything down the hole or on cameras, and not catching **** all either.

I'll 2nd that on Pigeon. 8 trips yielded 4 whites. Biggest was 5.8 lbs so far. That is something but the fish per hour put in is way down and just seeing them is a treat now. I'm certain weather is the big factor.

Trips other than Pigeon have been fine though

[capper]

Very slow for me. We did well on Sunday at Lac La Biche but that’s my first good day in 10 on the hard water.

[Trout Addict]

I spent one day at Wabamun before Christmas, complete skunk which has never happened to me there and one day at Lac St. Anne and caught about 5 little pike.
Not wonderful for 9 hours of fishing, this thread makes me feel better about myself though

[old dog]

Fished Travers, Newell and Keho in southern Alberta. Did have one or two good days but most were slow. Was at Newell this last weekend with my son and never had one bite. But the same day a friend caught a huge walleye.

[linemanpete]

I out fished my jaw jacker 3 trips to long by Boyle. That’s rare for me. So I’d agree it’s been slow.

[FlyTheory]

Hit and miss with the days. There have been more slow days than fire ones though. And usually midday is nap time, f-all will happen for me from 11:30-2

[swampy45]

I definitely agree with SNAP on the weather playing a huge factor. This winter has been been interesting to say the least.

[pikeman06]

Yup hope that's all it is....the camera doesn't lie tho. I've been on my old whitefish and perch spots that I've been hitting religiously for over 20 years and its a ghost town down there guys. It's different if the fish are there but not biting we call that a challenge and figure them out eventually...not this year. I keep a journal from the old days and I did best when the ice was 20 inch to 2 ft regardless of what part of the winter it was. The only thing I haven't tried is what I call super shallow, like 3 ft or less and I hate fishing like that personally...slam a hook into their head and throw them in the pail all in one motion...not much story telling at the supper table. But the east and south wind days are more often than not and we haven't had a nice high pressure system park over us for a couple weeks so the fish can get into a pattern either. Good luck guys glad I'm not the only one scratching my head.

[Brandonkop]

Depressingly slow this last week. Fished 5 lakes and mostly we couldnt even find fish to mark. Was some of the worst I've had over the years. We shall see if this next week is better. I've got my fingers crossed and hoping for some fish.

[gube]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

Depressingly slow this last week. Fished 5 lakes and mostly we couldnt even find fish to mark. Was some of the worst I've had over the years. We shall see if this next week is better. I've got my fingers crossed and hoping for some fish.

Were the 5 lakes you hit in Alberta?

[calgarygringo]

We have been out pretty much ever weekend or 2 and have got decent catches and sizes every time. We probably do more work and driving than most to find spots but they do seem to pay us back well.

[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by gube

Were the 5 lakes you hit in Alberta?

North of Edmonton.

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[Brandonkop]

Originally Posted by Brandonkop

North of Edmonton.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

This was the product of our very poor week of fishing. You see some fish, but this was a struggle. I felt no understanding of pattern. Most lakes we would fish 3 to 5 locations. Depths of 5 to 30 feet. Right smack dab in the middle. I have a feeling these fish are either suspended or just laying on the bottom not moving in deep basins. If anyone finds them let me know deep or shallow. Thanks. Be safe out there. Ice is highly variable. Some lakes drilled 9 inch to 17 inch of ice.

Weird year.

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[TimboLefty]

One other thing I have noticed is there seems to be way more people fishing now than say 5 years ago. I have also been fishing some lakes with zero pike retention and have seen a few people keeping pike. I have never been one to report others but I feel like maybe I should start. I think poaching is still an issue not that I feel that’s the reason fishing may be slower this year but it still burns my butt.

[Woolyoldbugger]

Blaming everything but the real problem is the problem. Brandon you seem like a nice enough guy but look at all the fish you killed when they were the few fish available. We the fisher people are the problem. Like it or not! I can't believe the people in this province who still think the fish in a given body of water are endless. They are not. Yes you can kill a lake! Stocking is not the answer! Even proper fish handling results in a 10-15% mortality! Poaching is a very real problem. Any body who knows anything about Lesser Slave knows that the locals eat their limit then take a limit home. Sometimes returning to the lake a few times in the day to repeat the process. Then people who travel there have the Bc Salmon mentallity that " I travelled this far. Im taking home more than 2" Time to start looking at our selves and our practices and quit blaming the Gov or Bios!

[338Bluff]

Originally Posted by Woolyoldbugger

Blaming everything but the real problem is the problem. Brandon you seem like a nice enough guy but look at all the fish you killed when they were the few fish available. We the fisher people are the problem. Like it or not! I can't believe the people in this province who still think the fish in a given body of water are endless. They are not. Yes you can kill a lake! Stocking is not the answer! Even proper fish handling results in a 10-15% mortality! Poaching is a very real problem. Any body who knows anything about Lesser Slave knows that the locals eat their limit then take a limit home. Sometimes returning to the lake a few times in the day to repeat the process. Then people who travel there have the Bc Salmon mentallity that " I travelled this far. Im taking home more than 2" Time to start looking at our selves and our practices and quit blaming the Gov or Bios!

Most ill informed quote of 2019 right here folks. You haven't a clue about the guy you are accusing.

[338Bluff]

Fish are not biting and its largely due to unsettling weather and seasonality. Christmas through the early new year cam be slow for most species except possibly trout or whitefish.

[Mitchthefisher]

Originally Posted by SNAPFisher

I'll 2nd that on Pigeon. 8 trips yielded 4 whites. Biggest was 5.8 lbs so far. That is something but the fish per hour put in is way down and just seeing them is a treat now. I'm certain weather is the big factor.

Trips other than Pigeon have been fine though

I'm thinking a lot of the older fish 6lbs+ that were on the lake the last little while are slowly dying off of natural causes and angling pressure does not help either. And this seems to be a problem because I have rarely seen any juvenile whites or any whites under 4lbs at that lake for that matter so they must be struggling to reproduce or something.
I've only had one day this year were I seen a **** load ( 20+) in under 3 hours one evening fish but the other 7 days ive fished pigeon I have been lucky to even see one or two.

[RACKER]

Originally Posted by Woolyoldbugger

Blaming everything but the real problem is the problem. Brandon you seem like a nice enough guy but look at all the fish you killed when they were the few fish available. We the fisher people are the problem. Like it or not! I can't believe the people in this province who still think the fish in a given body of water are endless. They are not. Yes you can kill a lake! Stocking is not the answer! Even proper fish handling results in a 10-15% mortality! Poaching is a very real problem. Any body who knows anything about Lesser Slave knows that the locals eat their limit then take a limit home. Sometimes returning to the lake a few times in the day to repeat the process. Then people who travel there have the Bc Salmon mentallity that " I travelled this far. Im taking home more than 2" Time to start looking at our selves and our practices and quit blaming the Gov or Bios!

Maybe you should not fish at all. You’re killing off 10-15 percent every time you go out. Picking on a great forum poster like Brandon is just stupidity on your part. You should just travel the lakes and spread your wealth of fish knowledge so we don’t kill off our fishery.

[Woolyoldbugger]

Originally Posted by 338Bluff

Most ill informed quote of 2019 right here folks. You haven't a clue about the guy you are accusing.

You don't have a clue of who I am? Speaking of uninformed! First I 'm not bashing Brandon. I'm pointing out how he makes my point stating that the fishing has been terrible then taking as many as allowed Does this make sense to you? I don't know why I waste my time talking to people as ill informed as you!

[Evil69]

Just my 2 Cents....

I can only gauge my observations on the 3 main lakes I fish regularly(Badger,Travers and McGregor) and have the past 5 years.

Walleye and Pike are rebounding rapidly in certain areas. Numbers are way up and size distribution is becoming more diverse with larger age classes showing with greater frequency. Whitefish are plentiful but with so much food available are down right frustrating most days, occasionally you find that moment where you can't keep em off but for most part they just are not interested in what you have to offer. Burbot might be in trouble, in McGregor at least. My catches have decreased significantly. I've never observed them to be plentiful but last year was the first time I was unable to find them in their regular spawn spots and this year is shaping up to be more of the same with over 50 hours of dedicated night time hours producing only 2 small under 12" and one 4-5#, all released. My fishing partner is an ex-Biologist so we talk about this alot. (I've also reached out to some Ab Gov't Biologist for more information) Trout catches for me have exploded in Mcgregor but that's primarily because I have targeted whites more and in shallower water. Also Since McG is the first reservoir from the bow it makes sense that there would be a larger population there.

It's called the Jauary lull for a reason. Fish ativity traditionally dcreases after the whitefish spawn until ling start well into their pre-spawn house keeping (beginning FEB )Weather is definitely playing it's part this season, Chinooks down here mess with fish activity big time so the last 3 chinooks have not helped. From someone who is pressure sensitive and suffers migraines I'm of the belief that if I can feel so can the fish and they change accordingly.

one thing of note that I've observed since using a underwater camera....Release practices need improvement as a whole big time. I find it utterly disgusting how 20% of the ice fishermen treat their catch. Leaving it flop on the ice, over handling then the final kick down the hole as if that ice is some magical barrier that absolves them of their responsibility to make sure that fish is recovered and swims away on its own. I see far too many dead fish laying on the bottom on weekends. Just my own little rant

Our fisheries may or may not be in trouble depending on who you talk to but one thing is for sure they could be better. Blaming government needs to stop and we (sportsmen) need to take back control of our resources. How? I don't have the answers but one thing is for sure what we are doing is not working as well as it should. Civil discussion is required and needs to be based on science and data not mystical FIN's that nobody can explain.

So that's my input

and Brandon.....Keep up the good work! Your and excellent ambassador for the sport.