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  #31  
Old 12-17-2021, 03:05 PM
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MD park French bay boat launch looking out into French bay.

Little more protected so should be easier to drive right onto the ice again once we keep in this deep freeze making safe ice.

Another week of these temps and walking out should not be a problem.


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  #32  
Old 12-18-2021, 01:19 PM
eman eman is offline
 
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MD park French bay boat launch looking out into French bay.

Little more protected so should be easier to drive right onto the ice again once we keep in this deep freeze making safe ice.

Another week of these temps and walking out should not be a problem.


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great update thanks !
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  #33  
Old 12-18-2021, 02:13 PM
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great update thanks !
No problem just like to make it easier on folks who are considering traveling up to the lake to fish, less time farting around and more time fishing
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  #34  
Old 12-19-2021, 05:19 PM
Egymcara Egymcara is offline
 
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First day on CL today! Really good fishing for a full moon. Went from 1 pm to about 3:30 pm, caught 18 total and lost about half that. Wind was really nasty from the west, ice conditions are good, 4-6 inches of ice where we were.
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  #35  
Old 12-19-2021, 06:01 PM
eman eman is offline
 
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First day on CL today! Really good fishing for a full moon. Went from 1 pm to about 3:30 pm, caught 18 total and lost about half that. Wind was really nasty from the west, ice conditions are good, 4-6 inches of ice where we were.
at french bay or provincial park is ice safe to walk on now ?
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  #36  
Old 12-19-2021, 06:10 PM
Egymcara Egymcara is offline
 
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at french bay or provincial park is ice safe to walk on now ?
We walked onto the ice with no issues, I cannot speak for the overall safety at other spots of course. Use your best discretion and I'm sure you'll be fine
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  #37  
Old 12-20-2021, 07:59 AM
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We walked onto the ice with no issues, I cannot speak for the overall safety at other spots of course. Use your best discretion and I'm sure you'll be fine
WOW sounds like a good outing except that wind eh!

Where did you walk out from?

I will need a bit more ice thickness though, yup a little pucker factor on 4" of ice standing over 60 fow....or more....yikes
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  #38  
Old 12-20-2021, 12:17 PM
Captainkip Captainkip is offline
 
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I’m out in front of marina today. 5 inches of ice. Caught 5 in an hour and a half. They are chasing really good. Trying to resize pics
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  #39  
Old 12-20-2021, 12:29 PM
Captainkip Captainkip is offline
 
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Some pictures
Attached Images
File Type: jpeg CC33AA4B-33C2-49EF-8E85-06AD4AD48FF8.jpeg (21.0 KB, 208 views)
File Type: jpeg 971225DA-37E2-4E7F-BC52-46D481C8E392.jpeg (33.4 KB, 242 views)
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  #40  
Old 12-20-2021, 04:43 PM
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Well done!
I still need a little more ice but good to see they are active!
Next week should have a few more inches of ice.


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  #41  
Old 12-20-2021, 05:58 PM
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Some pictures
nice! what brand rod you have? hard to find rod for my casting reel . i have dewai 36'' dont want to brake it .
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  #42  
Old 12-21-2021, 05:58 AM
Captainkip Captainkip is offline
 
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nice! what brand rod you have? hard to find rod for my casting reel . i have dewai 36'' dont want to brake it .
I use the Diava 36 also. It’s a great heavy action rod for these fish.
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  #43  
Old 12-21-2021, 12:16 PM
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astepanuk astepanuk is offline
 
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Super exciting to see CL Laker action what kind of depth are you guys targeting lakers this time of year 40-60Ft?
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  #44  
Old 12-21-2021, 02:45 PM
Egymcara Egymcara is offline
 
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Went out again today, fishing was slow in the morning and picked up as the day rolled on. Ice was about 4 cm thicker since the 19th, heard a crazy crack roll across the lake. We caught 21 total, lost maybe 15 more.
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  #45  
Old 12-21-2021, 03:13 PM
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Super exciting to see CL Laker action what kind of depth are you guys targeting lakers this time of year 40-60Ft?

Generally in the 60-80fow but you can get them in 40 and 100fow too
The thing again is structure as in an area that drops of relatively quickly over a short distance. These areas if
The Cisco are piled up against the shelf the lakers will bundle them up and pick them off so finding that type of structure and bait sure makes it fun.
The good thing about this lake dec/Jan is that the lakers are crazy active then seem to be harder to entice to bite in feb picking up again in mar.
Feb/mar I find the better sized lakers 120-140 fow more or less at bottom of a shelf and the dead stick usually out fishes jigging…..but then again it’s fishing and what might work on a day, week, month can be a bust which keeps us coming back!


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  #46  
Old 12-21-2021, 04:29 PM
Captainkip Captainkip is offline
 
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Holy man 21. We didn’t even see 21 on the livescope today. Caught 4 lost 3 others. Really slow today for us. We did get crazy ice crack wave roll though. We damn near all jumped out of the tent.
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  #47  
Old 12-21-2021, 05:27 PM
Egymcara Egymcara is offline
 
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Holy man 21. We didn’t even see 21 on the livescope today. Caught 4 lost 3 others. Really slow today for us. We did get crazy ice crack wave roll though. We damn near all jumped out of the tent.
Ya we were on full evacuation mode when we heard that wave creeping closer but luckily it didn't reach us! Cold Lake is one of the few lakes that can make a full grown man crap his pants !
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  #48  
Old 12-21-2021, 05:53 PM
OL_JR OL_JR is offline
 
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If I had a choice and could only make one trip for lakers earlier the better imho. Can't swing er this year so March it is but I don't think it's as good in March as early. I feel like fishing pressure plays a factor the later the season goes as well, especially on that south east area where everyone likes to fish (Garnet, pp, marina, birch point, the "hump" etc.)
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  #49  
Old 12-21-2021, 07:14 PM
StiksnStrings StiksnStrings is offline
 
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Default Cold Lake Rookies Again

So we are thinking about giving it a go come January.

June was awesome thanks to summer thread.

We'll be fishing from the PP east and north as that is what we know.

Going blind, no electronics but, that may change.

Rods, reels, line? Will our M/MH walleye/pike ice fishing gear be enough? Some of the fish we caught last summer has us wondering.

Jigging, dead sticking, bait, colors, presentation?

Thanks to all.
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  #50  
Old 12-22-2021, 08:06 AM
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58thecat 58thecat is offline
 
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Originally Posted by StiksnStrings View Post
So we are thinking about giving it a go come January.

June was awesome thanks to summer thread.

We'll be fishing from the PP east and north as that is what we know.

Going blind, no electronics but, that may change.

Rods, reels, line? Will our M/MH walleye/pike ice fishing gear be enough? Some of the fish we caught last summer has us wondering.

Jigging, dead sticking, bait, colors, presentation?

Thanks to all.
Well first thing I would do is invest in electronics something that you can use ice fishing and in a boat,kayak etc so you don’t tie a bunch of money up in a specific type of electronics.

Garmin 010-01550-10 Striker 4 Fishfinder with Portable Kit Is what I use and have sat beside others with way more expensive outfits and I see what they see.

Or

Humminbird Helix 5 Fish Finder Portable package.

As for what’s working locally, bait, locations hit up Kim Grey
https://www.travelalberta.com/ca/lis...nd-more-18851/

They have accommodations too.

January is a great time to be out on the lake as the lakers are generally very aggressive.

The rods you have will work fine too spooled with 20lbs braid or similar poundage.

Good luck!
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  #51  
Old 12-22-2021, 08:17 AM
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Ya we were on full evacuation mode when we heard that wave creeping closer but luckily it didn't reach us! Cold Lake is one of the few lakes that can make a full grown man crap his pants !
You bet...about 10 years ago two of us sitting 10 yards apart and we hear this deep grumble off in the distance, we are sitting on 12” of ice well the water in our ice holes went away, no water then a super loud crack, thunder sound and water spewed out of our ice holes and yup we were up on our feet figuring out which way to bolt....well what happened was a three foot ice heave was formed about 50 yards away from us or closer almost the entire length of the lake. We loaded up and buggered off as that was enough. Heard stories at work that the ice heave actually had separated anglers from their trucks/gear so had to get rides off the lake at the provincial park and back on the ice at the marina to get their trucks/ gear etc....never ever experienced that...scared the bejesus out of us.
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  #52  
Old 12-22-2021, 09:05 AM
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astepanuk astepanuk is offline
 
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Originally Posted by 58thecat View Post
Generally in the 60-80fow but you can get them in 40 and 100fow too
The thing again is structure as in an area that drops of relatively quickly over a short distance. These areas if
The Cisco are piled up against the shelf the lakers will bundle them up and pick them off so finding that type of structure and bait sure makes it fun.
The good thing about this lake dec/Jan is that the lakers are crazy active then seem to be harder to entice to bite in feb picking up again in mar.
Feb/mar I find the better sized lakers 120-140 fow more or less at bottom of a shelf and the dead stick usually out fishes jigging…..but then again it’s fishing and what might work on a day, week, month can be a bust which keeps us coming back!


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Thanks for the response very much appreciated.
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  #53  
Old 12-22-2021, 09:52 AM
Elchinodiablo Elchinodiablo is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 58thecat View Post
Well first thing I would do is invest in electronics something that you can use ice fishing and in a boat,kayak etc so you don’t tie a bunch of money up in a specific type of electronics.



Garmin 010-01550-10 Striker 4 Fishfinder with Portable Kit Is what I use and have sat beside others with way more expensive outfits and I see what they see.



Or



Humminbird Helix 5 Fish Finder Portable package.



As for what’s working locally, bait, locations hit up Kim Grey

https://www.travelalberta.com/ca/lis...nd-more-18851/



They have accommodations too.



January is a great time to be out on the lake as the lakers are generally very aggressive.



The rods you have will work fine too spooled with 20lbs braid or similar poundage.



Good luck!
Kim at Anglers is awesome. Met him in the summer staying at Bevs. Super people!!

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  #54  
Old 12-22-2021, 10:04 AM
AlbertanGP AlbertanGP is offline
 
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You bet...about 10 years ago two of us sitting 10 yards apart and we hear this deep grumble off in the distance, we are sitting on 12” of ice well the water in our ice holes went away, no water then a super loud crack, thunder sound and water spewed out of our ice holes and yup we were up on our feet figuring out which way to bolt....well what happened was a three foot ice heave was formed about 50 yards away from us or closer almost the entire length of the lake. We loaded up and buggered off as that was enough. Heard stories at work that the ice heave actually had separated anglers from their trucks/gear so had to get rides off the lake at the provincial park and back on the ice at the marina to get their trucks/ gear etc....never ever experienced that...scared the bejesus out of us.
I've always had that in the back of my mind while camped out on the ice. I have heard stories of people having a big crack open up right in their tent while fishing.

I've also wondered about getting hit by a car when crossing the street, but I cross it anyways. Life in a cocoon would be boring.
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  #55  
Old 12-22-2021, 02:22 PM
StiksnStrings StiksnStrings is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 58thecat View Post
Well first thing I would do is invest in electronics something that you can use ice fishing and in a boat,kayak etc so you don’t tie a bunch of money up in a specific type of electronics.

Garmin 010-01550-10 Striker 4 Fishfinder with Portable Kit Is what I use and have sat beside others with way more expensive outfits and I see what they see.

Or

Humminbird Helix 5 Fish Finder Portable package.

As for what’s working locally, bait, locations hit up Kim Grey
https://www.travelalberta.com/ca/lis...nd-more-18851/

They have accommodations too.

January is a great time to be out on the lake as the lakers are generally very aggressive.

The rods you have will work fine too spooled with 20lbs braid or similar poundage.

Good luck!
Thanks for the info. I checked Kim's FB page, we'll be sure to send him some business. Now for a little electronics shopping.
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  #56  
Old 12-22-2021, 04:41 PM
Chewie66 Chewie66 is offline
 
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I was out fishing in front of the marina today. Around 6 inches of ice and the Lakers were biting pretty consistently. Landed 21 in 75 feet of water using a glow tube jig tipped with a minnow.

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  #57  
Old 12-22-2021, 05:56 PM
Rshields Rshields is offline
 
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Originally Posted by Chewie66 View Post
I was out fishing in front of the marina today. Around 6 inches of ice and the Lakers were biting pretty consistently. Landed 21 in 75 feet of water using a glow tube jig tipped with a minnow.

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Just walking out from the boat launch?
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  #58  
Old 12-22-2021, 06:36 PM
Chewie66 Chewie66 is offline
 
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Yeah. The ice is pretty rough coming off the launch but it flattens out near the breakwater.

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  #59  
Old 12-22-2021, 06:49 PM
Rshields Rshields is offline
 
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Yeah. The ice is pretty rough coming off the launch but it flattens out near the breakwater.

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Perfect thank you, I saw the city had it open there 3 weeks ago doing work.

Hopefully I'll be out tomorrow morning

Last edited by Rshields; 12-22-2021 at 06:49 PM. Reason: Spelling error
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  #60  
Old 12-24-2021, 08:47 AM
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Perfect thank you, I saw the city had it open there 3 weeks ago doing work.

Hopefully I'll be out tomorrow morning
How did you make out?

Ohhh and with all these fish being caught an little to no pics well I think you guys are telling stories

I think by this upcoming week the ice will be thick enough for me to man up and get out....I will post pics, locations, what I used etc too.

Stay safe out there.
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