Cold Lake 2023/24 Hard Water Season.

[AlbertanGP]

Looks good! Close to -40*C apparently with wind chill by the end of the week though. Oh well…I’ll be out lol.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by AlbertanGP

Looks good! Close to -40*C apparently with wind chill by the end of the week though. Oh well…I’ll be out lol.

Got the area checked out for ya

Popped a few holes to see what was up and you can’t complain when in short order the fish finder indicated lots of action 20 feet of the bottom so popped the tent up and enjoyed the day

Had maybe 20 minutes of “where are they” in between playing cat and mouse and getting hooked up.

We never used the deadsticks as this first outing was mostly to check ice conditions but next time there will be meat on the bottom.

Hope they are turned on when you show up.

[58thecat]

Oh I did forget to mention that one thing I do if I can is scrape the snow off the ice so light can penetrate through the ice. I do this in a few spots in and around my tent, dead sticks etc...this time we cleared around the tent and in the tent....seems to be the additional light attracts bait fish in which brings in the predators.

Might be worth a shot if your out on the hard water....cant hurt.

[SNAPFisher]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

Oh I did forget to mention that one thing I do if I can is scrape the snow off the ice so light can penetrate through the ice. I do this in a few spots in and around my tent, dead sticks etc...this time we cleared around the tent and in the tent....seems to be the additional light attracts bait fish in which brings in the predators.

Might be worth a shot if your out on the hard water....cant hurt.

Congrats on the great day out! That is so cool to be able to see them. I hope not too much snow lands on Cold Lake with this system this week. That is the last thing that ice needs.

Good luck out there!

[58thecat]

View from Cold Lake provincial park boat launch, iced I’ve but far from safe.




View from Cold Lake south out over the big water, iced over and again far from safe but with the forecasted weather we are heading in the right direction.


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[hamster]

Thank you for the update!! Probably heading over on the 21st, hope PP is ready and safe to walk on 😆

[AlbertanGP]

I should roll into town I the afternoon tomorrow. I’ll start making some calls when I get back in cell range.

[58thecat]

Well got out today with two forum members in the -32 C, -47 C with windchill. Walked out with wind right in our face but once the tent was up and heaters going we soon forgot about the cold. Bite was slow just a lazy laker day all around but we all managed to ice a fish or two and even a burbot.
Out in French Bay fishing a gradual drop in 70 fow, we had II believe 9 inches of good ice.
Thanks Dean and Ryan for the outing!


I will let you two post up your pics if you want…..my hands are still tingling from the cold.


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[Egymcara]

Awesome time with some great people! You definitely caught the best looking fish of the day anyways. Big thanks to you both for providing the gear and all the electronics. Looking forward to our next outing... just finished ordering more lures

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Egymcara

Awesome time with some great people! You definitely caught the best looking fish of the day anyways. Big thanks to you both for providing the gear and all the electronics. Looking forward to our next outing... just finished ordering more lures

Yeah AlbertaGP had some wicked electronics in our frozen tent....game changer for sure...watching fish all through the water columns crystal clear coming in from 40 feet away or more giving us an indication of what stirred their interest and kept us glued to the screen.....thank god it was a big screen

Did you order some Len Thompson’s #2’s ? Just to rip through the water columns to stir up interest and of course catch a few too

Gonna call them today and see if I can get a bunch of custom ones ordered in with the same colours I was using.

[Wapiti340]

That’s it! I’m heading north east when I get back from work!!

[AlbertanGP]

Great friends on a great lake, and I learned lots form the vets. Fishing was a bit slow, but we were out there! Always a blast to show people live imaging for the first time, and I had my first chance to compare the LVS34 and the LVS62. The LiveScope XR is an absolute gamechanger beyond 50'.



I'll definitely pop over again in a couple of weeks once things get going on the main lake.

[Elchinodiablo]

Originally Posted by AlbertanGP

Great friends on a great lake, and I learned lots form the vets. Fishing was a bit slow, but we were out there! Always a blast to show people live imaging for the first time, and I had my first chance to compare the LVS34 and the LVS62. The LiveScope XR is an absolute gamechanger beyond 50'.







I'll definitely pop over again in a couple of weeks once things get going on the main lake.

How deep did the 34 work? Compared to the 62? Was it even worth using the 34 past 40 fow? Heading to Bakers Narrows soon and one of our guys only has a 34.

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[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Elchinodiablo

How deep did the 34 work? Compared to the 62? Was it even worth using the 34 past 40 fow? Heading to Bakers Narrows soon and one of our guys only has a 34.

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I know AlbertanGP will add in to my observation but we were in 70 fow give or take a few feet and the clarity of the bigger 62, distance to see fish was literally night and day.

The 34 did work and will be good at Bakers as they generally don’t fish too deep there...30-80 fow being the norm.

But for scoping out to longer distances, clarity of fish etc the 62 was outstanding.


Was so neat watching bait fish off to our side 50 feet away and how they would react we simply new a laker was lurking near by....a few rips of the spoon got them to come over to our area keeping our interests.

The bite was lazy but we did get some to bite just by knowing what was lurking below us and all around us too.

Incredible technology for sure.

[SNAPFisher]

Nice! Congrats guys. Man is ice getting made out there now. Crazy cold.

Are you running two units or same unit and switching out ducers?

[AlbertanGP]

Originally Posted by Elchinodiablo

How deep did the 34 work? Compared to the 62? Was it even worth using the 34 past 40 fow? Heading to Bakers Narrows soon and one of our guys only has a 34.

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Water clarity has an effect and changing settings can make a difference, but you're going to start losing effectiveness beyond 60' and peter out more or less completely by 80' with the LVS34 in my experience. Having said that, I think Matt Weaver uses his effectively to 100' in some of his videos. I don't recall if he is using the LVS32 or 34.

If you have LiveScope Plus I'd 100% bring it to Athapap. I'll bring it when I go in April. But the LVS62 is the ticket in deep water. We were looking at our swivels in 75'.

[Binati]

62 actually work? Everything I read it was for deeper water to see fish. I didn't think it would work that hot in a 100 feet. I was worried it wouldn't pick up the lures because it wants deeper bigger targets. Convinced buddy the 34 was what we wanted to do.

[Egymcara]

Originally Posted by Binati

62 actually work? Everything I read it was for deeper water to see fish. I didn't think it would work that hot in a 100 feet. I was worried it wouldn't pick up the lures because it wants deeper bigger targets. Convinced buddy the 34 was what we wanted to do.

My lure from 0-40' actually looked gigantic on the LVS 62, along with any lake trout way up high. I never seen a single negative with the 62 when we were way up in the water column, probably the opposite.

Just my 2 cents

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Egymcara

My lure from 0-40' actually looked gigantic on the LVS 62, along with any lake trout way up high. I never seen a single negative with the 62 when we were way up in the water column, probably the opposite.

Just my 2 cents

Agree I was very impressed with this fan dangled boob tube thingy the one we had prior hooked up was like playing asteroids and made my eyes sore….then Dean brought out the game changer and wow what a difference.
Clear, if anything I think there was a very slight delay but you would have to really be paying attention to pick up on this.
Awesome technology and if you’re in the market for one don’t hesitate or have a buddy who has one…


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[58thecat]

Making good ice comes with a price, only thing biting today is frostbite!




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[AlbertanGP]

Originally Posted by Binati

62 actually work? Everything I read it was for deeper water to see fish. I didn't think it would work that hot in a 100 feet. I was worried it wouldn't pick up the lures because it wants deeper bigger targets. Convinced buddy the 34 was what we wanted to do.

Think of the LVS34 as a finesse unit and the LVS62 as the hammer. I need to get out and test the 62 in shallow water. I have a feeling it's great and then it would be far and away the best unit for all situations on hardwater.

[Elchinodiablo]

Originally Posted by AlbertanGP

Water clarity has an effect and changing settings can make a difference, but you're going to start losing effectiveness beyond 60' and peter out more or less completely by 80' with the LVS34 in my experience. Having said that, I think Matt Weaver uses his effectively to 100' in some of his videos. I don't recall if he is using the LVS32 or 34.



If you have LiveScope Plus I'd 100% bring it to Athapap. I'll bring it when I go in April. But the LVS62 is the ticket in deep water. We were looking at our swivels in 75'.

Thanks. Yeah we got the 34 and a Lowrance active target plus some 2Ds. Looks like the bites been pretty hot at Bakers. Hopefully it stays like that for our trip.

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[AlbertanGP]

It usually is at first ice. They haven't had ice all that long up there.

[Jawjacker]

Originally Posted by AlbertanGP

Water clarity has an effect and changing settings can make a difference, but you're going to start losing effectiveness beyond 60' and peter out more or less completely by 80' with the LVS34 in my experience. Having said that, I think Matt Weaver uses his effectively to 100' in some of his videos. I don't recall if he is using the LVS32 or 34.

If you have LiveScope Plus I'd 100% bring it to Athapap. I'll bring it when I go in April. But the LVS62 is the ticket in deep water. We were looking at our swivels in 75'.

Mat Weaver uses a Lowrance Active Target . A group of us friends all do. One of our friends works for Lowrance and is a genius with the equipment .The Active Target Is killer to 100 feet and in clear water its been good to 120 ft .

[AlbertanGP]

That's right he has the ActiveTarget. I knew we had the same unit as I contacted him once about it. I also have an ActiveTarget on a Carbon 12 setup. It worked to 100' or so...slightly better than the LiveScope with some loss in clarity, but not a patch on the LiveScope XR. I'm pretty sure I'll sell my ActiveTarget setup next season. It's the last unit to go out now when I have a group of friends out and everyone wants to play video games on the ice.

Back on topic, LiveScope XR (LVS62)>>>>>>>>>>>>ActiveTarget>>LiveScope (LVS32/34) on Cold Lake or any other lake where you want to get down deep for lakers.

[Hartly]

Originally Posted by AlbertanGP

That's right he has the ActiveTarget. I knew we had the same unit as I contacted him once about it. I also have an ActiveTarget on a Carbon 12 setup. It worked to 100' or so...slightly better than the LiveScope with some loss in clarity, but not a patch on the LiveScope XR. I'm pretty sure I'll sell my ActiveTarget setup next season. It's the last unit to go out now when I have a group of friends out and everyone wants to play video games on the ice.

Back on topic, LiveScope XR (LVS62)>>>>>>>>>>>>ActiveTarget>>LiveScope (LVS32/34) on Cold Lake or any other lake where you want to get down deep for lakers.

Does the LiveScope XR read deeper than the rest ? What is the best head unit to match it to? I have an active target one but am looking to upgrade. Not seeing much of a difference between the active target one and two.

[AlbertanGP]

Originally Posted by Hartly

Does the LiveScope XR read deeper than the rest ? What is the best head unit to match it to? I have an active target one but am looking to upgrade. Not seeing much of a difference between the active target one and two.

I forgot there was even an ActiveTarget 2 out. I don't really follow anyone but Garmin for live imaging anymore. But the short answer is yes, LiveScope XR reads much, much deeper than the rest. Google LiveScope XR for Lakers and compare that with your ActiveTarget.

FWIW, I never saw much difference between LiveScope (LVS32) and LiveScope Plus (LVS34) either. Most of it's all marketing with some really impressive screen captures under ideal conditions you'll likely never replicate.

[58thecat]

Reports are coming in 9 inches of ice starting to form out to the more open water, ice heaves too so be careful another week and we should be good to travel around on ATV’s and snowmobiles.


No snow forecasted so should be minimal over flow too!


Can hardly wait!!!!


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[58thecat]

We got 11 inches of ice approx 500 meters off of the provincial park launch now....and still getting thicker

Ice shacks are starting to show up and generally speaking the bite is hot for the first few weeks of ice over so take advantage of it if you can.

[58thecat]

Correction to my last post as I checked the lake today, the ice shacks are out in French bay just off of the MD Provincial campground by the ski hill.

There are trucks out there and a few tents too.

When we were out we sat in 9 inches and the reports now are 11-12 inches of good ice.


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