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Old 06-05-2020, 12:34 PM
pixe1334 pixe1334 is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2020
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Default General Areas for 8wt setup - 2hr radius from Edmonton?

Hi everyone,

I'm getting an 8wt setup this upcoming week (hopefully monday or tuesday) and originally I was going to shore fish the NSR where it meets with Sturgeon river or around Drayton Valley but I've noticed a couple of posts on this forum saying the river is too high and currents too high.

I'm not particularly experienced with river fishing but I'm thinking about checking the places where Sturgeon River meets NSR first and see how it looks.

If that doesn't work I was wondering if there's any other general places where I could shore, wade, or float tube fly fish.

Fish wise, on NSR I was going for pike, walleyes, goldeyes, suckers but I'm open to any fish that would fight on an 8wt (excluding trout, I have a 6wt for that).

I also saw some posts regarding Wabamun, I've never been there before but based on looking at google maps I found these:

- https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.55115.../data=!3m1!1e3 - I don't know if I can get to that canal, looks like it might be surrounded by water or private property.

- https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.55404.../data=!3m1!1e3 - I have no idea what this is, maybe some kind of plant? Might be fenced in also


Also, unrelated but if there any place around Edmonton (up to about 2hr) where I could float tube fish for whitefish? I know Battle Lake has whitefish and it's the most narrow, protected by hills lake that I know but not sure if it's really safe for float tubes.



I hope everyone has a nice weekend!
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  #2  
Old 06-05-2020, 02:43 PM
chickensashimi chickensashimi is offline
 
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Pretty much any body of water, with pike, walleye, trout, lake whitefish etc. Toss big streamers for pike, heavy streamers for walleye (gotta get down deep, depending on depth, I pretty much let it sink to the bottom then, 4” strip, pause a couple Seconds, 4” strip, keep in mind, it is not as fast and exiting as pike, but a challenge no less) Trout, might want to go to a lighter leader and tippet, I’m rockin a whatever size leader (mono, to help absorb shock) to 25 lb Seagar fluorocarbon, to the smallest swivels and rio pike bite the lighter the better, on the TFO 10 wt Essox have I’ve landed suckers, walleye, pike, big browns (by accident) lake whites (indicator, 4-6‘ below, bead head wire worm) but my two main quarry with that particular rod is pike and walleye. Barry mitchels guide and a central Alberta backroads MacBook are essential imo, as far as specific bodies of water up there, there’s lots you can fish up there, that is the way I’d did years ago before the internet was what is today, I find the pike hammer a lot harder up north compared to down south here where I’m at, gonna go to Keho right now, don’t expect many to spill the beans on particular bodies of water though.
Hope that helps
CS
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Old 06-05-2020, 11:12 PM
Big simmy Big simmy is offline
 
Join Date: May 2020
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The nsr is still pretty high here in drayton, but if you ever get the chance to come out here an ff i would recommend not going anywhere near the bridge. It sees about 5 fisherman any day its open and fishable, I'd try hiking a mile or two upstream bc it doesnt really get fished up there.


Dont really know anywhere within 2hrs of edmonton. Maybe try pigeon or medicine lake.

I would give The brazeau river a try, ive landed lots of nice goldeye and walleye, the odd pike, and occasionally a trout of any size or species. Ive caught anything between 1lb cutties to 14lb bullies on that river

Best regards

Last edited by Big simmy; 06-05-2020 at 11:18 PM.
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Old 06-07-2020, 10:14 PM
pixe1334 pixe1334 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big simmy View Post
The nsr is still pretty high here in drayton, but if you ever get the chance to come out here an ff i would recommend not going anywhere near the bridge. It sees about 5 fisherman any day its open and fishable, I'd try hiking a mile or two upstream bc it doesnt really get fished up there.


Dont really know anywhere within 2hrs of edmonton. Maybe try pigeon or medicine lake.

I would give The brazeau river a try, ive landed lots of nice goldeye and walleye, the odd pike, and occasionally a trout of any size or species. Ive caught anything between 1lb cutties to 14lb bullies on that river

Best regards
Oh right, I forgot about Brazeau. I always wondered how it would be to fish the dam, reservoir or the canal. Might give that a shot.
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  #5  
Old 06-07-2020, 10:16 PM
pixe1334 pixe1334 is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chickensashimi View Post
Pretty much any body of water, with pike, walleye, trout, lake whitefish etc. Toss big streamers for pike, heavy streamers for walleye (gotta get down deep, depending on depth, I pretty much let it sink to the bottom then, 4” strip, pause a couple Seconds, 4” strip, keep in mind, it is not as fast and exiting as pike, but a challenge no less) Trout, might want to go to a lighter leader and tippet, I’m rockin a whatever size leader (mono, to help absorb shock) to 25 lb Seagar fluorocarbon, to the smallest swivels and rio pike bite the lighter the better, on the TFO 10 wt Essox have I’ve landed suckers, walleye, pike, big browns (by accident) lake whites (indicator, 4-6‘ below, bead head wire worm) but my two main quarry with that particular rod is pike and walleye. Barry mitchels guide and a central Alberta backroads MacBook are essential imo, as far as specific bodies of water up there, there’s lots you can fish up there, that is the way I’d did years ago before the internet was what is today, I find the pike hammer a lot harder up north compared to down south here where I’m at, gonna go to Keho right now, don’t expect many to spill the beans on particular bodies of water though.
Hope that helps
CS
Do you use swivels straight on the hook for trout? It's such a hassle to have to knot every fly.
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  #6  
Old 06-08-2020, 07:12 AM
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FlyTheory FlyTheory is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pixe1334 View Post
Do you use swivels straight on the hook for trout? It's such a hassle to have to knot every fly.
The plant on the south side of wab allows fishing at the warm water discharge.
And yes, re-tie every fly. Snaps really effect the movement of most flies unless they’re 7”+ flies. Tying knots becomes less of a hassle over time as one becomes more proficient at it.
Cheers
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Old 06-11-2020, 09:06 AM
cranky cranky is offline
 
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Location: Edmonton
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pixe1334 View Post
Do you use swivels straight on the hook for trout? It's such a hassle to have to knot every fly.
If i get snagged or depending on the fight in the fish i may retie my hook anyway at least every second or third fish. Sometimes every fish. So if i had a swivel at the end of the line id end up having to retie the swivel anyway so no point. I dont like giving them the chance of breaking off due to the knot i tied.
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Old 08-06-2020, 09:58 AM
pixe1334 pixe1334 is offline
 
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I know that it's been a while since I made this post, but I wanted to update everyone.

So I did end up going to wabamun (at the train tracks on the south side) and caught some walleye on the fly (with a homemade white zonker strip + red fox hair streamer).

I also did some fly fishing and spincast bottom bait fishing in various spots on the North Sask River and caught a **** ton of walleye, 2 sauger, goldeye, crap ton of suckers with the biggest one being about 6lb (LOVE THESE FISH, really underrated - redhorse sucker tastes better than the trout you find around Edmonton - ie. not mountain/rocky bottoms trouts).

My dad even caught a sturgeon, we were so hyped. I had a headache at the time but it was gone after the 30min fight LOL. The only other sturgeon we saw before was in Drumheller in an aquarium years ago.

My new mission is to catch a giant redhorse sucker with a fly rod. So far I've had bites but no successful landings.
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