Friends, Fun and Fishing PHOTO GALLERY
What more can a man ask for? I was fortunate enough to get a phone call from my good friend Dwayne F. Saturday, asking me to join him for a fishing trip to Kananaskis Lake.Any fisherman in his right mind could not turn down an offer like that, so I happily accepted and off we went into a sunny afternoon of plus 33 degree weather. Dwayne’s thoughts were, if we head to the mountains we will get some reprieve from the heat and catch some fish in the process. Upon arriving at the upper lake I checked the thermometer and it read 33 degrees Celsius. It was a good thought though Dwayne.
We arrived at the upper lake at three o’clock and unpacked all the gear and bedding into the Bay Liner boat Dwayne is fortunate enough to own. We made good time transferring all our essentials over and launched out to a lake of glass. We trolled around the lake for two hours with no success and not one fish landed. At eight o’clock we made supper and filled our growling bellies sharing stories of fishing trips gone by. We decided to leave the Upper Lake alone and launch out into the Lower Kananaskis to finish the night off. I know that the fishing before dark on the Lower Lake can produce some whoppers here. We stopped in many back bays with fish that were rising and feeding but none seem to want anything we were offering. As darkness fell upon us we docked the boat and retired for a nights rest aboard the Bay Liner.
We awoke early in the morning and set out to prove we could bring one of those big Bull Trout into the boat. I suggested that fishing where the Upper Lake meets the Lower Lake. Tanya, Dwayne’s other half was the lucky first person to bring flesh into the boat, a nice 12 inch Bull Trout. Tanya was able to latch into another Trout but unable to pull this fish all the way into the boat. It was time to make our way back to the north side of the lake to finish the weekend off.
I spotted a creek running into the lake and asked Dwayne to stop so we could try our luck. I had on a Len Thompson frog spoon and let loose into the creek mouth. We were in four meters of water, so I slowed up my retrieve and pulled the lure from the creek mouth into the boat. The second cast was the lucky one and BOOM, fish on. I knew this Bull Trout was a heavy weight as we fought back and forth for several minutes before he was tired enough to land. As I caught sight of this fish my heart raced in anticipation, BIG fish I needed to land. Dwayne was spot on with the rubber meshed net and he was all mine. This fish was probably my largest ever, 10-12 pounds and 25-30 inches in length. I made my way back to the boat to tie up another proven hook called the Berkley Frenzy in the silver color. I made my way off the boat onto the shoreline and fired the Berkley into the lake presenting the lure towards the mouth of the creek this time. I met eye to eye with another whopper Bull that took many yards of line before I landed her onto the sandy bank. I made a mental note to myself upon releasing this 10-12 pound monster, look for mouths of creeks while fishing lakes; you will be rewarded with fish like this. Another unforgettable weekend fishing in the beautiful province of Alberta.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Travis Robichaud // Jul 16, 2007 at 10:38 am
Hey Mike, nice fish, I haven’t been to the lakes in years, how would the fishing be from shore? I heard the lower is better for shore. The oldman likes to go to the Elbow lake, because you can catch a ton, but they are all small brookies, so talking him in to the kananaskis would be nice.
Caught some nice rainbows on the weekend with the Acme Pheobe(gold) it was magic (18-23 inch) no pics though.
2 bowriverblog // Jul 18, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Hey Travis, sorry it has taken me so long to reply to your comment; I have been seriously busy these past couple of days. As per your question regarding shore fishing at the Lower Lake, can be fantastic if you are there at the right time of day. Late at night for me here seems to produce the biggest and most fish. I like 8:00 PM all the way untill dark. Use crankbaits, Len Thompsen spoons and large spinner baits sometimes work here. Mabie show your dad the lunkers that can be caught here and he might change his mind.
Take care and happy fishing Travis.
~Mike
3 Keith // Jul 19, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Hey Mike,
Nice pics! We fished that lake on Saturday Evening and didn’t get a single bite…. We were over by the Hydro Station. Elbow Lake on the other hand was excellent, we had a blast!
Hope you don’t mind I linked you to my new site - just going to start putting it out there now… If you have a banner for your guide service let me know and I’ll throw that up as well.
Thanks Mike, Happy fishing!
Keith
4 bowriverblog // Jul 19, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Thanks Keith, what a great battle that first fish gave me boy I tell ya, I thought I hooked a big Rainbow but I was sure happy with that massive bully. I don’t mind you linking to my site at all Keith, that’s actually a complement to me my fishing friend. Much appreciated for sure. I will send you a logo and you can hyperlink the logo back to my website, best I can do at this point. Look for it in your e-mail.
Thanks for stopping by Keith, always nice to see your comments here on the Blog.
Take care and hook the BIG ONE,
~
Mike
5 Nick // Jul 20, 2007 at 12:47 am
Nice fish. Nice site. No need to publish exact locations though eh?
That fish and any others are now doomed in short order. Not everyone will treat a fish like that with the respect it deserves. Some may not even use barbless hooks and some may not release (regardless of regs)…
Note how many coms this article has got already compared to the usual. As you know, those fish are breeders and important for the recovery of the bull trout. Even if people release any big fish they catch, the fish have only got to get hooked deeply once… If you find a spot where the breeding fish hang out, good for you. Please don’t tell the local fishmongers about it.
6 bowriverblog // Jul 21, 2007 at 3:16 pm
“Local fishmongers” WOW, those are some pretty harch words I feel. I try and use fishing friends myself. Each and every individual has every right to be fishing this wonderful province of Alberta just as much as you and I do. What I like to see is smaller kids and teenagers taking up this wonderful sport rather than seeing them turning to things such as alcohol and drugs; or crime. It is out of my personal controll if other fishermen/women choose not to follow the rules/law laid before them in the local fishing regulations guide. If I personally see these law’s being broken I have a cell phone with me at all times, and I am willing to use it!
I personally follow the law here when fishing, barbless hooks, Trout limits and size limits etc. I follow the law where-ever I fish for that matter bacause that’s the LAW. Also as you probably know, you cannot train a fish to take your hook lightly or not too deep in it’s mouth, therefore it would be fair to say that even the pro’s and average joe’s alike are going to kill off some fish no mater what their experience level. I am not trying to be egotistical here but I know where fish hang out at all times and in all the places I fish. That’s what makes me a cut above the rest, that’s why people love to fish with me, I catch fish, PERIOD. Thanks for the comment and I sincerly wish you many happy days of fishing.
~Mike~
7 chris // Jul 26, 2008 at 10:44 am
hey Mike,
do you know how the lower and upper k lakes are fishing? should I be using big spoons and spinners or is it too tough to fish right now.
Chris
8 bowriverblog // Jul 26, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Hi Chris, The Upper and Lower lakes should be fishing very good rite now. The water levels are rising and they should have opened the spillway from the upper to the lower lakes so the fishing should be good.
I have not been up there for a month so I cannot say for sure but it is a good time to go there as the water tables are rising so therefore the fishing gets better when this happens.
Hope you catch the monster Bull when you are out fishing the Lower Lake. I would fish the lower lake before I would fish the upper Lake.
Thanks for the question Chris,
~Mike.
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