Jack off the Rocks                                            PHOTO GALLERY

Fine day weather wise here in sunny Alberta means I have gone fishing somewhere. Today I chose to go back and do some Walleye/Pike fishing with the famous Todd P. We finally had some calm wind and opted not to fish the Bow today. We pulled into the inlet cannel at Crawling Valley and piled or gear down to the shoreline. When I fish here there are usually many people fishing this fine chunk of real estate.

I asked a fellow fisherman how his day was shaping up and if he had caught any fish. A big smile came across his friendly face and kindly replied he had caught three Pike so far. I asked him if he had caught any Walleye and no was his answer. I turned to walk back to where I was sitting and happen to look into the water at his catch and my eye balls surely were about to pop out of their sockets. This was no 20 inch Pike my friends, this Pike was the biggest specimen I have ever laid my blue eyes on. Abbaga was kind enough to pose for this picture for me. His awesome Pike taped out at 47 inches long and weighed in at 27 pounds. Truly an awesome specimen folks. I thanked Abbaga with a handshake, for his time and the photos; and made my way back to my cozy lawn chair.

This fish sure made my juices flow and I could not get my frozen minnows onto my hook fast enough. I calmly threw my bait into the water and sat back in anticipation of the bite. Shortly after my bait was into the water I saw the rod tip dancing and I made my way over to my rod. One thing you need to know is if you try and set the hook too soon you will miss the fish every time here. I waited and turned my reel over one full turn, he then took the bait and I was reeling in a nice Walleye. I was able to land six Walleye today and I saved the best fish for last. He was 22 inches and weighed in at 5 pounds. I sure do love Walleye fishing and I will be back out at Crawling Valley very soon for some more great fishing.

Back on the Bow River                                    PHOTO GALLERY

I am happy to report that there are fish starting to return into the Bow River system. I am not saying that all the rivers fish left the Bow but there was a month of slow fishing. We fished all our good holes and came up empty handed each and every time, which seemed to last forever. Today was a new day however and we saw evidence of Rainbows making their way back into the river after their spring spawn.

Todd and I decided to return to a hole along the west bank and try our luck. I had a good feeling as we made our way to the rivers edge. The water was bright blue and had risen about three feet from the last time we fished. However, the hole was still slow enough to fish it properly. Todd selected a Rapala Countdown, and selected the gold Blue Fox Minnow Spinner. On my third cast I was into an 18 inch Brown trout that did everything in its power to escape my hook. Two casts later I battled a heavy fish that managed to shake rattle and roll off my hook. I then landed a nice colored Rainbow and the fishing slowed down.

Moving to another location downstream, I tied up a lime green spinner bait and casted away. It took many casts but I then hooked a 19 inch Rainbow that went airborne seconds after I hooked her. I landed her and released her back into the clear blue water for another lucky angler to catch. Todd then hollers check this out Mike and his rod was seriously bent over. I dropped my rod and started shooting video footage of his 24 inch Rainbow Trout. He played the fish and landed him on the shoreline for me to snap this photo. We carefully revived this brute and let him go. I am sure glad to see these large fish back in the river system. We will now float the river today and see if we can slay the big boys. Stay tuned for the next article and report on how the fishing here progresses.

Back out at Crawling Valley                        PHOTO GALLERY

It was opening day yesterday at Crawling Valley Reservoirand I was able to escape the city and try my luck at this excellent Walleye fishery. The drive out to Crawling Valley takes an hour and twenty minutes but is definitely worth the trip. Crawling Valley holds its fair share of large Walleye and also has some great Pike and Burbot fishing. Every spring I look forward to the excellent fishing this reservoir has to offer. The Walleye come out of the deeper water and move to shallower territory in search for food. This provides for some non-stop action here.

I prefer to use bait when fishing here and my first choice is always frozen minnows. I went to the tackle shop and saw a bag of colored minnows on the shelf. They came in two different colors, pink or florescent green and were reasonably priced at 11.00$ CDN. I opted to buy some and give them a try. Todd however stated he always had good luck fishing Walleye with worms, so we placed our bets and moved to the till. As we pulled into the reservoir there were already six people fishing and I said a friendly hello to one of them. We exchanged some words and I went over to my favorite spot along the shoreline, tied up and sat back and waited for the bite. Todd was the lucky one who had a bite with his proven worm trick; he patiently waited as the Walleye nibbled those irresistible worms. He set the hook abruptly and was into the first fish of the day. We snapped some photos and released the fish back into the reservoir. Looks like I’m buying dinner tonight, referring to the bet back at the tackle shop.

We stayed long enough for Todd to pull one more Walleye from the murky water on a spinner made by Blue Fox. I had a few good bites but never managed to land one fish. I made a note to myself to include worms in my selection of bait for the next trip here. It is wise for one to have a selection of different baits in case one type of bait is not working. All in all I enjoyed the trip and have a feeling I will return to the Valley very soon. Hopefully this time I will be the lucky one hauling in those nice big Walleye’s.