Author Topic: Fishing in the Vally (Read 3975 times)

Water Wolf · « **on:** Mar 04, 2006, 03:14 PM »

I went fishing yesterday to Katepwa point, it was a nice day with moderate wind and sunny skies.
I set up East of the point around 1:00pm and started fishing in deeper water for some time with no luck. I tried the underwater camera but it must be around 50 feet or so as it took my whole roll of cable, it was too dark to see anything anyways.
I then moved shallower by a group of shacks.
This was much shallower with a nice sandy bottom.

In this area I was treated to an aquatic show. I watched as wave after wave of spottail shiners pass by my camera all afternoon. I also spotted, 6 tullibee/cisco, 20 perch (some of a nice size), a small carp, suckers and 7 pike. What a diverse fishery.

I did see large deep bodied pike and watched as she stalked my lure for 5 min, taking pass after pass just brushing past the lure and at times actually bumping it with her nose and body.
I was 3 feet away from my lure and and at one point her nose was touching the lure and her tail was right in my camera, so I estimated the pike to be at 3 feet long.
On her last pass she struck and proceeded to stir up the sand and mud so bad that I lost view and sent the camera spinning. I felt weight on the line and set the hook and fought her right up to the ice, as she was comming up I realized that she was not actually hooked but just hanging onto the lure determind to keep it for herself, just as I was going for her she turned and ripped my lure in-half and swam back to the depth from which she came, oh well thats fishing.

All in all it was a great day, with not bad weather, a great view on the camera, had the opportunity to feel a large pike on my line, chatted with friendly anglers and did not have to clean fish when I came home.

One angler informed me to stay clear of the Katepwa point. He informed me that the the all the Qu'Appelle lakes have current and that it swirls quite strong at this point creating very thin ice, walking on it is not advised, be safe guys as say clear of the point.
I also learned that Katepwa Lake is deeper than I thought, 300 feet in the old river channel,wow.

WW

Big Burk · « **Reply #1 on:** Mar 04, 2006, 03:59 PM »

cool i didn't know that there was carp in those lakes

:woot:im going to echo tonight and im gonna try to get some eye's, burbots and some tullibee's and a few perch tomorrow im going by the fort san beach and by camp TA-WA-Si and over by the fort qu'appelle beach. i know that by the school there are some good eyes but i dont think that im gonna venture that far from the cabin for i am walking

keep fishing

i gotta get a fish cam that would have been a sweet day

Water Wolf · « **Reply #2 on:** Mar 04, 2006, 09:58 PM »

Thanks echolakefisherman, it was a neat day. The Qu'Appelle and Lastmountain Lake has lots of different fish species. Besides the common fish species there are also carp, quillback, short head redhorse sucker, big mouth buffalo fish, rock bass, channel catfish and black bullheads.

How deep do you folks go for walleye on the chain of lakes?

Good luck echolakefisherman, let us know how you make out.

Big Burk · « **Reply #3 on:** Mar 05, 2006, 12:58 AM »

roads were very icy and saw alot of cars in the ditch so i didnt go this weekend but for sure im going out next weekend no matter what

Big Burk · « **Reply #4 on:** Mar 05, 2006, 01:02 AM »

I fish in about 6-25 fow for walleye's. Where do u find those fish in Echo, Mission and Pasqua and what kind of lures do u use.

Tombo · « **Reply #5 on:** Mar 05, 2006, 10:24 AM »

Hi WW---Fri was a great day for me too. I was able to take my 5yr. old grandson fishing.I borrowed a friends shack at Sandy Beach(Katepwa Lake)and although he didn't catch any fish....the snacks that grandma packed were good and it was warm inside. he did get a few bites but we're still working on that "setting the hook" thing. It was sooo great for me to experience that through his eyes.We didn't stay too long (2 hrs) but he had a great time and there were 1000 questions.....next time we'll do better at getting a fish on his hook.The next day I rec'd a thank-you card with hand draw'n picture of us in the shack -complete with wood stove,fish-finder, and he & I fishing.

Water Wolf · « **Reply #6 on:** Mar 05, 2006, 08:45 PM »

Hi Tombo, good to hear you and your grandson were out there to, enjoying a nice day.
Where is sandy beach from Katepwa point? Neat that you and the grandson can go fishing together, it's great to get the wee ones enjoying this great sport early, it will stay with them all there lives and build great memories.
I think I was around 5 when I started fishing, like you said there is always lots of questions, but hay that how we all learn.

Could he see the fish nibbling or swimming by?
That always fascinated me when I was young and it still does. If he can see his bait tell him to set the hook when it dissapears, good luck you 2 on your next outting I hope he latches onto that big old pike that i lost.

Echolakefisherman, I usually catch walleye on a regular jig and minnow just twitched off the bottom. Buckshot rattle spoons, chubby darters, jigging Rapalas or shad raps all produce to. Tip these lures with a bit of minnow or power bait for some scent.

WW

Big Burk · « **Reply #7 on:** Mar 05, 2006, 09:39 PM »

i love to catch new fish and im wondering what hooks i should use for carp, quillback, short head redhorse sucker, big mouth buffalo fish, rock bass, channel catfish and black bullheads in the valley?

NoLimitSoldier · « **Reply #8 on:** Mar 05, 2006, 11:42 PM »

Quote from: Water Wolf on Mar 04, 2006, 03:14 PM

I went fishing yesterday to Katepwa point, it was a nice day with moderate wind and sunny skies.
I set up East of the point around 1:00pm and started fishing in deeper water for some time with no luck. I tried the underwater camera but it must be around 50 feet or so as it took my whole roll of cable, it was too dark to see anything anyways.
I then moved shallower by a group of shacks.
This was much shallower with a nice sandy bottom.
In this area I was treated to an aquatic show. I watched as wave after wave of spottail shiners pass by my camera all afternoon. I also spotted, 6 tullibee/cisco, 20 perch (some of a nice size), a small carp, suckers and 7 pike. What a diverse fishery.
I did see large deep bodied pike and watched as she stalked my lure for 5 min, taking pass after pass just brushing past the lure and at times actually bumping it with her nose a
I was 3 feet away from my lure and and at one point her nose was touching the lure and her tail was right in my camera, so I estimated the pike to be at 3 feet long.
On her last pass she struck and proceeded to stir up the sand and mud so bad that I lost view and sent the camera spinning. I felt weight on the line and set the hook and fought her right up to the ice, as she was comming up I realized that she was not actually hooked but just hanging onto the lure determind to keep it for herself, just as I was going for her she turned and ripped my lure in-half and swam back to the depth from which she came, oh well thats fishing.
All in all it was a great day, with not bad weather, a great view on the camera, had the opportunity to feel a large pike on my line, chatted with friendly anglers and did not have to clean fish when I came home.
One angler informed me to stay clear of the Katepwa point. He informed me that the the all the Qu'Appelle lakes have current and that it swirls quite strong at this point creating very thin ice, walking on it is not advised, be safe guys as say clear of the point.
I also learned that Katepwa Lake is deeper than I thought, 300 feet in the old river channel,wow.

300' deep! No way. Unless you have personally seen it and can verify it with a depth finder I'm shooting down that 300' claim real quick. I have complete underwater depth maps for all the lakes in the Qu'appelle chain and the deepest spots sonared on Katepwa are 75'-80' in a few deep trenches off the points and at the southeast end. The other 3 lakes have some holes that average from 50'-70' and Last Mountain has some spots that are close to 100' deep on the map and I've got double confirmation fron 2 reliable sources that there are a couple spots on L.M. that are just over 100'. I imagine all the lakes have some spots that are a little deeper as no map that I have is 100% of the lakes area covered but pretty damn close. I'm not calling you a liar but I'd check your sources or invite you to prove me wrong.

WW

Tombo · « **Reply #9 on:** Mar 06, 2006, 09:54 AM »

Quote from: Water Wolf on Mar 05, 2006, 08:45 PM

Hi Tombo, good to hear you and your grandson were out there to, enjoying a nice day.
Where is sandy beach from Katepwa point? Neat that you and the grandson can go fishing together, it's great to get the wee ones enjoying this great sport early, it will stay with them all there lives and build great memories.
I think I was around 5 when I started fishing, like you said there is always lots of questions, but hay that how we all learn.
Could he see the fish nibbling or swimming by?
That always fascinated me when I was young and it still does. If he can see his bait tell him to set the hook when it dissapears, good luck you 2 on your next outting I hope he latches onto that big old pike that i lost.

Echolakefisherman, I usually catch walleye on a regular jig and minnow just twitched off the bottom. Buckshot rattle spoons, chubby darters, jigging Rapalas or shad raps all produce to. Tip these lures with a bit of minnow or power bait for some scent.

WW

Water Wolf----Sandy Beach is about 1/2 way between Katepwa and Lebret(you turn off just on the northwest side of a little bridge that you cross)
I wish I could have taken the camera for my grandson to watch,however as it was, we had about a 1/3 mi walk and I had a lot of stuff on my sled and thought I might need room for him as well but he walked it. You're right...he was forever staring down that hole watching minnows.
I don't want to get in an argument here but, I've always heard that Katepwa was the deepest lake of the 4 and it was 90-100ft.at the deepest. I may be wrong but that's just what I've been told and I've never seen anything over about 90ft on the fishfinder in the boat.
Good luck gett'n that big Pike to bite again...he's smarter now.
When I was 16 i caught an 18lb'er casting from shore on that lake....talk about an excited kid.
take care and good luck

Water Wolf · « **Reply #10 on:** Mar 06, 2006, 07:46 PM »

Echolakefisherman, I know that the carp can be found near the river areas of the lake chain in the spring and a bit into the summer. They can be caught on quite a few different baits like corn, wads of bread, dough balls and earthworms. For details just ask Buzzbomb, he goes fishing for carp quite often.
The same baits should work for the suckers species just keep it on the bottom and any where in the lakes and rivers from the deeper waters to the shallow back bays.
The rockbass are usually found around rocky areas, docks and shallower areas as well as in the river itself. They are fairly aggressive and will hit 2-3 inch twister tail jigs in many colors as well as tiny/ultralight crayfish {the Rebel wee-crawfish is a good one} along with little minnow crankbaits or jigs.

Thanks Tombo, I will be gunning for that big pike again this Sunday. If you are out this sunday I will be wearing my black skidoo suit with a orange checkered stripe and my Iceshanty toque. Maybe I will see you out there.
Good luck to you to.

WW

Big Burk · « **Reply #11 on:** Mar 06, 2006, 10:17 PM »

would this area be good for carp and suckers/ catfish

Tombo · « **Reply #12 on:** Mar 07, 2006, 09:43 AM »

A friend of mine fishes for Carp every spring in the river just east of Katepwa lake there's lots in there -you can watch them go over the dam at the east end of the lake...some look like little pigs,they're so round. I'm not sure what he uses for bait but,I know he has a real fight when he hooks into one.

buzzbomb · « **Reply #13 on:** Mar 07, 2006, 02:36 PM »

Quote from: echolakefisherman on Mar 06, 2006, 10:17 PM

would this area be good for carp and suckers/ catfish
(Image removed from quote.)

Yes.

I know someone who used to carp fish there a few years ago. There's some fishy looking water right west of the bridge too. My friend and I went to scope it out once on a really cruddy day and didn't get anything but he saw a couple finning in that delta on the east side. I don't think there's any cats but the guy that carp fished there said he had lots of nuisance suckers.

Big Burk · « **Reply #14 on:** Mar 07, 2006, 08:44 PM »

Quote from: buzzbomb on Mar 07, 2006, 02:36 PM

Yes. I know someone who used to carp fish there a few years ago. There's some fishy looking water right west of the bridge too. My friend and I went to scope it out once on a really cruddy day and didn't get anything but he saw a couple finning in that delta on the east side. I don't think there's any cats but the guy that carp fished there said he had lots of nuisance suckers.

i belive that there are channel catfish in the lakes in the qu'appelle chain

Water Wolf · « **Reply #15 on:** Mar 07, 2006, 10:56 PM »

Which two lakes am I looking at in that photo?
Is that Echo and Pasqua? $:-\$

WW

buzzbomb · « **Reply #16 on:** Mar 08, 2006, 08:30 AM »

I thought it was Mission and Katepwa with Echo in the background...

I could be wrong, of course, (it happened once before). Doesn't really matter, there's carp all over the place around there. As for catfish, I've been told that they live further east in the Round Lake end of the system but that the bullheads are as far west as Katepwa.

Big Burk · « **Reply #17 on:** Mar 08, 2006, 03:48 PM »

that is Pasqua, then Echo, then Mission and you cant see Katepwa

buzzbomb · « **Reply #18 on:** Mar 09, 2006, 05:51 AM »

Oops, I stand corrected! The short answer is I don't know. I've fished between Pasqua and Echo, and between Mission and Katepwa, but never right at the Fort. Take a look in a couple of months and see if there's anything splashing around in there. The NW end of Pasqua's supposed to be good according to friends, and I know they're thick at the E end of Katepwa so all points between should hold carp.

fishcrusher · « **Reply #19 on:** Mar 12, 2006, 02:26 PM »

About the cats, DNR found cats in the river WEST of Pasqua, they couldn't believe that they made it all the way down, but why not? So they are heading to long, eventually.

Big Burk · « **Reply #20 on:** Mar 12, 2006, 08:41 PM »

sweet more fish to catch

i know its pathetic but i have only caught pike, walleye, perch and tullibee

cant wait till the opening of soft water season. but still got a few more weeks of hardwater left

..........hopefully

buzzbomb · « **Reply #21 on:** Mar 13, 2006, 06:36 AM »

Most places where there's lots of catfish they're considered a real pest by the carpers because they can't leave their bait out without scads of catfish tearing it up. Of course, if we ever get those biggies out of the Red they'll be worth fishing for on their own. A guy told me he's seen black bullheads through clear ice on the river west of Pasqua, and that he saw them clearly. That was 2 years ago. This river system is connected to lots of different waters and we could see more different species in the years to come.

News:

Author Topic: Fishing in the Vally (Read 3975 times)