Fairford River Freeze Off (FRFO)
Every year for the past decade and a half, we have ventured up to the Fairford River. For the first long bit of it we went up the last Sunday of March. March 31st is the last day of Manitoba’s ‘general season’. Which is code for walleye season. So this event could be on any day of the month in that last week.
The last couple of years the season end has been amended to go to the last day of the public school systems ‘Spring Break’. As an example last year we went on April 1st. That can kinda be appropriate given the variances in weather and the wild swing in fishing.
The reason for going to this particular water is that it is the only open water (most of the time) in the province. While the water gets as cold as the rest of the water ways, it has a steep enough drop to keep from freezing.
The species available in the river are as wide as is available in the province at large (minus the stocked trout). The river is a connection between Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin and, ultimately, Lake Winnipeg.
This year we hit it on the last Sunday of the month which was the last day of the month AND the last day of the Manitoba general season
It was typical temperature wise with it being -2 and not getting much warmer and coupled with a steady north wind but either way, we got right at it.
The Fishing.
Truth be told this can be an under attended event. On good years it has just been me and a die hard or two. With fishing there are no guarantees. Some years we go and freeze are butts off catch nothing and some years we are shirt sleeves and catching everything.
In this light, I decided to pre fish it on a nice day prior to the event. Partly to show fence sitters that the fishing is good, partly to guarantee I got out there (just in case there was a snafu).
The Fish are Biting My Flies
Once it was established that Ciscos (locally known as Tulabi) and a whitefish were taking flies, then more people confirmed. So 5 people carpooled to got up to the Fairford River in Central Manitoba.
“Sorry About That” said Facebook
One problem that came to light was the, now tired, “Facebook ruining fishing” effect. I create an event every year and you know how Facebook will let you know about events in your area? Well I posted the pictures from my Thursday on the event to encourage fly fishers to take a chance. And some of the pictures made it very clear where on the river we were.
Clearly the the North side.
Come Sunday those 4 guys I pointed out earlier were there when we got there and held that spot till dinner time.
Now when I got close to them they yelled “ANOTHER WHITEFISH!” every time they landed a cisco I knew they didn’t know squat. Since I added a whitefish picture to the event, I made the leap in logic that these dudes may have known to come to this river, on this day and stand in this spot…or it may have been a wild assed coincidence.
I have no problem sharing water with other fishers even if they snoop our event, hog a spot and keep every fish landed (that’s what the yellow milk crate is for). Nonetheless it still makes me want to keep it secret. The yellow vests makes it seem like they were working in the area and not locals. The locals are easy to spot as they could not give a crap about tulabi or whitefish. They want walleye! So the locals stay away from the dam.
Of course whether they are local or not, whether they snooped the event and hogged the spot, it is still their right to fish. Heck there isn’t a limit on tulabi so all’s fair. Don’t want to come across as one of ‘those’ intolerant fly fishermen. But no sense doing all those other questionable things if you can’t live down to the bait fisher stereo type and leave your garbage.
Anyways I ‘Lockported’ them, moved into their area and then took over the spot when they had enough. That allowed me to finally catch a fish or 2 and eventually my first whitefish ever.
It also allowed anyone else who wanted, to catch some fish. We also had some pretty clean bite offs from what are obviously pike. I guess we could have switched to a bite tippet and got those too.
Anyways, it was a good day over all the guys that came were all troopers and I would fish with any of the again but, next year, I am keeping the invites to our forum, where I can control the privacy. Maybe a “whatsapp” group from the forum.
Robert Burton
204-770-0846
Florida Fishing Fun
So technically not Manitoba Fly Fishing but I am a Manitoban and I was fly fishing, so 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
Every year or every other year we beat the cold, like so many, and go south. Sometimes we do the predictable thing and go to Orlando and theme park it. But most years we go to the 30a area of the Gulf coast portion of Florida.
This is a retiree, snowbird, artsy, all of the above area. So it is quiet. It is also not as warm but always warmer than Winnipeg!
It took me a few trips to figure out the fishing here. My first thought was to target the salt as it was everywhere and easy to access. I also want to get my first salt water fish on any tackle (which I did manage a couple year ago in Bonne Bay N.L.)
Eventually I decided to try for the freshwater fish. The ponds are not as numerous as they are in the Kissimmee area, but they are there. Online research did not reveal much. The 30a, Destin, Sandestin areas are not hot spots for fishing and most of the info was about the bigger lakes where one would need a boat.
But with fly rod in hand I found places that held fish.
The first spot I found was a weird experience for sure. Behind the Destin Commons Mall is two ponds. They have a tonne of Blue gill and the odd bass. What makes it weird is it is right beside the mall with lots shopping traffic. As well, there is a Bass Pro Shop in that mall. So you could go there, buy a licence and go fishing.
All the golf courses have ponds and because the drainage systems are all connected, they all have fish.
I tried Seascape Golf area and got chased off by security. So I accessed the ponds from a mall adjacent to the course and had a grand time. I had it to myself on Christmas Day but it was busy other days. The golfers playing through ranged from the friendly to the offended.
Also in the area is Topsail State park. The fishing there is slow but there are blue gills.
Matter of fact that is what you will always get in these Florida ponds.
We stayed at a different place this year and it was on Little Redfish Lake. I could see fish swirling off a point in that lake. I could see it from my balcony. It happened early morning and late afternoon.
And so readers I caught my first ever Redfish in Redfish lake!
The bass ponds were fished with a 4wt so the Bass gave a good accounting of themselves but the Gills not so much. The blue gill ponds were fished with my 2wt and so all the fish felt nice.
Here are a few of the fish caught over the span of 8 fishing attempts.
Flies and Flights
If you know the history of this site and our group, you’d know we are not the MFFA. While many re participants in both, we get mistaken for them regularly and our existence is due to some hard times they experienced in the early part of this new century.
So in that spirit, we are pretty connected, I have set many folks to them to join, members participate on our message board, their members are our members and I attend their non-weeknight non Saturday events whenever I can.
The Flies and Flights is an under promoted event as well as quite informal. A bunch of guys meet up at Trans Canada Brewery on Kenaston Road here in Winnipeg and tie flies while drinking flights of craft beer.
I mean when we tie flies we drink at home so it is a natural fit.
Fun time with men and women tying side by side with pizza and beer. The food looked great and the Blue Berry Ale I had was better than any I have had anywhere (and I have been to the east coast where it was invented).
A Terrible Fall
Fall is the time many people anticipate with great and positive feelings. Folks who do not like the heat love the cooler temperatures. School based business like my Music School here in Winnipeg look forward to the returning income. Most salient to this blog is the outdoors people who look to make up for lost time (with fishing and hiking) and hunters looking to get started. Instead we we had a very disappointing turn of events.
After a scorching hot and dry summer with record temperatures what followed was an early snow fall in September, followed by below normal temperatures in October.
I managed to brave the +3 on Friday October 12th. I drove to one of the few eastern watersheds that are stocked with trout.
The first thing I found, other than the snow on the ground, was that the picnic table was removed completely.
This picnic table has been the bane of all the boat and float tubers. The shore folks kept moving it on to the boat launch. I guess the six foot walk from tackle box and bait was too much to deal with. Every time I went I had to move it. If I went on a weekend, it would be back there by the time I got off the water (complete with fishers who had no clue what to do when a boat of float tube came in to get off the water). That is why I tend to go on a Friday
Thinking I had to move it to get started I was pleasantly surprised that not only did I not have to move it, it was gone completely.
Anyhow, the air temp was supposed to climb to 5 (it didn’t) the water temp was around 1 and there was a bit of wind. I managed a few fish on a Bead Head Flymph in Brown. I lasted about 5-6 hours before my numb feet forced me off.
The fish were scattered and only a smooth, long, and relatively fast retrieves seem to elicit any action. Once I went this way, I got a lot of strikes and LDR’s as well a 4 fish (2 x Browns and 2 x Bows) The fish were an OK size. Considering the lake winter killed and was just restocked in spring I thought the fishing was pretty good. While I could complain that the Whiteshell Lakes don’t get this kinda love, I am grateful that ANY bodies of water, east of Winnipeg, gets this sort of squeaky wheel favouritism.
Casting Classes
While I haven’t done any fishing since getting back from vacation, I have given some casting classes. These are all private lessons and (if needed) I supply the gear. On the 20th I was teaching a fella who is planning on retiring to the B.C. mountains.
A few days later I gave a fly rod casting lesson to a fella who’s van trip to the mountains was thwarted by engine failure.
I went a little earlier so I could shoot some birds.
The next fella was a guy who hasn’t had much success fishing but thought fly fishing was for him.
With these classes I use 6wt rods (which I feel are a good 1st outfit for Manitoba Waters) a real leader and real flies (with the points off so no one gets a hook in them)
All of these folks couldn’t cast even a little but by the end of the hour they had the skills that could get them fish!
Whiteshell River Tour September 2nd 2018
I had been fishing since I got back from my trip to Newfoundland (where I fished a lot!). One because I was quite busy with gigs (playing music) two, we had some brutally hot weather and three, I was giving my music school a bit of a make-over.
But this date was booked way back and I was kinda needing to get back out there.
Because it was the Sunday of the last long weekend of the summer I could not take him to all my spots. Luckily I have a few spots that are less known.
We caught trout, pike and perch and missed out on bass which are pretty likely and walleye that are almost impossible this time of year for wading fishers.
The client was from Italy and marveled at all our wild spaces and so much open areas. Italy has almost twice the population of Canada but could fit comfortably inside our province.
Ironically, we happen to be planning a family vacation to Italy next year and my client this day has offered not only tourist advice, but to set up some fishing opportunities!
Funny how things work out.
Stocking Reports Updated
After 2 years the stocking map is now current!
What is nice is to see they are getting fish into the eastern lakes. Hopefully this is backed up by stocking to offset mortality rates due to predators and such.
Big Creek Manitoba Fly Fishing for Bass and Pike
The first fish I ever caught on a fly rod was a small-mouth bass in a southern Ontario stream. That fish and fight hooked me on fly fishing and I love to return to that regularly. I thought that, after good rains followed by steady weather, today would make a prime time to try. We went to Big Creek Manitoba. This is a big creek that feeds into the Winnipeg river system inside the Whiteshell Provincial Park. We launched our float tubes and and went at it. I found active fish pretty early.
The first fish was my first bass of the year (not counting Florida) and was nice at just under 18″.
I called to my fishing partner to come over as there were plenty of active fish in this inlet.
The next fish might have been the best of season and maybe my best bass.You can hear and see it on the video at the end of this article
After that there was numerous hits tugs and struggles. I worked the area, where I lost that fish, pretty hard and but only got one more bass and pike to hand.
My partner caught 5 smallies and zero pike.
Here is the full video (at least until the battery died).
The storm clouds you can see in the background of the photos and videos, finally caught up to us and we got off the water.
We were craving a burger from the Nite Hawk Cafe so we drove to the south east part of the park. If that seems like a long drive to you, you’ve never had one of their burgers!
As we were in the area, we thought we’d take a look at the Whiteshell creek after the disappointment of June 8th’s trip
Apparently there was supposed to be a tour ending with a stocking on the 9th. Our thinking being, 2 weeks might have given the fish time to acclimate.
There were no fish.
I don’t know if they stocking was so small as to be meaningless, the stocking didn’t happen, the mergansers picked them off or what. But no trout but also no native fish or fish sign at all.
The head waters are in trouble and maybe all of this is the after math of the stream ‘improvements’ and the bridge reconstruction. Maybe it will rebound in a few years. Maybe not at all
Whitshell park spots
ON Friday myself and a friend hit a few spots along the Whiteshell River.
This Manitoba river winds through the park from McDougall’s landing to the Nutimik portion of the Winnipeg River. There are a handful of places where the river is accessible from road points without too much hiking.
We hit a few of these
We found mostly 12″ pike and the odd perch.
We found this very unusual. Typically the pike would be bigger and there could be more variety in species, but this has been a bizarre spring and the fish patterns are WAY off!
We also found it unsatisfying, so we headed down to the stocked portion of the river. This is usually stocked, stocked early and often
Not a sniff. We did read that they were going to make a big deal out the stocking the next day at the end of some tours ad presentations.
We are suspecting that the lack of stocking over all and the not publishing of reports for 2 years is to hide from the public how bad things are. Particularly how bad stocking is for non politically motivated lakes and streams.
There was some work done to create more fish habitat but someone put the ‘dead fall’ in backwards. A tree that falls into a river does not fall roots first.
I am not sure the logic. On one hand the roots will provide under water micro habitat for minnows and fingerlings. On the other hand they look hideous and unnatural. They are also going to be line and fly snaggers.
I am hoping this spring levels out and a normal summer leads to a great fall but right now the warm water fly fishing is weird and the stocked trout fishing is in precarious need of fixing, particularly in the fairness department.
Lyon’s Lake Manitoba
Headed out to my formerly favorite lake, Lyon’s.
I say former because changes in focus on the delivery of services by the hatchery have changed this lake from being the jewel of the stocking program to an also ran.
The drive is still not bad, the launch is easy and the scenery is stunning.
First off a trip to the Whiteshell is not complete without a stop at the Nitehawk Cafe!
The lake was busy with kayaks and canoes as well as some shore fishing.
After launch I made sure I had the essentials!
It didn’t bode well as I got a fish on the first cast!
I was to go on catching a few of these. Clones is the best word as they were all the same size. These would be the most recent stockings.
When I started the clouds and light rain boded well but the the sun came out. It got hot fast and the fishing slowed down. But then come the perch that have always been in the lake.
It picked up a bit when the sun dipped.
I fished from 2-9:15 and caught a handful of trout fresh from the hatchery (7 in total). Saw one bigger fish work the shallows but that was it.
This used to a great lake. Back when a lot less lakes in the province were stocked, this lake got lots of fish. When the attention shifted to making then stocking the aerated lakes in the west, there were less fish to stock. Then the number of lakes in the west boomed. This (and the other Whiteshell Lakes) got zero fish for 2-3 years. The new director, who was clearly more focused on the western lakes, claimed the eastern lakes were ‘over stocked’ for years and used this as a basis for denying these lakes fish. That is when the fishing declined and has stayed pretty crappy and forgettable to this day. Even when the stocking returned (at seriously reduced levels) the lake has never been the same. Now we sit with crappy lakes in the east and a domino of failing aerators and bucket biologists in the west. There are still some good lakes in the west. But a system dependent on pot hole lakes not freezing during our long and cold winter and aerators to prevent winter kill seem precarious at best.
The economic benefits of these trout aquariums has been proven to be a reasonable return on the money via tourism, so there is definitely a need to continue the program. The problem maybe is every reeve and mayor wants a piece of this action and squeaky wheel politics is putting too much emphasis on the west.
I have lost count of all the new stocked trout lakes that have popped up in the west. Some I only hear about because it winter killed when the electricity was off for a few days or some reeve or mayor swapped out a working aerator for one with cost benefits etc.
You know how many new lakes there have been developed in the east in the last 20 years?
One
And that one is really (you guessed it) an aerated lake that just winter killed this year.
I am not against the western lakes as they have proven their worth but the Whiteshell lakes have clearly been the ones to suffer. These lakes just need fish. They don’t need aerators and the associated maintenance. They just need fish. The budgets are cut and they don’t have gas for the stocking truck but 2 of these lakes are seconds from the hatchery.
| Eastern Lakes | Western Lakes | |
| Distance from main population/ international airport | Close | Far (except for Anton’s Lake) |
| Resource needs other than stocking | Needs no aeration | Needs aeration |
| Economic benefits | Minimal | Proven |
| Fish Growth | Acceptable | Substantial |
The western lakes provide economic benefit and grow big fish while the east grows smaller fish and the Whiteshell doesn’t need the help. But is that the only reason to stock the water, so you get more tourism?
How about stocking lakes based on the benefit of ALL Manitobans?