Lake Dalhousie

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Howdy Fisherfolk!

 

Its getting cool out there fast eh! Thought we were supposed to have a warmer than usual fall...ah well...

 

I'm getting a rare opportunity to try out a lake I've never fished before, that to on a boat!!

Being a shoreline angler i cherish any such opportunities and so want to make the best of it.

 

A new fishing buddy and myself are planning on hitting Dalhousie lake tomorrow morning. He has never fished it before but has heard that the fishing is decent and thought we'd give it a shot.

 

From the little info that i could find, supposedly there are bass, walleye, pike, whitefish and brooktrout in the lake...To me that is a species heaven!

 

Has anyone fished the lake and had luck with the white fish and brookies? I have never fished whitefish before and so am excited about the possibility of hooking into one. Any tips on what would be the best species to target in the lake at this time of the year would be much appreciated. Also, any info on the sizes of fish caught in the lake would definitely add to the excitement. I know the lake runs deep, should i take along my heavier rods with dipsy's and planars?

 

Thanks a million for any info provided!

Cheers and tight lines!

Nigel

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Man, do I need to go out on the boat more often! The weather was perfect, the company was awesome, fishing wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. I just loved being out on the water rather than on the side of water. Can't wait for the day I can afford my own boat. Just thought I'd report on the trip since it doesn't look like any one has really been out on Lake Dalhousie. Or, maybe people din't want to share any secrets. So i will try to not go into any major details to preserve the sanctity of the lake. I do have a good number of questions for all you boaters though which I will ask as I type along.

 

So, my buddy Jas picked me up early Saturday morning and we headed to Lake Dalhousie. The water was like a sheet of glass. Not a single boat out on the water, just perfect! We saw a couple of small large mouth while we launched the boat as my brain went nuts on what lure I was going to try on first. We slowly trolled along the shallow east end of the lake casting to what we thought were bass holding spots with no luck. Saw a couple of swirls here and there but did not sight any fish at this point. the water was fairly cold in the shallows so we decided to move to deeper waters towards the west end of the lake...The lake isn't particularly large so we figured we'd just troll all the way to the other end and see what we came across.

 

Being a shore fisherman I rarely get to use a fish/depth-finder but this piece of equipment fascinates me. So here is my first question. Are fish finders reliable? i.e. when in search of fish in deeper waters do you regular boaters trust markings on the finder or do you just use the instrument for depth/structure perception. Now I know there are fancy finders out in the market that show you images of the bottom and all that jazz, but I am talking about an everyday finder that usually comes along with a boat as part of the package. We got into around 11 feet of water and marked a couple of blimps at the bottom and decided to troll bottom bouncers for walters since we have been told that there are some mighty fine walleye in the lake. Out went the bottom bouncers/worm harnesses and my eyes were fixed on the fish finder! Every time a blimp showed up on the screen I imagined we'd hook into a nice fish.

 

After we passed 15 feet of water there was absolutely no activity on the screen. By this point all we had was a couple of tiny perch hit the harnesses. The non activity continued till 30 feet of water. From 30 to 35 feet of water, the finder showed a continuous stream of markings at a depth of 15 feet. The sizes of the blimps changed every now and then but they were all level. This continued for a good 20 minutes of trolling and stopped past the 35 foot depth mark after which there was no activity on the screen. When in the 30-35 foot region I switched to cranks hoping to be just above the fish as shown on the finder. Here comes my next question. I am not familiar with fishing such deep waters, but is it odd that all the markings were at the same level? The water was pretty clear with a visibility of around 5 to 10 feet. So I do not think turnover was a factor this early in the fall resulting in the fish being marked at one depth. How would you have read such markings on the finder?

 

We continued our slow troll till we reached 50 feet of water without any luck. I know our method of scouting the lake wasn't ideal but we just wanted to see what the lake was like since it was out first time on it. The next time we try it out we'll be concentrating on specific depths instead of scoping the entire length of the lake. Was still fun being out on the water.

 

After a couple of hours of lots of fish talk but no fish we decided to try out a short stretch of the Mississippi river by the lake for a bit. Once again, waters neither of us had ever fished on. We hooked into a couple of nice bass and the smallest pike i have ever seen (6 inches). I lost a huge smallmouth here. The dang fish had shoulders and I lost it on the jump. Why do the big ones always get away?! Sigh! Just another fish to add to my season of big lost fish. Maybe I should switch back to mono...hmm.

 

Anyways, after two hours of decent bassing, we hit Mississippi Lake for the evening bite. Once again not many fish but still a good time on the water. There had been a small bass tourny on the lake in the morning so the lake was pretty beat up. However Jas did catch a nice 18 inch largie on the troll. I lost a small pike boat side but got to see the strike which was awesome. Trolled for walleyes for a bit at dusk but din't have any luck.

 

I was hoping we would have hit into a bunch of nice fish in the deep but it was not meant to be...very possibly due to inexperience.

Sadly this was my last big outing of the season.. I have now put way most of my gear. It is now crunch time and I have to finish up my degree. Hope I did not bore you. The musky gear is still reachable so maybe I will have another report for you'll before the temperatures drop.

 

For all of you that are going to get to fish till your finger tips fall off due to the cold, Tight Lines!!

For the rest of you that have had to put your gear away for the season. I feel your pain. But there is some good news.. Hockey is back!

 

Cheers everyone!

Nigel

 

A couple of pics from the outing.

 

 

 

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Edited September 22, 2011 by Fishingitis

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And one more of the evening sky...

 

[bigugli]

Nothing like trying new water and having some success on top.

 

As too suspended fish on the graph. It is not uncommon to find fish at a specific depth. They, or their food of choice, may be sitting on a thermocline.

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Hmm..interesting...How does one determine the depth of the thermocline? I guess in this case the fish being at one level would have been an indication. But say in the deeper water where there were not any markings how would you locate the different layers throughout the depth especially since the temperature readings on the finder are usually of the surface. Do you carry and extra thermometer that you drop down every now and then to check temperature fluctuations with depth. I only ask cause I figure knowing the location of such the transition could be crucial especially during the fall, post turnover. Thanks for the info.

 

Cheers,

N

[Roy]

Most sonar units that are properly setup will show the thermocline on the screen image.

[Jer]

Most sonar units that are properly setup will show the thermocline on the screen image.

 

 

Probably what his sonar was showing...rather than fish.

[iceslayer]

Probably what his sonar was showing...rather than fish.

 

 

What are you looking for to see the thermocline on your screen?

 

Jim

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Probably what his sonar was showing...rather than fish.

 

Very interesting...that was what i was thinking after Roys post.....Didn't realize the sonar would pick up density changes....

Is it possible to see all three layers (Epilimnion, Thermocline and Hypolimnion) on the screen?

[Roy]

Very interesting...that was what i was thinking after Roys post.....Didn't realize the sonar would pick up density changes....

Is it possible to see all three layers (Epilimnion, Thermocline and Hypolimnion) on the screen?

 

The sonar does not pick up the changes in water temperatures/densities. What it does pick up is the inordinate amount of particulate debris and sediment suspended in the thermocline (metalimniom).

[johnnyb]

Great report, fishingitis....but keep a combo handy for smallmouth....the fishing only gets better from here on in...if you get an opportunity, jump on it

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The sonar does not pick up the changes in water temperatures/densities. What it does pick up is the inordinate amount of particulate debris and sediment suspended in the thermocline (metalimniom).

 

Dint even think about the turbidity in the thermocline...All makes sense now..Thanks for the info Roy..

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Great report, fishingitis....but keep a combo handy for smallmouth....the fishing only gets better from here on in...if you get an opportunity, jump on it

 

Thanks Johnyb.

I've kept the one combo out and might get to use it this weekend if I can get everything of my to do list scratched off..well at leat 90% scatched off...