bare foot wader Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 When most folks think about fishing in BC it tends to be mostly about the salmon and trout, but I am fortunate to live pretty close to one of the few natural walleye lakes - Charlie lake, which is located at about the 50 mile marker up the Alaska highway. Not many eyes over the 5lb mark, but is a fish factory for the 18-24 inchers. Figured I'd post a few pics, most of my buddies are surprised when I tell them I fish walleye in BC. My ice season got off to a slow start, rats found my otter portable, which in turn collected rain water all summer (why don't I check up on things! damnit) and also about 20 lbs of rat turds and urine. Back before Christmas I was dealing with a 5' long block of frozen ice/turds/urine...perfect excuse to pick up a new pop up while I thawed and sanitized over and over and over until the stench slowly went away I would not wish this stench on anybody, in hindsight, I should have been wearing a mask and gloves hahahah the only positive was those plano waterproof boxes are actually waterproof and 2 of my 3 ice boxes were completely ok, without any cleaning...the other box took some CLR and about 50 bucks in new hooks We had some very mild weather and ice got sketchy...froze up again and this past Sunday I was itching to get out. The navionics app is pretty handy, starting to use it more (this trip was essential as I forgot my GPS) and it was pretty accurate on water depth and easy to find one of my favourite hot spots. I drilled a few shallow holes in advance of the evening bite, and then got setup out deeper, before I had even dropped my line I was already smiling, love the LX7....I knew this was hard bottom, and I knew exactly what I was looking at I was on top of fish the whole day but it was a tough bite, I had to really downsize and they were incredibly light bites...all the walleyes were barely hooked in the tip of the nose...I kept my limit and threw back a good half dozen or so....the jig had to be perfectly horizontal, I usually tie loop knots but had to tie a clinch and set the knot so that the jig suspended nicely horizontal...once I downsized and got it dialed I was getting bit, lots of missed bites and lost fish halfway up landed a few small pike too and this guy was from my last visit, before the ice got really mushy all the walleye came on a tiny lindy jig I think it was, tipped with a sliver of tail or shrimp....but the pike came on some little jigs I tie up, feels a tiny bit nicer catching a fish on something you spun up yourself you can see how wide the pressure crack opened up a couple weeks ago That was it for the walleye, still gotta fry them up...but I don't post reports too often, so I'll throw in a few extras.... dogs enjoying the extra room in the pop up...and me enjoying focusing solely on fishing, and not constantly scanning for wolves or them dang coyotes, it's very nice having the extra room in the pop up to keep the mutts comfortable instead of exploring the shoreline a pennask strain stocker from a nearby lake my last steelhead trip of 2013 resulted in zero steelies, but I did get a big resident bow....there is not a single stocked trout in BC that can compare to a wild trout, the colours, the fight, totally different ball game with the wild guys and everybody should know who built that rod, I always get tons of compliments on it...thank you again Spiel! these perch I caught just before last ice 2013 and are from a northern AB lake, it has some pretty tight regs but I gotta say that I think the management plan is working, these fish are honestly the average size...and that's a tall boy can to clarify LOL...that big guy is a little better than average, probably close to my PB but I have seen others catch bigger this lake has a 5 perch limit and there are some legit 2 lbers in there I joined up on the OFC tourney this year, I'm fairly confident I can contribute with some big springs...this was my largest from 2013, 43" x 29...as always, I lost bigger but that only makes you fish harder largest sturgeon this year, not much to brag about on the fraser but any sturgeon is an awesome fish really...didnt' insure my boat for tidal but hoping to this year, if stupid work doesn't get in the way lol another small guy from the same day and for the hunters on here, a small 4pt mulie...that I missed spent 2 days tracking him after the shot and it is sick feeling indeed, I was very relieved and happy to see he survived the season that's it for now, since I joined the tourney this year I better work on more fishin reports lol cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickingfrog Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Nice to see something a little different. And you're right, I don't put walleye and B.C. together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 How many guys does that drift boat hold? :) Great report man! I have no idea BC had walleyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinker Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Great report! Good mixed bag of fish there! S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishindevil Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Amazing report with lots of species !!! And nice ones at that !!!! Glad to see some walleyes in BC !! Great program they started as well as in Alberta! Thanks for sharing !!! Tight-lines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris.brock Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 more reports would be appreciated, that was great, looks like a perfect place to live Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerritt Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Great report! thanks for sharing, I learned something new today G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJQ Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Pretty cool report indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bare foot wader Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 (edited) How many guys does that drift boat hold? :) Great report man! I have no idea BC had walleyes. that thing is basically a massive bath tub, one of the better ones I've been in....it has a row of 3 seats in the front, and a seat in the rear for the guide to row we'll drift the smaller rivers in our pontoons, but the big rivers it's hard to beat a real drift boat with an experienced guide, some real nasty sweepers and rapids my next report will probably be Cold Lake, AB/SK for lake trout...tying up some 1oz jigs for those pigs now Edited January 31, 2014 by bare foot wader Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdrifter Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Awesome!! Love those "Springs"!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnsled Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 That was a fun read. Lots of variety and some good fish as well. 5 fish limit on the perch eh? Well if the fish are getting to that size it's a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey buoy Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 That was a fun read. Lots of variety and some good fish as well. 5 fish limit on the perch eh? Well if the fish are getting to that size it's a good thing. I was just going to say,and we cut our perch limit to 50 lol.Who would of thought?.Great report bfw!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Field Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 Great report ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbailey Posted January 31, 2014 Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 sweet report! i hear the fraser river is a blast.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bare foot wader Posted January 31, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2014 That was a fun read. Lots of variety and some good fish as well. 5 fish limit on the perch eh? Well if the fish are getting to that size it's a good thing. I was just going to say,and we cut our perch limit to 50 lol.Who would of thought?.Great report bfw!! yep, the limit works for me, especially when they average 12" jumbos...I only keep a handful of limits for perch/walleye/pike and 1 or 2 good salmon a year.....but in AB there are a bunch of lakes that are completely closed to walleye retention and then about 12+ lakes actually have a lottery tag ! http://www.albertaregulations.ca/Walleye-Draws-Brochure-2013.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
67ZL1 Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Hey Bare Foot, if you want to hit Slave Lake this year just PM and maybe we can hook up. I assume you live around Fort St. John? I'm in GP. When the bite is hot in June it's nothing to catch 150-200 walleye in 6-7 hours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 Wow, sweet report. Great fish and pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solopaddler Posted February 1, 2014 Report Share Posted February 1, 2014 I am fortunate to live pretty close to one of the few natural walleye lakes - Charlie lake, which is located at about the 50 mile marker up the Alaska highway. . Holy cow, exactly where is it you live??? (If you're ever looking for a steelhead fishing partner I'm there!) Just an outstanding report, very cool! I had heard rumors of walleye in BC but had no clue there were natural lakes. I'll bet no one fishes for them either. Nice float rod too. Was yours the one with all the counterweights in the butt? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDR Posted February 2, 2014 Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Great report! Nice variety of fish from some very interesting locations. The Walleye portion really surprises me as well. They look to be a very healthy population and a nice option to have when surrounded by some of the best Salmon and Trout fishing on the planet. Just awesome! Thanks for sharing! So you were the one who requested that build. Very nice! Chris does a fine job and it's good to see his customers enjoying the fruits of his labour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bare foot wader Posted February 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2014 Yes, I had the rod with the counterweight kit from bps, works great for me, I like the balance ...amazing work and I always get compliments....the reel is a Milner reel from cranbrook, bc...a complete Canadian combo 67ZL1 got it, I'm right near fort St. John and those perch were caught not too far from lesser slave And I'm always willing to point guys in the right direction if they visit BC, I lived around van and whis and did a lot of river fishing...now thst I'm further north Im slowly learning the skeena and bulkley watersheds...that salmon was on the kitimat river Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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