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Post by RickL on Apr 12, 2004 20:39:33 GMT -6
I was wondering if anyone has had any ideas about the fishing in the shallow bay on the side of the long peninsula opposite to the campground. If I remember correctly it is fairly shallow. I expect it would open up sooner than the main part of William, but is it worth fishing? Would the fish be in there just after ice out? or anytime afterward?
Just wondering, dreaming...
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Post by Dale Martens on Apr 12, 2004 23:18:03 GMT -6
I was fishing there in September and it was filled with rising (but not biting) fish.
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Post by darrellmyskiw on Apr 13, 2004 6:56:46 GMT -6
My experience at William was on the west side of the penninsula. Near sundown, the perch were being herded into the corners. Once it started - it just got awesome (or anoying). Then the browns showed up But as for the east side .... I dunno ... will surely have to try. yeah - gotta agree - so many lakes - so little time
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Robert Burton
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Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
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Post by Robert Burton on Apr 13, 2004 9:05:51 GMT -6
I am planning to be out there on the 25th..so i will give it a whirl!!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2004 16:57:26 GMT -6
I've been wondering about that too Rick I've never fished in there. I've never made it that far with my tube yet. I hear it can be full of rising trout as Robert said, and I imagine once the ice comes off they will turn on in the shallows. a few guys from town went out ice fishing in the mouth of that bay and they were fishing in 13-15 feet of water and they caught 4 nice browns, one of them was 22 inches long. That's big and apparently they were catching them just uner the ice in like 3 or 4 feet of water. That's amazing. today a guy told me there's still about a foot of ice but it's very sloppy and it shouldn't be too much longer until it buggers off. Ryan
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Post by RickL on Apr 13, 2004 18:27:32 GMT -6
Thanks guys. I am glad to hear the ice is looking like it's on its way out.
I'm targeting Apr 24 for a possible trip out that way and will check out that side of the peninsula. perhaps.Unfortunately, Rob,I have to be out at Gimli for Sunday or we could have teamed up for a jaunt. I will try to post my findings, but I suspect I'll stay overnight and head back in the am, maybe. Perhaps too latefor a posting. Maybe i'll leave you a message out in the middle of the lake in a bottle, so only people in a float tube or boat could get to it. Or I could leave a message in the picnic shelter by the beach. That might be a bit saner.
Dale, when the were rising last Sept, what do think they were feeding on? (Maybe a dumb question, since I bet you if you knew you would have thrown them an imitation, but I'll ask anyway.) I've seen sporadic rises that were generally more energetic than simply sipping in something delicately. I would interpret this as a sign of the fish being in some haste to catch its prey, whatever that might be. I suspect there is a fairly wide range of foods in that lake.
Got-to-go-fiiiishingggg-soon-or go-crazy!!!!
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Robert Burton
Fly Fishing Zombie
Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
Posts: 4,744
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Post by Robert Burton on Apr 13, 2004 20:20:39 GMT -6
If I am there on the 25th it will be with family in tow.
I will cast a line but an all day tube affair might not be in the cards...but the week after ..........
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Post by caddisguy on Apr 13, 2004 21:02:07 GMT -6
If you catch the Browns right after ice out in William and you find them strangly muddy there doing the Trout Pig thing. They will vary likely have a bunch of frogs in them as they've been rooting around in the mud after frogs. Try a weighted frog pattern retrieved very slowly in the soft muddy shorelines. We pumped six frogs out of one Brown one time in spring. Browns quite often do the unexpected.
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Post by cane on Apr 13, 2004 21:11:49 GMT -6
Rick an often overlooked possibility to the "splashy" rise especially if its sparodic is moths:))) even during the day. In particular there is a large ( wingspan 3/4") cinnamon/ pale reddish tan moth that is fairly common hereabouts and is the source of similar activity on McHugh. The surface flutterring is irresistable ))))
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Post by Dale Martens on Apr 13, 2004 23:54:39 GMT -6
Rick,
I can't remember anything obvious coming off the water in September. Midges, maybe? I tried a pupa and an adult, too. Some of the rises were pretty subdued but many were quite enthusiastic.
What do the rest of you guys do when fish are rising all over the place and you really can't determine what they're after?
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Post by cane on Apr 14, 2004 8:06:02 GMT -6
Dale - a couple of possibilities- if you cant fish with it fish against it:)). Sounds like a midge hatch with fish taking the supender buzzers from under the the meniscus , really needs a vertical hanging pattern.( the quiet risers) - Shuttlecock buzzer/ Foam Head buzzer - and fish chasing the rising buzzers ( the splashy risers) - Washing line technique/reversed New Zealand Dropper/induced take approach ( put a big bushy fly on the point with a buzzer on a dropper about 2 ft back up the leader, as you draw the big bushy fly back slowly towards you and the leader "tightens "againt the bushy fly it "lifts" the buzzer verticaly towards the surface. The going against the flow approach - a very small crippled baitfish or foam beetle pattern Crippled minnow - ( offer an easy "look at me,look at me" cant be passed up alternative) white marabou tail/white/pearl crystal chennile body/ pulled over white foam back makes a great injured ,struggling minnow/baitfish in its death throes on the surface- twich and draw. Foam beetles create enough surface "noise" when worked to create the same attraction value. You could even combine the Crippled Minnow and the Washing line buzzer:))))
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Robert Burton
Fly Fishing Zombie
Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
Posts: 4,744
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Post by Robert Burton on Apr 14, 2004 8:21:03 GMT -6
YA I agree with cane
Often when there is a so called "smut" hatch on i will go with a damsel nymph. These guys are predacious on other aquatic life and trout look for these guys.
I have found large nymphs or natural coloured WB's work for the same reason.
The thing to remember is that it is not just trout that feed on hatches.
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Post by Dale Martens on Apr 14, 2004 22:17:48 GMT -6
Rob/Cane,
I like your ideas. Thanks...
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Post by darrellmyskiw on Apr 22, 2004 11:54:30 GMT -6
RB - you still planning on William this Sunday ? My better-half had a notion I love those notions - they open up to negotiations to go to Kenora (pool with slide for kids). But - ya see - I had notion of going opposite direction (Sandy Lands) hiking. Well, its confirmed that : Hike Sandy Lands Sat - Brandon for the night - William Sunday. And William was her idea Rick - I'll look for your msg in a bottle .... gotta run,
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Post by RickL on Apr 22, 2004 20:15:06 GMT -6
Darrell, I suspect the lake may well be frozen over still. We need to ask Ryan if he has heard (or better yet, seen what's up).
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Post by darrellmyskiw on Apr 23, 2004 6:58:08 GMT -6
yeah - I am a bit concerned about that too. Weather hasn't been the best for depleting ice-stocks lately ... but they have been warmer than we have (by a bit).
Anyhow ...... have van - will travel ... and go look-see. Unless Ryan says otherwise ..... but then again - its nice country down there. Might have to hop over to Killarney for a bit.
here's hoping,
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Robert Burton
Fly Fishing Zombie
Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
Posts: 4,744
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Post by Robert Burton on Apr 23, 2004 8:30:19 GMT -6
The Copper Kettle in Winkler/Morden is a great place to eat! just tryin' ta help is all
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2004 19:51:19 GMT -6
Darrel, I replied to Rick's question and told him that it doesn't look good at William but Bower is 3/4 ice free.I tried it there wednesday and got skunked. The only thing is that there won't be much room on shore to cast tomorrow since it's the weekend and there will be a lot of bait fisherman. It seems like a waste of time too since I haven't heard of a fish being caught there in 3 weeks. I think all the fish are in comas right now. Ahh well it'll get better. It's supposed to be windy this weekend but warm as well. Just a thought, if you decide to go to william and there's only like 20-30 feet open at the dock, you'd think it would be good especially with the bass because they don't bite under the ice and soon as they see daylight they should be very agressive and you'd think they'd hit anything in sight. I know I've caught a few nice size browns in these conditions in the past as well. Let me know if you come out.
Ryan
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Post by darrellmyskiw on Apr 26, 2004 9:13:03 GMT -6
duuhhh - egg in me face - I noted Sandy Lands - meant Spruce Woods (I have bad habit of that mix-up - must be the dunes' fault - sand should equate to Sandy .... naw).
Nice 7.5km hike - great fishing Sunday - see report.
Thanks Ryan - caught you just a bit short. Oh well - will hook up with you one of these times.
gotta run
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2004 12:43:03 GMT -6
Hi Darrel, that's good to hear that the ice is finally off. It's off everywhere around here now. That's too bad about the perch because usually they don't bite that good this early in the year. I work at 4 tomorrow so I'm gonna go give it a try. I'll have to go where the wind isn't unless it's just too strong then I will forget about it. The big rainbows have started biting a little bit at Bower. I fish off one of my friend dock's at his cabing he caught a few nice ones this weekend so I might go there. we'll see. It's very windy here today. I'm just on my lunch break from work so I won't miss a good day's fishing anyways. If you were wondering why you didn't get any bass, Ever since they've been in there I've been fishing for them and they never seem to bite until the second or third week of may. I assume they're still sluggish from the winter and the water needs to warm up a bit, and when I do start catching them in the spring it has been on a type 3 sinking line on the bottom with a wolly bugger or minnow pattern big enough to keep most perch off, about a size 6 or 4. This is the only time of the year I use a sinking line for anything in william. I'll keep you updated and let you know how I do when I go out.
Ryan
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Post by darrellmyskiw on Apr 26, 2004 13:44:11 GMT -6
thanks Ryan I'm wondering if the tugs I was feeling were the bass. The perch hit with a definative strike - as did the browns. I don't have a sinking line set-up - YET - good thing I got ~ 3wks to get one But my theory was that the browns would be in the shallows warming on the sunny north shores (seems to have worked). break a line .....
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2004 21:35:52 GMT -6
Your Welcome Darrel. I went out to William tonight. I left at 5 got home around 9 or so. it was starting to get dark out. I had my dad with me. He wasn't fishing tonight he doesn't fly fish. he's a really good walleye and pike fisherman so he's waiting for the season to open. I started off at the pump house and made my way east. I did the same as you I just waded up to my waist in my waders. I used a slightly weighted olive crystal bugger on a floating line. after about a half hour I had a really agressive strike and it was a brown trout I saw it. It actually jumped out of the water when it was hooked. You don't see that very often with a brown. I only had him on for about 10 seconds then he started to run and he spit the hook out. It was a decent one alright.
I also had a couple other splash rises at my fly. they looked like bass. just little ones though so those tugs you had could have been bass. a little while later dad and I went to the main dock and I waded east to the swimming area and farther east to the first weed bed and had a couple more decent splash rises at my olive woolly bugger I tried a black krystal bugger and then a size 2 natural colored sculpin when the sun when down. This can be a deadly fly at night when the big browns go on the prowl. It just didn't happen tonight. I forgot to mention that I caught a pile of perch as well. Damn little things are annoying after a while.
I'm wondering if next time I took my float tube out to the middle and used my type 3 sinking line and dragged a fly along the bottom. Maybe that's where the big ones are right now. You never know eh. anything's worth a try when your first plan fails. I never tried the north side where you were though. I'll maybe do that next time. I only had a pair of blue jeans on tonight and the water wasn't that bad. I didn't have to get out at all for being too cold I just noticed it a bit with my feet. the wind calmed down tonight around supper time. It was nice for a change. there was still a bit of a breeze but i always like a bit of a breeze at william.
If I were you Darrell I would get a type 2 line first before a 3. I wish I would have gotten a 2 first. I'm gonna buy either a 2 or an intermediate next. Our lakes are shallow around here so even an intermediate is a good bet especially at bower where I fish lots. I find that I catch bottom too much with my type 3. I have to retrieve to quickly for some situations. well time for bed. I'll talk to you later. Next trip will be bower on my next day off which is wednesday I think since I'm working the weekend. I'll let you know about william next time I go
Ryan
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Post by darrellmyskiw on Apr 27, 2004 7:09:28 GMT -6
Ryan - good to hear - sounds like maybe a bit of a warm-up and both browns and bass will be raring to be caught (and the perch continue to be .... well.............. perch) Where I started, the reedbeds go out enough that you'd need to be floating - waders just didn't cut it. I'll drop you a heads-up next time we're out that way. Likely me and kid(s) - wife will likely pass.... Daughter is blasting off on FFing - she was taking pics - and was amazed at all the fish I caught .... perch Does anyone know if Nat Res or anyone else has a depth chart of William ? or is it another . . . . . . ... mission
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Robert Burton
Fly Fishing Zombie
Eventually all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.
Posts: 4,744
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Post by Robert Burton on Apr 27, 2004 8:45:05 GMT -6
Just for clarification..................
The pumphouse etc
Is this basically the boat launch/beach area in the southeast part of the lake?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2004 14:19:19 GMT -6
Robert, the pumphouse is at the other dock at the campground. that's where I was last night. They haven't used the pumphouse in a few years because of the low water levels. I imagine this is where most of you guys put your float tubes in when you're starting out for the day. The dock isn't in yet at the pumphouse but that is actually better so there's more room to cast and it's shallower so you can move around better in your waders.
Ryan
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Post by RickL on Apr 27, 2004 17:07:41 GMT -6
Sounds good Ryan. I'm itching to get out there too. As you did, I have used a sinking line at William early in the spring and found that worked better than the floater. Similar fly selection too. (Great minds think alike... ? or is it that fools never differ? Naw, must be great minds.)
Hope to see you soon.
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Post by RickL on Apr 27, 2004 17:11:07 GMT -6
Darrel, I have a contour map of William. I will try to transcribe and post it. For the most part it is a bowl-like glacier pothole kind of structure it seems. I'll see what I can do.
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