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Story and Photography by Steven Erickson In all of Canada the one thing you can count on a conversation about is the weather. In Manitoba, it’s even more of a passion because of the variety and unpredictability of the weather we get. So it is only fitting that the weather and time of year determines the fishing here even more than in most of Canada. As I write this, it is winter (they aren’t as cold as advertised, but certainly cold enough) meaning that the fishing is non-existent, unless you enjoy sitting on the ice peering into a hole. Actually, there is open water to be found on the Fairford River, and some brave fly-fishers have been know to head there on warm days (above 0º very nice at this time of year) while the rest of us wait anxiously for ice-out.
Ice-out usually occurs in the last couple of weeks of April, with surprisingly little variation depending on the spring weather conditions. Spring 2000 was particularly cold, and yet the lakes were still fishable by the first week of May. Spring 1999 was unusually warm, but the first fishable weekend was still in the middle of April. Local conditions also affect ice-out times, such as depth of a lake, and if there is aeration. But one way or the other, you can usually count on fishing season starting late in April. The best thing about ice-out is that it is time to fish for trout. Despite the variety of species in Manitoba, and perhaps because I am a British Columbia native, I still prefer trout to other species. On the other hand, I would appreciate trout less if I didn’t have so many other choices to fish. Since there are few rivers with good conditions for trout in Southern and central Manitoba, stocked lakes are the staple of Manitoba trout fishers. There are many and varied stocked trout lakes, most of which are not too large, but ranging from local ponds to lakes you wouldn’t want to belly boat.
Once you get to a lake, you will realize that few of them can easily be fished from shore. There are exceptions to this, such as Spear Lake near Brandon, McHugh Lake in the Whiteshell, and some others. Most people prefer to fish from canoes, and some from open aluminum boats, but I prefer a belly boat when possible. Pontoon boats are perhaps the most effective fishing vehicle for a lone fisher on most lakes (barring wind), because of the flexibility that is offered by the ability to add an electric motor. For most situations a six weight rod with floating line with a 13’ high speed sink tip is a good choice, though many people use a full sink, and a few do well with a floating line. Some Manitoba fishermen also prefer a heavier rod/line weight, and suggest a 7 weight. I usually attach a 7.5’ 2x leader, then a 2’ 3x tippet. The trout in Manitoba don’t seem to be leader shy, and considering that the faster you can land a fish the better chance it has of survival on release, my preference is to use a heavy rig. Besides, you don’t know when you might tie into a 30" brown. Fly selection seems to be only moderately important, the best choice is often a black or olive woolly bugger, but damselfly, dragonfly, minnow and crayfish imitations are also good. Few Manitoba fly fishers use chironomids, though there are a lot of naturals in the lakes. It seems that with the variety of food available to the fish, they don’t seem to become fixed onto a single target. I spooned one trout’s stomach to find bloodworms, snails, minnows, a couple of dragonfly larvae, and a leech.
Once you’ve got everything ready, all that’s left is to find a place to fish. A couple of well-known spots in Southwestern Manitoba are Bower Lake, Spear Lake and Tokaryk Lake. Tokaryk once held a very large number of large fish, and could be your best bet at a very large fish, but the lake’s food chain balanced out after its initial stocking, and the average fish there are now smaller than at Spear. Spear normally warms up faster than Tokaryk as well, so is a better bet in the first couple of weeks after ice off. In central Manitoba, Barbe Lake is known for having very large rainbows, but it is farther North, so is probably a better bet toward the middle of May. Southeastern Manitoba could possibly be my favourite area if only because of McHugh Lake, which is a perfect place for a belly boat. It contains only brown trout, and has a reputation for being very trying on some days. There is a bait ban on this lake, and the required 1.5 km walk to get to there also seems to help prevent it being too busy, though it is well known enough that there are not many days on which you will be alone on a weekend. Other lakes in the area include Camp, Lyons, Hunt and Bear lakes.
Once you have chosen a lake, how to fish is largely up to you. The easiest way to start is to troll a woolly bugger around a while to get familiar with the lake and see where some fish are to be found. The speed you troll seems to be less important than the depth that your fly reaches. My preference is to fish along the edges of weed beds and shoreline drop-offs. Using a sinking tip and weighted fly, cast to the shore or weeds, allow the fly to sink for 10-30 seconds, then retrieve slowly in short strips. This method seems to work best for catching brown trout, and is reputed that at McHugh you need to land your fly within 6 inches of the shore to catch the best fish (this is not entirely true, but not entirely false either). For more information on fly-fishing in Manitoba, the Manitoba Fly Fishing Association has a website at www.mffa.mb.ca that contains more information about lakes, patterns and the activities of the Manitoba fly fishers. |
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The varieties stocked include rainbows (recent rumors have suggested the current strain includes mixed genetics from steelhead and Kamloops rainbows), browns, brook trout and various crosses including Spar (brook trout/arctic char), and Splake (brook trout/lake trout). As you get into central Manitoba and farther north, a few lakes also have naturally breeding brook trout populations. (In the north there is the famous God’s River system which is only accessible by air, but promises trophy brook trout.) Trout grow very well in the stocked lakes on abundant insects and minnows. Trout of 20 inches are not uncommon, and some lakes offer trout well over this size. Despite the excellent fishing, most lakes still receive only moderate fishing pressure, helping to keep the fisheries steady.
