Season opener is finally here! I know fishing has only been closed for 45 days but thanks to Covid-19 it felt like an entire year. I was eager to get my kayak back out on the water and I wasn’t the only one. There were quite a few of us on Facebook that had the itch so Andy, from Aquabatics Edmonton, arranged a small meetup for a little social distance fishing and camaraderie.
We met at the Pigeon Lake Provincial Park late Friday afternoon. The parking lot was surprisingly quiet for the excellent weather and the first day of the fishing season. As most know, the drop off is only a few hundred yards from the launch area. As I pedalled out to the spot I noticed the water was already 10°C. Being so early in the season I assumed the walleye would still be shallow, but as I crossed the drop into deep water I started marking fish right away. My lure of choice in this spot is a ¼ jig with a 3” Gulp! Minnow and it wasn’t long before I had a large, healthy walleye in the net.
We had a lot of fun fishing the dropoff at the provincial park. The dropoff is not a big area, and with 10 kayaks on the water we sort of took the place over. I believe everyone caught walleye and some even had tags to take a fish home.
Since it was such a success we decided we should do it more often! Thus, the Greater Edmonton Area Kayak Anglers Group was born. This Facebook group consists of Edmonton area kayak fishers that get together once or twice a month, on a weekday evening to do some fishing. It’s great to be able to fish with a friend and there is safety in numbers, especially for beginners. If you find you want to bring a friend who doesn’t own their own kayak, post that. There are quite a few of us with extra boats we are willing to bring.
If you live in and around Edmonton and want to kayak fish with some friends, join us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/188003922355445/
