Ya I know what your thinking, potholes are ugly places where the trout taste like mud, the fishing is only good in the spring right after the fish are stocked yada yada yada. But what some people don�t know is that these manmade fisheries produce many trophy trout each season. It seems that even in the smallest lakes there are a few big ones. If this kind of fishing appeals to you please read on.
Potholes are scattered throughout western Canada in both Alberta and BC. You know lots of those really famous BC lakes like White, Island (Big OK) and more are all stocked with only a little natural reproduction. They are stocked and maintained buy the government. Most of Alberta�s lakes fall into the same category of stocked lakes, but Alberta is so often overshadowed by the more glamorized BC fisheries, but Alberta�s lakes can hold their own as well. But enough with the chit chat, I�ll talk about the fishing.
Most of these lakes need to be fished with a boat of some kind. Most lakes can be fished with a belly boat or pontoon boat, but I prefer an aluminum boat with an electric or small gas motor if it is possible do to the better mobility. Few lakes can be fished effectively from shore, but if you look hard, you can find some (especially in Alberta), and some offer really good fishing for large trout as the ice is breaking up because those big fish are cruising the shore to try and find somewhere to spawn. But get a boat if you can.
For equipment, I would never go lighter than a 5wt, and a 7 wt is overkill. So get either a 5 or 6wt rod and matching WF floating line. Because the fish are not always close to shore or in shallow water, you should also get an intermediate sink line. This allows you to better fish that deeper water. Leaders should be about 9-16 feet long (the longer is for chironomiding) and around 4x. Some people like flourocarbon leaders, but they are non biodegradable and can end up littering the ground and water. Plus, I have never seen an advantage to it, I catch all my fish on mono. For lies I like scuds, wet and dry mayflies, wet and dry caddis�, dragons, GR hares ear, chironomids, and my personal favorite, the BH mohair blood leech.
Now for what to look for. Shoals, shoals, and shoals. OK, so drop off produce in the summer when the shallow water is to warm, but summer is the time for stream fishing for cutts and rainbows. Anyway, back to the point. Look for shoals. They are large shallower area�s that go from about 5-15 feet deep and offer the most food that is readily available to the trout. My favorite technique is to use a floating line and a long leader with a leech. In the early spring, a leech fished dead drift near the surface with an indicator can make a killing, and later in the summer, you may have to use a sinking line and twitch it along the bottom to do any good at all. Chironomids produce a ton of fish each season. Just chuck it out with an indicator and keep a tight line. You will have to try a variety of flies and depths, but you can by a throat pump which allows you to see what the fish are eating. But be creative and try the flies listed above.
I like to fish these lakes mostly in the spring and fall. In the spring the fish are aggressive, and water temps haven�t risen enough to make the fishing tough. I really like the shoals in the spring as this is where the water will warm first, activate the hatches and bring in the trout. Fishing with a leech or chironie in the spring using a long leader in DEADLY. Most major hatches, and almost every bug that lives in a lake will live here (and the drop offs) and so do the bread and butter food sources like scuds, leeches, and minnows. If you are fishing for trout in the summer at these lakes, you will have to locate some cooler water. Some of the best spots for this are places where a small spring is entering the lake bottom, but these can be hard to find. Other than that you will have to go to higher elevations, or look for deeper water. At this time of year, fish are usually few, and you must use sinking lines to reach the depths. For fall use the scuds, leeches and minnows, and once again concentrate on the shoals and top of the drops.
Where to go? Well, I already listed some popular BC lakes (I don�t fish BC) so here are some for Alberta. Police outpost, Dipping Vat, Chief Hector, Lees and more down south. Dickson Pond, Phyllis, Mitchell and Strubel in central AB, and Carson, Hasse, Spring and Lower Chain in the north. Well, the scenery might be better elsewhere, the water cleaner, and the nearest cow more that 100 meters away, but why travel far if you can catch big fish close to home. I encourage everyone to give it a try.
Brown Trout