For 9 years our group has gone into the Park looking for trout. Weve always gone the opening weekend. Usually ice has only been out for a week. An old timer told us we go too early that the fish are still sluggish from the winter and needs a good 2 to 3 weeks of ice out to regain their appetite.
Anyone else hear of this theory, or is the best time for trout at ice out?

I've heard that the best time for spring lake trout is when the alder leaves are as big as your fingernail. This is along the lines of the info given you by your 'old-timer'.

we have been going for 30 years on the Wed. after the opener and have had varying degrees of success, to me it is a temperature thing for the bug hatches to have started. Most lakers we catch in the spring that we keep for meals have their stomachs full of insects...I do know that the years it has been colder we have not had as much success. I had heard the same thing that you are talking about but we go as early as we do mainly to avoid the blackflies, whatever fish we catch is a bonus...I would say the 2 or 3rd week of May and you will be certain to have blackflies...

I had done some research on this topic several years ago for various types of fish; I don't have the exact figures/results now.

But it all boils down to the water temps, and also what was mentioned above, the air temps for bugs to start their hatchlings.

The key is water temps, for trout it has to hit a certain point for them to wake up and start the feeding frenzy to begin their spawning.

Good topic!

Thank,
Aaron

As Aaron said, it's all about water temperature. This chart on the MNR Fish Ontario site is a great resource:

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/LetsFish/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_165685.html

Remember that fish are poikilothermic (wow I spelled it right too) which means 'cold blooded'. If the water is too cold, then their metabolism is moving really slowly and they just aren't hungry. If the water is too warm, then they have to move lower to be comfortable.

The trick is to find the right water temperature. The catch is that water temps aren't based on the calendar. If the ice just went out, then the odds are that on Opening Weekend the water is still too cold for the fish to be hungry. On the other hand if you're fishing the west shore of the lake, or a sunny pool, then the temps might be just right and the fish might be highly concentrated.

I remember a couple of 5 day trips where at the start of the trip all the fish seemed to be on the west shore and by the end of the trip they seemed to be on the east shore. I couldn't help wondering if this was due to the east side of the lake warming up more slowly than the west side of the lake.

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From past experience, bugs usually aren't too much of a problem in the 2nd and 3rd week of May but begin to kick in closer to the end of the month (with minor variables on warmer days or colder ones) near the central portion of the park. By that time the southern portion of the park below the highway might already be in "full bloom" so to speak.

I once heard a wise old fisherman say "the trout don't really start biting until the bugs do". I like a few weeks after ice-out and near the end of May.

The old time local fisherman from this area say the best time to start fishing Lake Trout starts when the blackfly season starts.

Interesting thread.

The variation I have heard is similar to Doug, but that the fishing is best when the Poplar leaf is the size of a beaver's ear.

And from experience, this often rings true-particularly for the ares that I fish trout.

Cheers
Shawn

Ok, I gotta ask ya, Shawn...

just how docile does the beaver have to be for me to get close enough to measure its ear?

Cuz there's no way I'm picking Bucky up and carrying him around until I find a poplar tree to compare its leaf to his ear.

Are we talking baby beavers, or one the size of the "submarine" I saw once on Rain Lake?

Do beaver ears get larger as they age?

Bet you never thought I'd try to pin your ears back on something like this, eh? LOL




Barbara

Quote "The key is water temps, for trout it has to hit a certain point for them to wake up and start the feeding frenzy to begin their spawning."

I'm not sure if this is the intent, but Charr (brook and lake trout) don't spawn until the late fall (late October/November in APark).

Both Brook and Lake Trout are quite active under the ice, they continue feeding even though the water temp has dropped to between 4-2 degrees C. So this notion of 'waking up' is not entirely accurate. They are both very easy to catch in winter, one reason why they ban ice fishing in Algonquin. Their metabolism is slowed, but they remain catcheable (e.g. are hungry) throughout. That being said, I prefer the periods between the 2nd week of May through til early June, mainly because it's more comfortable for me to fish then + the water temps are still at or below their preferred temps. By the time the pollen starts floating on the lakes (late may-early June) that's an indication the lakers are or very shortly will be headed deeper due to the surface waters exceeding their preferred temps (Lake T: 6-8 C). For Brook Trout preferred temps are 12-14C. Onset of the pollen normally coincides with the blackfly emergence.

I've heard that the trout can be sluggish right after ice out.

Someone once recommended still fishing using dead minnows. Some people call it "pop canning" because they prop their rod onshore, open the bail, and wrap the line around a pop can and just go about their business at camp. When a fish bites, the pop can falls over and you come running! (Algonquinites should use the noisiest available plastic container)

Apparently trout will feed off the small fish that were killed off during winter and sink to the bottom when the lake inverts after ice out.

I tried it last spring with some success.

hahahhaa

why not bring the poplar to the beaver? (if we are talking about uniting the two) :)

has anyone ever eaten beaver?

algoalex

"has anyone ever eaten beaver?"

Can we ask that in mixed company? :D

Seriously though, the almanac is calling for showers and thunderstorms for April 8-11 and unseasonably warm temperatures for April 12-15.

That sounds like a recipe for an April 18th iceout to me.

To my knowledge, it's illegal to leave a line unattended as you describe. Check the regulations.

I ate some beaver meat a week ago, it was ground and made in to meatballs, done with a sweet and sore sauce, it was good.

i have eat`n the sweer and sour,b.b.q beaver from a local trapper. in temagami, cassels lake.not bad

i have eat`n the sweer and sour,b.b.q beaver from a local trapper. in temagami, cassels lake.not bad

WC, I don't ever remember the ice coming out that early in all the years I have been coming to the park and can not see it happening this year in particular. I would say that the lakes are still making Ice, we are about 2 hours south of the park ( Kasshabog Lake ) and the water temp on the weekend was 34.2 and I would think a little further north it would have been a little colder and without snow to act as insulation it will be getting thicker right now instead of thinner..

As for eating Beaver, we are on a fishing forum and having a Meet and Greet on MARCH 28THand the one guy is cooking up a Beaver stew so looks like a lot of us will be trying it and some might not even find out what they are eating. last year I brought up some kanagroo Kabobs along with some elk pepperettes and wild boar burgers. I think we had about 20 people try the kabobs ( tastes like steak ).

All good for you....

We shall see. But for the record, the iceout date in 2002 was April 19, in 1998 it was April 17 and in 1995 it was April 15. I think we're overdue for an early out.

http://www.canoelake.ca/iceout/iceout-2004.html
(Scroll down to the chart)

I don't still-fish with dead minnows in Spring, salted or otherwise, but I know of people using that method to catch Lakers, Ling, Pike and other opportunistic predators for both ice fishing and open water. It should be a productive enough method in laker/ling waters in AP, assuming the location and presentation is right for the conditions. It's a dead-slow presentation method using a slip bobber or long-line cast letting the bait rest on bottom or neutral in the water table. It would be a handy method to use from shore at your campsite and you want to relax for a bit and make dinner or whatever. However, one has to be within 60 meters of your rod at all times and must have an unobstructive view of the rod/line throughout . So if you head into the tent or the crapper please pull that bait out of the water. NO BAITED LINES OVERNITE! Yes its difficult to enforce, lets hope a guilty consciounce is motivation enough to help fisherfolk remain 'honest'.

Of course live minnows/crayfish can't be used at any time in AP, even if they are taken from the lake you're fishing. You also can't use frozen ungutted smelt - their eggs can still get fertilized. A list of those baitfish you can use (Frozen or Salted) is posted on here, 3/4s the way down: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/198219.pdf.

A viable alternative for these natural dead baits are products such as Berkley Gulp + others. They don't spoil, are hardy, biodegradable, inexpensive (compared to their natural brethren), low maintenance (just keep them in their brine), easy to use and very productive under the right circumstances (e.g. tipping jigs). Maybe one day (hopefully) they'll be a total ban of any live bait (including worms) in AP.

Well not sure if it will be a thank you or not ( will have to wait until we come out of the park to answer that one ) but we have changed our plans from going in on April 29th to going in on May 6th, fishing has been a little slow the last few years so we will try that week later thing and see how it goes. With our luck the ice will go out the 18th and by the 6th the blackflies will be out in full force..

Have never tried the dead smelt trick but certainly have had great success with a jig and plastic grub the last few years fishing in about 10-15 ft. of water.....