River

Question
Hi
I recently moved to Saskatoon, Canada. There is a big river here (The South Saskatchewan), and several small lakes.
I cant afford a boat (maybe some day, but I have seen people fishing from the shore.
What kind of tackle would I use?
Thanks!

Answer
Hello Baruch,

While I have not fished in Canada yet, I am looking forward to doing so in the future!

I was able to do some research on the South Saskatchewan River and it seems to be blessed with a number of exciting species to fish for. Some of these are:

Atlantic Salmon (seasonal), Walleye (Check your regulations...I believe the fish are protected during the spawn from April to mid/late May), sauger (related to the walleye), yellow perch, Sturgeon, Pickerel, Northern Pike, goldeye ( a cool shad-like cousin), Rainbow, Brown and lake Trout and a number of sucker species.

While I have learned that boating is the most popular approach in most of the river and it's tributaries, many people are very successful fishing from the banks.

What I would recommend?

1) Take a good walk and meet some of the anglers that are fishing from the areas you have in mind and see if they will share some information with you...you may meet some life-long fishing buddies.

2) Find a decent fishing tackle shop, do some business with them and develop a relationship with them. They will be able to provide you with the most up-to-date fishing info and perhaps a few hot spots! Learn about the tackle and techniques they suggest and then use the information you gathered from the locals and the shop guys and put together a good plan.

3) Learn as much about the behavior of the fish you wish to catch as you can. find where they like to hangout in the river: the types of features like sand bars, drop-offs, holes, eddies, rocks etc. Also the types of bottom substrate they may prefer: Hard, rocky, gravel, soft etc.

4) IF you decide to initially target the walleye #great for catch and release sport AND excellent on the table!), try fishing a crankbait like the Rapala Taildancer in a size 9 and try some of the brighter colors like Firetiger, Red Tiger or Clown Flash. If the brighter colors don't produce then try "matching the hatch" and use colors that are similar to forage fish in the river: Yellow Perch, Shad, silver or rainbow trout flash. These are easy lures to fish and dive deeply. They get a bit pricey if you start loosing them though, so use the best line weights and try to fish some of the areas that the locals suggest. Other lures that will work well are any number of the soft plastic swimbaits that are on the market and use a less expensive leadhead and body configuration. You can vary the weights and sizes of these to reach the fish and or reduce snags and lure loss.

In general, the walleye will be a bit more prevalent in the gently moving water relating to channels, drop-offs and rock piles and they will compete with other species in the deeper pools. The pike and pickerel will more often be found in the slower waters and pools and may be the most aggressive feeders. For the Rainbows, I would try both shallow and deeper runs with a rocky bottom. The browns will likely be a bit shy and relate to heavier cover like lay-downs, undercut banks etc. To fish these species, check once again with the locals and the shop owner for the hot tickets on lures, bait and the best line tests to use.

Well Baruch, I hope that helps to give you some direction to start your adventure on the South Saskatchewan.

Please feel free to drop me a line on you successes as well as your challenges @ [email protected]. I would love to hear about the adventures!

Thanks again,

Mark