Cold Lake
There was an eerie calm
on the water as the Indian brave paddled across the great lake to reach
his only true love, a trip he made on a regular basis without incidence.
With only half the distance left to go, as he paddled past the mouth of
French Bay, he heard a thundering splash roar up beside him. There was
no time to react before the behemoth fish would inflict his wrath upon
the brave. The next day the Indian maiden waited, even though hope had
long since faded of her brave ever returning to her alive. News of the
canoe they found, with a large missing chunk from what looked like the
bite of a giant fish, saddened the girl. The canoe belonged to her
betrothed, whom she never saw again after that fateful night he ran into
Kinosoo, the legend of Cold Lake.
So the legend goes of the big fish of the past that kept Indians from
crossing the lake for many years to follow.
| In recent years a new
story began and, for a time, it was true to a certain degree.
There were no fish in the lake, and it became known as the
"Dead Sea". It did collapse in the 1940’s and 1950’s
for many reasons, which included over-harvesting. But today
things are different; with supplement stocking from the mid 1960’s
to 1987 and stricter regulations Cold Lake has made a huge
comeback in more ways than one. |
While not Kinosoo,
Cold Lake did provide us with an abundance of feisty Lakers. |
|
Ian Mackenzie of
Reel MacCoy Fishing Tours, with one of our smaller catches of
the trip. |
In the spring of 2002
while visiting the Boat and Sportsman Show, I had the pleasure
to meet Ian and Diane MacKenzie of Reel MacCoy Fishing
Tours,
and Diane Jenkinson the marketing coordinator for the City of
Cold Lake. After listening to their stories of Cold Lake
consistently producing big lake trout, and reviewing the
evidence in their photo album, I knew this would have to be
another episode on Fishing Alberta. |
| Ian & Diane were
quick to offer a trip that would let us experience the magic of
this beautiful area, and to witness the quality of the newly
resurrected lake trout fishery that they are so proud of. Ian
was especially eager to show off his skills for producing big
fish, while letting his guests enjoy the comfort of his
beautiful 30 foot Bayliner. If Ian produced half as well as he
described I knew this was definitely going to be a trip to
remember. |
Now that's a
boat! Reel MacCoy's 30 foot cruiser got us around in
comfort and style! |
|
Cold Lake was a
relaxing drive, only 2 1/2 hours from Edmonton. |
It was a gloomy day as
we headed out on our trek to the Lakeland Country, truck loaded
with production gear and fishing tackle. We were pumped with
anticipation of big lake trout, but somewhat worried about what
the weather would be like. The spring of 2002 was very late and
had already dished out some unpredictable and nasty cold snaps
well into late May all over Alberta. As we approached Cold Lake's
impressive marina our concerns grew as we saw the white caps
rolling in to shore. We felt we had arrived just in time for a
surfing adventure. We should not have worried. After a
closer look at Ian’s boat our concerns of bad weather ruining
our trip quickly disappeared, the 30 foot Bayliner would easily
handle the waves we were seeing, and much more.
|
Cold Lake boasts one of
the best marinas in Alberta. |
|
|
Alex is all smiles
after landing this beautiful 13 lb laker. What a
great start to an awesome day on Cold Lake. |
Our first day out was
a rough one, but it was also our most productive. We landed 6
lake trout with the smallest being 4 lbs and the largest
weighing in at 13 lbs. Not a bad start, but Ian was not
satisfied with the size, as he knew we could do better. |
| The next four days
blessed us with flat, calm water and a burning sun beating down
on us. We enjoyed the beauty of the area, and the vibrant,
bustling community, as people of all ages came out to enjoy the
magnificent weather on the delightful waterfront. For us, the
hot weather also brought a change in the fish's attitudes; the
bite rate slowed down. The size of fish we caught went up
however, and we landed some real lunkers, with two reaching the
22 lb range. |
Alex adjusts the
drag on his reel in anticipation of the big one that won’t get
away. |
|
What a day; glass
calm water, beautiful weather and big fish in a magnificent
setting. Gotta love it here on Cold Lake! |
What really impressed
me about the fish in Cold Lake was the mass in the body size of
these lake trout. These fish were just plain fat; football
shaped fish, that indicated they can grow at an amazing rate.
The provincial Lake Trout record was set on Cold Lake on 1929,
at a whopping 52 lbs, 8 ounces . With fish growing so quickly,
it is easy to understand the optimism that both fisheries
managers and the local anglers have that one day the provincial
record will be broken on this lake again. |
|
Alex shows off his
22 lb laker, only one of many big lakers that master guide Ian
MacKenzie has consistently produced for his clients. |
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|
Visit The Reel
MacCoy Fishing Tours Website |
|
Visit The City Of
Cold Lake Website |
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