This Way To The Walleye

Elinor Lake is located about 35 minutes outside of the town of Lac La Biche. This popular family resort offers fully services sites, lots of great activities for the kids and awesome fishing for Walleye, Northern Pike, and Perch.

Elinor From The Air

Here’s a birds-eye-view of Elinor Lake. There’s lots of bays and coves and some impressive mid-lake structure that acts as a Walleye magnet.

This Chick Can Fish!

Fishing Alberta Executive Producer/Host Scott Rawlings teams up with local angling expert Alicia Pruden to track down Walleye on Elinor Lake. As it turns out they didn’t have to go far, Alicia and her main-man Grant knew exactly where to find the "eyes". They showed us the spot and said "find 20 feet of water, look for the hump on your sonar, drop you anchor, and fish" !

Alicia has been studying to become a fisheries biologist and with her expert knowledge of fisheries in the Lac La Biche area, and her obvious skills as an angler, we’re sure she’ll make an excellent addition to the Provincial Fisheries Management team.

During the summer of 2001 Alicia worked with area fisheries biologists on a Walleye study conducted at Elinor Lake. The study will help fisheries managers assess the current regulations on Elinor and determine the level of natural walleye reproduction in the lake. In these shots Alicia points out a couple of Walleye that had fin samples taken last summer. Good to see old friends again!

Scott shows off the best bait of the day. This combination of a 1/4oz chartreuse jig head with a 1" Mister Twister White Exude Curly Tail, tipped with a leech was just what the Walleyes wanted. The proof is in the picture as this underwater shot shows Mr. Walleye heading for the bottom with the days offering.

Strict Walleye regulations seem to be having a positive impact at Elinor Lake as these photos show 3 different age classes of Walleye. Good natural reproduction means that Elinor Lake will have healthy Walleye populations for years to come.

No fishing trip would be complete with a story about the one that got away. Alicia hooked into a HUGE northern pike but because we were not using steel leaders the big brute (at least 15lbs) snapped her off. We’ll have to edit out the cursing that followed his escape. Yes, we did put leaders on after this incident.

Catch and release fishing means that every angler is responsible for ensuring that every fish is handled as gently as possible. Using proper handling techniques will greatly improve the fishes chance of survival. Alicia uses a nice two-hand release while Scott opts for the over-the-side grip & flip.