Clearwater Lake Manitoba

Lungdeflator

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Has anybody fished Lake Trout in Clearwater Lake? Contemplating a March trip on the ice next year. Can't find any contour maps though, so I really don't know where to start.
 


Auggie

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I saw UnCut Angling did some stuff up there not too long ago. I'm debating heading there or Whitefish Bay on LOTW for some lakers.
 

Lungdeflator

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I saw that Uncut video, both of them actually. Those guys seem to always be on giant fish. Sounds like the sweet depth in 40-50 fow in the winter.
Although in that sight fishing video, he was in 27 fow.
 

Duckslayer100

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He was just up there again. Sight fishing lake trout in 27 FOW. Looked like a freaking riot. Some smaller fish, but still...they looked tasty.
 

stalker

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I was up there more than 10 years ago and we had a blast. We only spent one day on Clearwater. Numbers were good, but we didn't get a lot of size.

We spent more time on a lake a little north called Reed Lake. Reed lake had better multi species possibilities. We fished for gators one day and trout another day. Both days we went and caught our fill of walleyes in the late afternoon. I caught a Master Angler trout and Pike on Reed. We caught a lot of 30" plus pike with my one 43". I believe my Master trout was right at the 35" minimum.

We went in mid April. It was kind of an ATV test trip. The snow was all gone, but the ice was over 40" in most places. Definitely needed an extension.


I believe we stayed near Wanles. There was a cheap hotel not far north of Wanles that suited our needs.

We also fished Rocky lake and Cormorant. Cormorant had great pickerel fishing also.
 


Lungdeflator

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Sweet! That sounds like a fun trip. Did you catch the walleye on that Reed lake?

Were you able to find a lake map of Clearwater? How did you know where to start fishing?
 

stalker

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It was a fun trip.

I don't have any maps. We hooked up with a couple of locals and they took us out and showed us the spots. I think I lost my GPS spots too. I wish I still had them.

I had never trout fished through the ice before. It was a blast. We fished with 1/2 oz jigs with big white tubes. If one showed some interest and didn't bite right away, I would reel up as fast as I could about 15 feet and then let it free fall back to the bottom. They would take it on the way down and the fight was on.

Walleyes were plentiful on Reed Lake and on Cormorant. Once the sun hit the top of the trees you could only keep up to one line. I don't remember that we got any real big walleyes - probably cause I didn't get a big one. I think the biggest was 25" or less.
 

Lungdeflator

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Well Clearwater Lake near the end of March sounds like a go. Really getting pumped about this trip.
I ordered some maps of Clearwater and Cormorant Lakes from Canada Map Sales. Waiting for them to come in and then I'll probably spend the next 2 months looking at them haha.
 

stalker

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Sounds like a lot of fun!

I got to break out my old tube jigs this summer at a place called Sydney Lake north of Kenora. We were walleye fishing and decided to try out the trout action late one evening when the lake calmed down. We had a blast. Fished them just like ice fishing. Vertical jigging in about 50' of water. Caught good numbers. My biggest was only 28", but it sure beat pulling in 21" walleyes one after the other. I wore out the drag on my 25 year old bait caster.

Good luck. I am jealous.
 


riverview

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I have fished Sioux narrows for lake trout, nothing else like it, they fight hard and nothing like seeing a red mark come flying off the bottom over 60 feet of water.
 

Lungdeflator

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how big is a master angler trout of there?


I think MA Laker is 35"? It would be fun to catch some bigs, but I honestly would be thrilled catching 10-20 smaller ones throughout the day. 8.5 hr drive, without factoring in gas and food stops. Probably be a 6 day trip so we have 4 solid days of fishing and leave 2 for travel. I have read there are giant pike in that lake too. Probably bring some tip ups and check some spots for those too if the lakers are slow.
 

Lungdeflator

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Its coming up! March 28-April 2. I will for sure have a full detailed report when I get back. Getting really anxious.
 

esox eric

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Lunge- I'll be up there the week after. First time to Clearwater so I'd love to hear how your week goes. Best of luck to you.
 


Lungdeflator

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Well I would say the trip was a success for our first time up there. We found out very quickly that the lake map is 90% garbage. Drilled a ton of holes up on the North end to find structure. Ended up finding 1 good spot on our own and then checked another spot a few days after seeing a guy fishing it and found good structure, 70fow down to 102 fow within a 20ft span. Basically a cliff. Other spot we parked the house on was a mid lake flat that topped out at 60FOW with a decent drop down to 70fow on one side.

Tried to find some other spots with little success, 40+" of ice with 12+" of snow on top is not fun to drill 50+ holes a day through.
Ended up catching 60-70 lakers over 4.5 day between 3 of us. My biggest was about 7lbs, most were 2-4lbs. My brother in law had one we figured to be 20+ lbs up to the hole. After a half hour fight and thinking he was going to get spooled a couple times, we couldn't get his head turned up the hole and the hook popped out. The lakers were very strong and put up a good fight, a lot of fun to catch.

Chumming works. My dad saved us all the Tullibees he caught from LOTW this winter so that was nice. White lures are best, also caught a lot of fish on smaller lures than we thought. Smallest tubes I had were 4.5", wish I would've had some 2.5-3" tubes. We tried 10-12" tullies on tip ups on the bottom with no luck.

Roads going up suck. Petes Pro Tackle has a good selection of tackle and baits. Unfortunately for us there was a younger lady working there and she had very little info on the lake. Told us the lake map we had was accurate which we found out very quickly it was not. Also no cell service on the North end.

We will definitely be going back next year, probably mid-late April though hoping for warmer weather. Monday morning we woke up to -25 and trying to pack up and get the house off the lake was cold. Also pretty much had to fish out of the portables all the time due to the wind and cold, so warmer weather we could be more mobile. Also get more fishing in next year now that we have spots marked with the GPS.

If anybody wants more info or wants to share GPS coordinates, shoot me a PM! I am more than happy to share info.
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I'm not sure how to pm you but I'm hoping to head there in April for 1st time and could trade some fishing spots.
I have a cabin at tobin lake sask and can set you up with some spots for big walleye and pike.
 

Maddog

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Try airplane jigs for the lake trout. Tip with a minnows tail.
Bobbing for lake trout with steel lines. 80-100 feet of water.

I used them on Lake Superior back in the 80's.

They worked great.

Good luck you guys!
 

Lungdeflator

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Prudens- Lets make that happen! I am also planning on going up again mid to late April. Hoping to avoid the negative temps this year.
 

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