Prairie Outdoors: Halfway Through Winter
A Brand New Year, Start Your Outdoor Plans
With a new year upon us, we outdoor enthusiast begin making plans to take advantage of the coming seasons. The ice fishing gear is in our trucks, waiting for the right day. The Spring fishing season seems like an eternity away, but we avid fly fishermen eagerly await it and tie an inventory of our favorite flies, waiting for May to arrive. Waterfowlers are thinking about the Spring Snow Goose hunt and the Spring Black Bear hunt. Campers are looking ahead to the spring and summer camping seasons, making plans for weekend getaways and week long vacations. Whatever your outdoor passion, make your plans quickly and then begin to act. Make this your best outdoor year ever. Happy New Year!
Ice Fishing Season Underway
The fields are covered with snow and the lakes are covered with 3 feet of ice. The days are cold but with our ice shacks, augers and short rods, we find ways and reasons to stay warm. For those of you are hearty enough to venture out on the ice in search of pike, walleye, trout, and perch, we salute your efforts. Ice fishing is 1 part adventure, 1 part gear, and 2 parts rum, at least when it’s done right! Check out our ice fishing pages including pictures, tips, and more.
As we approach the midway point of winter, the days are starting to get a little more daylight. We are well into winter now. The last hole I drilled with my ice auger went all the way past the flutes so the ice is now about 2-1/2 feet thick. The reward was an absolutely outstanding 26″ walleye which would weigh out at over 7 pounds. Maybe more, it looked well fed. Our January in central Sask has been unusually mild. A little snow and most days the thermometer has climbed above -10 without much wind to deal with. Easy days to spend on the lake without a shelter meaning you can drill a number of holes and bounce between them to what and where they are biting. I like to start near a drop off and drill a hole in about 7 feet of water and drop a lure on my Jawjacker for the Pike then drill holes progressively deeper to about 20 feet. Wherever the electronics show the action is where I will work the jigging rod.
We can start to look forward to a warming trend. Recent snowfall has added another foot of snow on top of the ice but a few minutes of shoveling followed by the ice auger means I can drop a line for pike and walleye and enjoy the heat from my propane powered buddy heater. It’s over 3 months until the start of the new fishing season and open waters, maybe the ice will be off by opening day this year.
Snowmobile Season
With winter in season across the prairies, the sleds are running. Early snow conditions in many areas this winter are keeping the sleds in plenty of use. Whether you are out for a run across the lake, across the field, or on the trails for a poker rally, our outdoor playground is waiting for the rev of the engines and the push of the tracks.
We help connect hunters and anglers with the great outdoors in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba to enjoy the world class hunting, fishing and campgrounds. If you are looking for a hunting adventure, we help you find the hunting outfitter, guided hunting trip, fishing lodge, or campground that matches your outdoor quest. Check out our Outfitters, Guides and Lodges pages.
Are you already looking ahead to another great camping season? We have some great resources for helping you find that ideal campground spot. Our Campground pages include links to Provincial Parks in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. As most campers are still thinking about their favorite winter activities, many are already thinking ahead to the day when they can pull out the tents, sleeping bags, and prep the trailers for the first trip of the year. Campgrounds won’t open up for a few more months but the best time is now to begin thinking about the first camping trip. Wondering which campground suits you best? Check out the provincial park ratings in the links just below for each province or go straight our listings of Provincial Parks and Campgrounds. Will you go back to old favorites this year or try out a new spot?
All three provinces now have an online campground site reservation system.
- For Alberta, use reserve.albertaparks.ca. Beginning Feb 19th.
- For Saskatchewan, use saskparks.goingtocamp.com/. Beginning April 9th.
- For Manitoba, use prspub.gov.mb.ca. Begins April 3rd for most campagrounds.
Happy Camping!
PrairieOutdoors.com is your online outdoor hunting directory for hunting, fishing, and camping information for Western Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan & Manitoba) including listings of hunting outfitters, guides, fishing tournaments, fishing lodges, resorts, and campgrounds.
In Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba we have over 200,000 lakes and hundreds of rivers, featuring some of the finest fresh water game fishing possible. The wild life is plentiful and world renowned for trophy quality hunting and fishing. Many hunting and fishing world records have come from this area including the Hanson Buck and the Broder Buck. We have wild mountain streams in Alberta featuring Brown trout and Rainbow trout that will rip the backing out of your reel. Bring your heavy line and get ready to set the hook for Northern Pike that will spin your boat around. The flocks of Canada Geese and Snow Geese will fill the sky in numbers only counted in hundreds of thousands. The southern prairies feature excellent pheasant hunting along the creek beds and abundant numbers of “Prairie Chicken” (sharp-tail grouse) and “Huns” (Hungarian Partridge). With a good dog and a quick 12 gauge you can get your limit. Trophy walleye can be pulled from lakes year round and the ice fishing is an unbelievable adventure. Imagine pulling a 30 inch walleye or a 48 inch pike through 3 feet of ice. If bear hunting is your sport, the forest are well stocked with the wary creatures.
If you have the patience, you have a great chance to pick a black bear in one of the many color phases ranging from pure black, to chocolate brown, to cinnamon and even the rare blonde bear. World record whitetail, elk, moose and mule deer are wandering the forests and plains where the big game are plentiful and big bodied.
Within this directory you will find information about:
- Hunting
- Bow Hunting
- Fishing
- Fly-fishing
- Outfitters
- Guides
- Lodges
- Resorts
- Camping
- Hunting Supply stores
- Fishing Tackle stores
The geographic area we cover includes:
- Western Canada
- Alberta
- Saskatchewan
- Manitoba
Fish Species include:
- Northern Pike Fishing
- Walleye Fishing
- Rainbow Trout Fishing
- Lake Trout
- Brown Trout
- Brook Trout
- Perch
- Sturgeon
- Whitefish
- Arctic Grayling
- Whitetail Deer Hunting
- Mule Deer Hunting, including the World record mule deer,
the Broder Buck - Moose
- Elk
- Black Bear Hunting
- Antelope
- Goose Hunting
- Duck Hunting
- Partridge
- Grouse
- Pheasant
Enjoy PrairieOutdoors.com for the worlds finest in outdoors recreation and adventure. There is always more to explore in Alberta Fishing, Alberta Hunting, Alberta Camping, Manitoba Hunting, Manitoba Camping, Manitoba Fishing, Saskatchewan Fishing, Saskatchewan Camping, Saskatchewan Hunting.