Tie1on24 Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 I was Just wondering if anyone has made the hike or taken the heli trip into either Landslide Lake or Lake of the falls to fish. My old man and i were thinking of making the trek up there this summer and are just wondering if it is worth the hike or the $$ for the heli. Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Tight Lines! Quote
NormanMcLean Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 Tie1on24, You read my freaking mind. I was planning a heli-trip up there this summer as well, and was wondering which lake is better fishing. Landslide has cuts, and Lake of Falls has cuts and bulls as you probably know. I took the heli-trip to Michelle in 2004 for goldens and I have great memories of that trip. My party should have 4 people going. Landslide is a 15km hike and Lake of Falls is 20km up hill. I've heard 3 days is a good hike to LOF. When were you thinking of going? Quote
bigbowtrout Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 We should get a group going as I would love to get in on one of these trips and Goldens would be tops on my list. Norman what kind of costs did you have for the Golden trip? How many peaple and for how long? Thanks Quote
Tie1on24 Posted January 28, 2008 Author Posted January 28, 2008 Hi Norman Not sure of the exact date that i will be heading up. If i remember correctly Landslide is open all year and lake of the falls opens July 1st. I will probably make a trip up there with my parents and my girlfriend however if all goes well might try and plan an overnight trip with some buddies. More than likely will be taking the heli trip as i have never been in a helicopter and a 15-20km hike isnt really that appealing to me. Michelle lakes however does sound appealing to me as well. I have never caught a goldens before so might have to head up there as well. DId you just fish from shore when you went there or did you bring along belly/pontoon boats? Bigbowtrout - the trips to Landslide and Lake of the Falls are $149 + tax and $2 per pound, extra weight. Michelle lakes is $249 + Gst and the same for luggage. For each trip there is a minumum of 3 passengers. They also offer trips to Coral Lake ($349), Obstruction Lake ($399), and Ram River Falls ($399). Quote
Glenbow Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 I got my little heart set on some gold this summer, not sure just which lake yet. I might go south, I might go north, but if I go north it's heli all the way. Quote
lonefisher Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 been to both and my one reccomendation is don't rush an early season trip wait till august when the cutts are feeding best and the weather is the most stable. We got snowed on on our June trip to landslide and it was late June and the lake was still blown out and unfishable. A july trip to LOTF was even poor fishing when we had relatively bad weather...... Be flexible and wait until you have an excellent forecast. Had a blast at LOTF in august lots of wlling cutts and some brookies as well...... never caught any bulls but never really targeted them. Also 2$ per lb is gonna add up big time if you plan to heli and overnight...... like to the point of it being debateable as to whether its worth it...... If I heli again I will either plan a long trip to make the poundage cost worth it or I will just go for 1 day pack light and take first copter in last copter out....... Quote
Brownstone Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 checked into last summer through Icefield Helicopers .. don;t remember the numbers but I nearly shat me pants at the cost to pack your gear something like 2 bucks a pound, with a group of 4 and well planned the cost would'nt sting as much .. Glen, I'll consider a hike into one of the southern lakes the summer.. Quote
NormanMcLean Posted January 29, 2008 Posted January 29, 2008 Hi Norman Not sure of the exact date that i will be heading up. If i remember correctly Landslide is open all year and lake of the falls opens July 1st. I will probably make a trip up there with my parents and my girlfriend however if all goes well might try and plan an overnight trip with some buddies. More than likely will be taking the heli trip as i have never been in a helicopter and a 15-20km hike isnt really that appealing to me. Michelle lakes however does sound appealing to me as well. I have never caught a goldens before so might have to head up there as well. DId you just fish from shore when you went there or did you bring along belly/pontoon boats? Bigbowtrout - the trips to Landslide and Lake of the Falls are $149 + tax and $2 per pound, extra weight. Michelle lakes is $249 + Gst and the same for luggage. For each trip there is a minumum of 3 passengers. They also offer trips to Coral Lake ($349), Obstruction Lake ($399), and Ram River Falls ($399). We fished from shore for the Goldens, right at the mouths of the tiny creeks flowing into it and the goldens were gorging themselves on the nutrients and our dries. I think no boats are allowed on Michelle, but that might not apply to belly boats. Too much weight anyway. The 4 of us were there Friday thru Monday, with 2 days of solid fishing. Only 1 day of rain. A herd of bighorns came through our camp on Saturday. We had snow near our tents in August, so yes I would plan for late summer. Quote
Suntoucher Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 Sounds so nice, would like to see some pics of those lakes especially Michelle lakes. There is the "alternative" but steeper route up Owen creek which is shorter. Quote
fishpro Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 Check out these guys for your trip, they have good rates and there's no extra charge for luggage. http://www.helinordegg.com/ Quote
H2O Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 If you decide on the heli trip to Michel get the helicopter pilot to drop you off above the falls at the upper lake and setup up there with your tent, the view makes it well worth the short hike down to the 2nd lake. This is where I took this picture in August: An amazingly beautiful place that I would love to (and will) go back to. Quote
NormanMcLean Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 We were camped down near the lower lake. Proteced from the wind. I think the lower lake is much more productive. I walked around the lower lake to the waterfall and looked over the most frightening edge I have ever seen. Beautiful view of the Cline River valley. Also walked around the upper lake and found the commemorative 'Michelle' plaque. And talked to some backbackers who had hiked in the backway. Treachorous hike. I wish Alberta could stock some rivers with Goldens. Beautiful trout they are. Quote
NormanMcLean Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 Check out these guys for your trip, they have good rates and there's no extra charge for luggage. http://www.helinordegg.com/ fishpro, Have you used this heli company before? And if so where did you fly in to? Quote
BillyGopher Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 No offense, but looks like someone needs to take the fish ID test - no brookies in L of Falls! Quote
lonefisher Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 well I doubt that I am wrong and I didn't know a brookie but its been three years or so so let me see if I can find a pic........ PS how do you know there are know brookies in there? Just because the icefields heli site says so? Quote
lonefisher Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 maybe your right I just called my friend and even he says he thinks I am thinking of a different lake.....sorry I fished a lotta lakes that year....... anybody got any pics of LOTF? Anyways I didn't have a digital cam back then so I will to try and dig through my boxes and see if I can find some pics...... I am still not 100% convinced that I am wrong...... LOL despite the fact everyone tells me I am wrong edit it.....Gopherboy I had to really think about this and well sounds like I was not confusing the lake but it sounds like its possible I did miss i'd the fish...... before we went the first time I remember a guy at the shop in jasper who told me about the heli outfit said it was mainly cutts and some brookies could sometimes be caught in the outflow and the outflow creek. And I also think someone at the heli also confirmed this. When we got out of the heli we started fishing pretty close to the outflow and we immediately started catching some decent sized cutts and I caught 2 6-8 inchers that I assumed were brookies (all off the surface) I remember that they were definately without a doubt a redish brown colour and like all fish I just popped the hook and let em go......... but in all honestly I suppose they could have been little bull trout...... At that time I had never caught a bull trout that was anything other then the usual silver sorta colour and it wasn't until our second trip in to that lake that we heard there were bulls in there so I had just assumed that they were brookies........ so if I am wrong sorry for the knee jerk reaction to assume you were wrong but I am still not 100 % convinced either way as I can't remember the fish and their markings well enough to say and I am not convinced that theres no possible way brookies could be there....... Quote
BillyGopher Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 Hope I didn't offend you too much with that post, was meant to be light! How do I know? Because I've fished it a lot of times, likely more than most, spoken to F&W staff many times about the lake(s) and concerns, etc. The #1 concern F&W has for that population of bulls is that people think they are brookies and take their 'limit of brookies'. Have seen and called in folks having a fry of brookies. The outlet stream is closed in fall to protect the spawning pop of bulls and there's a bait ban to protect them too. The #2 concern is the use increase there. Having 150 people show up to do a corporate picnic having been flown in is a little much but happens many more times in a season than you think. The heli hike - picnic crowd has changed a lot of the landscape as well. Careful what you support when flying with certain companies. The difference between fishing up there today vs 10 years ago is astonishing. Try fishing Michele Lakes - there's a helicopter overhead every 10 minutes (literally from 9 am to 5 or 6) doing a low fly by on its way home from a tour. About the other heli site listed - while they have no baggage fees the ferry time to get to where IHT is located will cost a fair chunk. Don't think it's much different end result - it's going to cost and the flight from Nordegg to Cline is only so-so until you get to Abraham. The difference between the two companies is that one has crashed 3 times the past 18 months while the other hasn't had an incident in 11 yrs. You get what you pay for. Quote
lonefisher Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 Gopherboy you didn't offend at all I was not as involved back then and I have never harvested fish other then the odd lake trout so I would not have spent to much time trying to ID them, But you are obviously right about the brook/bull thing...... I was probably more in a hurry to get my line back in the water for a bigger cutty. I do completely understand what you mean when you say "careful what you support when flying with certain companies" I just didn't want to get into that on here. Theres reasons I haven't been up in the past couple years and you just tactfully touched on most(but not all) of them....... Anyways thanks for the heads up as otherwise I would not have really known as its not a place I fish regularly. Quote
fishpro Posted February 1, 2008 Posted February 1, 2008 I haven't personally used them, but I have spoken with them about a trip. They take up to five anglers for that price. Quote
lonefisher Posted February 2, 2008 Posted February 2, 2008 Lake of Falls (10-36-19-W5) July l to Oct. 31 – Cutthroat limit 2; Brook Trout limit 0; Bait Ban. Nov. 1 to June 30 – CLOSED now again I have to wonder if there is really no brookies in there....... Quote
troutlover Posted February 3, 2008 Posted February 3, 2008 might list 0 brooks to avoid the mistaken harvesting of bulls? Would they do that? Just a question. EDIT- on a side note i've hiked up to Barnaby (Southfork) lakes and the hike isn't that bad i did it when i was sixteen(the wind blew like hell) it's been a long time but we did catch a few fish on little spinners. I was going to try to head up there this summer if anyone wants to plan a trip and avoid heli costs. Quote
lonefisher Posted February 3, 2008 Posted February 3, 2008 I suppose they could also be refering to a different lake as they call this one lake of falls instead of lake of the falls but they do not have another listing for LOTF, but I also haven't had a chance yet to check the map coordinates....... Anyways I don't mean to flog the dead donkey but after 3 years I just can't picture those fish well enough to know for sure but it really seems to me that I would have been able to distinguish...... plus the fact that a number of people have referred to the brookies in that lake makes me wonder what the deal is........ sounds like I may have to go fish it again. Quote
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