Driedmeat Lake is a long slender lake, part of the Battle River System, located about 30 minutes south of the City of Camrose, Alberta. Its one of my regular haunts, mainly because it is the closet lake to my home that holds Pike. I try to get there three or four times a year, one being the River Runs Through it kayak Derby for Pike. Another being a spring fish off and hobo picnic with myself and friend Neil, who’s great paddler, angler and all-around good guy.
A Typical fish from Driedmeat
You won’t catch a world record anything in this lake. Although, what Dried meat lacks in good size fish, it makes up for in numbers. You can easily catch 10-15 Pike in a few hours drifting the shorelines and tossing crankbaits, spoons or paddle tails along the weed edge. If kayak angling isn’t your thing it can be blast to paddle of SUP around the shorelines or having a picnic in the nice park area adjacent to lake and boat launch. There’s a small basic campground available with toilets and paid showers if staying overnight is your thing.
I make new friends everywhere
Hammer handles (slang for smaller Pike) are what you will catch 75 percent of the time, the biggest I’ve heard of was a 40” that was caught during the tournament with most people struggling to land even a single legal sized fish. Thankfully Pike put up a great battle regardless of size. Id recommend and number zero – two Len Thompson spoons for trolling, the Five of diamonds is successful pretty much everywhere in Alberta. I was having luck with brighter coloured and silver spoons. 4-6-inch blue and orange crankbaits like the Rapala Scatter Rap or Husky Jerk were working well also. This lake doesn’t have lots of underwater visibility so bright colours that pop would work best.
A friend pulling decent pike out. A lot of work for this fish!, Thanks for the pic Trevor.
If you really want a challenge, there are some decent sized walleye in this lake as well. Although few in numbers they are there. Just a reminder, the legal size to keep pike from Dried meat is 63cm, and the legal size for walleye would be anything over 50cm. Don’t be alarmed by the yellow flesh of the pike from the lake, I’ve been told it is caused by there diet of freshwater shrimp.
All in all, its worth a stop if you’re in the area or live close by, bring the family, go for a paddle, catch some fish have a picnic, make a good day of it.
By
Andrew W
Yes i use this pic alot. Taken by the boat launch at Driedmeat. Thanks Neil.
