Andrew Lake Fishing in Improvement District No. 24, Alberta

• Overview

  Andrew Lake sits within Improvement District No. 24 in Alberta. It lies 312 metres above sea level. Surface area runs to some 52.80 sq km, so a boat and a plan are both worth having. Its outline wanders a long way for the area it covers, which puts more edge in play. Some 100 km away sits Fort Smith, the nearest settlement. The nearest city of size is Edmonton, 734 km away. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Andrew Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Public occurrence data for Improvement District No. 24 names goldeye, northern pike and walleye. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Andrew Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July near 16°C and January near -24°C on the long-run figures. The fishing year opens late and shuts early. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around mid May. Expect the water usable from around mid May until roughly late October. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. The season on Andrew Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. For a change of water, William Smith Lake is 4 km distant. None of that is settled for Andrew Lake in what we hold.