Fishing at Cardinal Lake, County of St. Paul No. 19, Alberta

• Overview

  Cardinal Lake lies within the bounds of County of St. Paul No. 19, Alberta. It lies 648 metres above sea level. It runs to roughly 87 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The full circuit measures close to 4.2 km on foot. St. Paul lies 7.4 km from the water. Elk Point lies 32 km off, Two Hills another 46 km. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on Cardinal Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Open biodiversity records for County of St. Paul No. 19 list yellow perch, Iowa darter and northern pike. Species recorded across the county may be limited to a few waters. On Cardinal Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 16°C at the top of summer and -16°C at the bottom of winter. The ice season is long here and the open one short. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly late April. The lid tends to go about late April and return around early November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. The season on Cardinal Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access status is simply unknown for this water. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Public mapping records no formal access here, so plan for a walk and soft ground. For the pike, wire up and throw larger lures along the weed edges. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Montagnais Lake is 2 km off. Ask locally about Cardinal Lake if anything is unclear.