Fishing at Pushup Lake, Wood Buffalo, Alberta

• Overview

  You will find Pushup Lake in Wood Buffalo, Alberta. What surrounds it is northern bush. It measures about 17 hectares, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. Roughly 1.6 km of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. It is a small entry by Wood Buffalo standards. Fort McMurray at 46 km is the nearest place to stop. Beyond it, Buffalo Narrows at 164 km and Wabasca-Desmarais at 186 km. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Pushup Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Wood Buffalo records list longnose sucker, Arctic grayling and white sucker among the fish reported. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Pushup Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between -18°C in January and 16°C in July. Cold dominates the year and the fishing works around it. Count the season from break-up, usually late April. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near early November: that is the shape of an average year. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. On Pushup Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Mystery Lake at 6.2 km is the sensible second choice. Signs at Pushup Lake carry more weight than any list.