Reed Lake in County of Vermilion River No. 24: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Reed Lake is one of the County of Vermilion River No. 24 waters in Alberta. It sits in taiga country. Surface area is around 48 hectares, which gives you real water without needing a boat. For a base, Lloydminster sits 49 km out. Elk Point follows at 56 km, then Vermilion at 63 km. Others within reach: John Lake sits 5.9 km out, Lac Dufrance about 7.2 km, End Lake sits 9 km out, Cabin Lake about 9 km and Wash Lake sits 9.6 km out. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Reed Lake

  Our records hold no depth for this water. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Species logged across County of Vermilion River No. 24 include northern pike, logperch and shorthead redhorse. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. On Reed Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs -16°C to 17°C. Little of the calendar is open water, so timing counts for everything. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Expect the water usable from around late April until roughly mid November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. That is the shape of the year on Reed Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. This one is mapped as intermittent, so a wasted trip is a real risk in a dry year. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. For a change of water, John Lake is 5.9 km distant. Nothing here settles the position at Reed Lake for certain.