Alpha Lake Fishing near Williams Lake, British Columbia

• Overview

  Alpha Lake is a Cariboo Regional District water, British Columbia side. The ground round it is lake country bush. Roughly 27 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. There is roughly 3.4 km of shoreline here, which is a short walk end to end. Williams Lake lies 36 km from the water. Kamloops is the closest city, 221 km away. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Alpha Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Records held for Cariboo Regional District cover sockeye salmon, Chinook salmon, bull trout, Coho salmon and longnose sucker. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Alpha Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 15°C in July and bottom out at -8°C in January. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early April. Climate figures give an open season running early April to late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. It holds true on Alpha Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Local rules can differ across the county line, so check where you stand. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Parker Lake, 0.9 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the position on Alpha Lake before loading the car.