Detna Lake, British Columbia: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Detna Lake is set in Cariboo Regional District, British Columbia. Elevation runs to 930 metres. At 2.03 sq km this is proper open water rather than a pond. Around 8.5 km of bank, which is a long day on foot. On our Cariboo Regional District list it sits near the top for size. Supplies mean a trip to Anahim Lake, 88 km off. After that come Bella Coola at 96 km and Burns Lake at 125 km. No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Detna Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Species logged across Cariboo Regional District include 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. On Detna Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -9°C to 12°C. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages suggest open water from about late April through to roughly mid November. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. The season on Detna Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. If the gate is shut, Natuza Lake at 5.5 km is the nearest alternative. Ask locally about Detna Lake if anything is unclear.