Fishing Fire Lake in Cariboo Regional District, British Columbia

• Overview

  Fire Lake stands in Cariboo Regional District, British Columbia. Height above sea level is 1,063 metres. With some 16 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The full circuit measures close to 1.8 km on foot. On size it sits at the modest end of our Cariboo Regional District list. Williams Lake lies 46 km from the water. Kamloops sits 223 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Fire Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Reported across Cariboo Regional District: sockeye salmon, Chinook salmon, bull trout, Coho salmon and longnose sucker. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. At Fire Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 15°C for July and -8°C for January. Winter shuts the surface down for months. After early April the shallows warm and the fish move up. Break-up near early April, freeze-up near late November: that is the shape of an average year. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. The season on Fire Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. Failing this one, try Gavin Lake, 2 km away. Where Fire Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.