Fish Lake in Cariboo Regional District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Fish Lake falls in Cariboo Regional District, part of British Columbia. The country round it is mixed forest from end to end. It measures some 1.20 sq km, and wind has room to build across it. The edge covers about 8.6 km, enough to hold several distinct areas. It is high ground by British Columbia standards. Start from Hanceville, 66 km down the road. Williams Lake is 127 km away, with Pemberton at 138 km. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Fish Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. County-wide records name sockeye salmon, Chinook salmon, bull trout and Coho salmon. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Fish Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between December at about -9°C and August at about 12°C, the water has a wide range to work through. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early May. The open-water window runs from around early May to about mid November in an average year. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. It holds true on Fish Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is camping recorded roughly 1.1 km off. A rest area sits about 1.1 km from the water. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. For a change of water, Big Onion Lake is 4.5 km distant. Treat Fish Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.