Friendly Lake, British Columbia: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  In British Columbia, Friendly Lake falls inside Cariboo Regional District. It sits at 1,378 metres above sea level. At about 41 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The full circuit measures close to 4.1 km on foot. Head to Clearwater, 30 km away, for anything you forgot. Kamloops sits 102 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Friendly Lake

  Open data we checked carries no depth for this water. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Records held for Cariboo Regional District cover 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. Friendly Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year August sits at 13°C and January at -9°C. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages place the thaw at late April and the freeze at mid November. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. That shapes the year on Friendly Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. 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. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. The nearest alternative is Ta Hoola Lake, 2.2 km out. For Friendly Lake in particular, ask before you travel.