Kay Lake Fishing in Columbia-Shuswap Regional District, British Columbia

• Overview

  Kay Lake is one of the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District waters in British Columbia. It lies 1,677 metres above sea level. Small even by pond standards, it rewards one careful line. Our Columbia-Shuswap Regional District list holds plenty of bigger water. The nearest place of any size is Nakusp, 35 km away. After that come Kaslo at 66 km and Revelstoke at 84 km. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Kay Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Across Columbia-Shuswap Regional District, recorded fish include sockeye salmon, Coho salmon, bull trout, brook trout and rainbow trout. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. The shape of Kay Lake decides where the fish sit.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put August near 12°C and December near -9°C. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Count the season from break-up, usually early May. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early May and starts locking again about early November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Expect Kay Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Tenderfoot Lake at 3 km is the sensible second choice. None of that is settled for Kay Lake in what we hold.