Fishing at Lees Lake, Columbia-Shuswap Regional District, British Columbia

• Overview

  The Columbia-Shuswap Regional District entry here is Lees Lake, in British Columbia. What surrounds it is rolling bush. It runs to roughly 15 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. With about 2.0 km of edge, you can try several depths in one session. It is high ground by British Columbia standards. Revelstoke sits 41 km from the bank. Big Eddy is 41 km and Nakusp 50 km. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Lees Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Open biodiversity records for Columbia-Shuswap Regional District list sockeye salmon, Coho salmon, bull trout and brook trout. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. Lees Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give August about 11°C and January about -9°C. Winter shuts the surface down for months. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around mid May. Climate figures give an open season running mid May to early November. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. On Lees Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. The nearest alternative is Dickinson Lake, 2.5 km out. Treat Lees Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.