Pikehead Lake, British Columbia: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Pikehead Lake is one of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District waters in British Columbia. The bank is 933 metres above sea level. Roughly 31 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Bank access stretches around 3.4 km in total. Glenrosa at 49 km is the nearest place to stop. Kamloops is the closest city, 53 km away. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Pikehead Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Records held for Thompson-Nicola Regional District cover Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon, Coho salmon and rainbow trout. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. On Pikehead Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 17°C in August and bottom out at -7°C in January. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Look for the thaw near early April; the fishing lifts straight after. Expect the water usable from around early April until roughly late November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. That is the shape of the year on Pikehead Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Index Lake sits 1.9 km off and takes the overflow. Where Pikehead Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.