Skeleton Lake in Stikine Region: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  The Stikine Region entry here is Skeleton Lake, in British Columbia. The bank is 1,082 metres above sea level. Roughly 13 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. About 2.3 km of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. It is a small entry by Stikine Region standards. Supplies mean a trip to Skagway, 126 km off. Anchorage is the closest city, 944 km away. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Skeleton Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Open biodiversity records for Stikine Region list Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon and Coho salmon. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. On Skeleton Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -16°C in January up to 10°C in July. Cold dominates the year and the fishing works around it. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around mid May. Climate figures give an open season running mid May to late October. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. The season on Skeleton Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Mapping shows an empty shoreline: no ramp, no jetty, no marked entry. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. For a change of water, Llangorse Lake is 11 km distant. For Skeleton Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.