Spectacle Lake Fishing near 100 Mile House, British Columbia

• Overview

  Spectacle Lake is one of the Thompson-Nicola Regional District listings for British Columbia. The setting is pine and birch. It runs to roughly 14 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The whole outline is near 2.4 km, and most of it is walkable. Nearest place of any size is 100 Mile House, 48 km away. After that come Barrière at 55 km and 108 Mile Ranch at 61 km. No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Spectacle Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Across Thompson-Nicola Regional District, recorded fish include Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon, Coho salmon, rainbow trout and pink salmon. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Spectacle Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 15°C in August and bottom out at -8°C in January. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough early April. The open-water window runs from around early April to about mid November in an average year. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. That is the shape of the year on Spectacle Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Nothing is mapped in the way of a ramp or car park within a short radius. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. For a change of water, Sharpe Lake is 4.4 km distant. Where Spectacle Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.