Windy Lake, British Columbia: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Windy Lake is set in Regional District of Fraser-Fort George, British Columbia. Height above sea level is 847 metres. With some 35 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The edge runs 3.4 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Mackenzie sits 50 km from the bank. Fort St. James is 81 km away, with Vanderhoof at 109 km. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Windy Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. County-wide records name Chinook salmon, sockeye salmon, mountain whitefish, rainbow trout and Arctic grayling. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Windy Lake a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 14°C, with January the cold end at about -11°C. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. Once it clears, about late April, the fishing comes on quickly. Averages place the thaw at late April and the freeze at mid November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. The season on Windy Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. 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. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Failing this one, try Bonnington Lake, 1.2 km away. Treat Windy Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.