Grassy Lake in Kelsey: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Out in Kelsey, Manitoba, sits Grassy Lake. The water sits 271 metres up. Surface area runs to roughly 1.04 sq km, so plan for one area rather than the whole. You are looking at roughly 5.7 km of shoreline, with plenty of water between access points. The Pas sits 47 km from here and is the nearest stop. The nearest city of size is Saskatoon, 420 km away. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Grassy Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Fish documented in Kelsey include white sucker, johnny darter, northern pike and walleye. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. Fish Grassy Lake where the bottom changes rather than where it looks deep.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -21°C to 18°C. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. The season between ice runs from about early May to early November. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. That shapes the year on Grassy Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. If the gate is shut, Little Atik Lake at 2.9 km is the nearest alternative. Rules at Grassy Lake are worth checking on the day.