McGhee Lake Fishing Guide, Kelsey, Manitoba

• Overview

  Set in Kelsey, McGhee Lake is a Manitoba water. This is northern bush country. Surface area runs to roughly 4.02 sq km, so plan for one area rather than the whole. The perimeter runs near 12 km, so plan the walk before you start. Nearest town is Snow Lake, 36 km off. It is 521 km to Saskatoon, the nearest city. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on McGhee Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Public occurrence data for Kelsey names white sucker, johnny darter and northern pike. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Fish McGhee Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 17°C on average, January about -23°C. The year here is short and sharp: a long lid, then a burst of open water. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early May. Average temperatures cross freezing around early May in spring and again near early November in autumn. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Plan around that when you fish McGhee Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. A wire trace and a big bright lure handle the pike; deep water asks for a heavier spoon. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Tower Lake is 2.8 km off. None of that is settled for McGhee Lake in what we hold.