Optic Lake in Kelsey: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Optic Lake is one of the Kelsey listings for Manitoba. The bank is 331 metres above sea level. Small at around 2 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Most waters listed here for Kelsey are larger. The town to know is Flin Flon, 42 km out. Creighton is 43 km and Snow Lake 77 km. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Optic Lake

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Species logged across Kelsey include white sucker, johnny darter, northern pike, walleye and silver redhorse. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Optic Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 17°C; by January the average is down near -22°C. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from early May. Averages place the thaw at early May and the freeze at early November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Anyone fishing Optic Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. If the gate is shut, Noten Lake at 2.2 km is the nearest alternative. Where Optic Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.