Fishing Walsh Lake in Manitoba, Manitoba

• Overview

  Walsh Lake lies within the bounds of Manitoba. The surroundings are taiga. It runs to roughly 54 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The perimeter runs near 7.4 km, so plan the walk before you start. Head to Oxford House, 121 km away, for anything you forgot. Beyond it, Norway House at 226 km and Cross Lake 19A at 232 km. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Walsh Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. At Walsh Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes. Reckon eighteen inside 25 km and over twenty inside 50 km.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 17°C and January at -23°C. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. Look for the thaw near early May; the fishing lifts straight after. Ice clears near early May and comes back about early November in a typical year. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. That is the shape of the year on Walsh Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Letkeman Lake is 9.5 km off. Nothing here settles the position at Walsh Lake for certain.