Fishing at Warthe Lake, Kelsey, Manitoba

• Overview

  Warthe Lake falls in Kelsey, part of Manitoba. The bank gives way to northern bush. With some 15 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The edge runs 1.8 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. On size it sits at the modest end of our Kelsey list. Start from Snow Lake, 9.6 km down the road. Flin Flon follows at 110 km, then Creighton at 111 km. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Warthe Lake

  Depth is not on record here, which means reading the ground instead. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Kelsey records list white sucker, johnny darter, northern pike, walleye and silver redhorse among the fish reported. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Warthe Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 17°C, the coldest about -23°C. The year here is short and sharp: a long lid, then a burst of open water. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. The open-water window runs from around early May to about early November in an average year. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Warthe Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Some banks are open only from a marked point. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. For a change of water, Lievense Lake is 1.2 km distant. Treat access at Warthe Lake as something to verify.