Kakisa Lake, Northwest Territories: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  The South Slave Region end of Northwest Territories holds Kakisa Lake. The setting is spruce and muskeg. Around 333.45 sq km of open water: conditions change from one end to the other. The shoreline turns in and out enough to give you a choice of aspect. Few waters listed in South Slave Region are bigger. The town to know is Hay River, 105 km out. After that come Fort Simpson at 219 km and Behchokǫ̀ at 226 km. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Kakisa Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Public occurrence data for South Slave Region names Arctic grayling, lake trout, Arctic charr and slimy sculpin. The county list is broader than any single water. On Kakisa Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between -23°C in January and 17°C in July. This far north the hard season runs and runs. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early May. The open-water window runs from around early May to about early November in an average year. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. Plan around that when you fish Kakisa Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Tathlina Lake at 44 km is the sensible second choice. Where Kakisa Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.