Matthews Lake, Northwest Territories: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Set in North Slave Region, Matthews Lake is a Northwest Territories water. The bank is 423 metres above sea level. Surface area runs to some 10.40 sq km, so a boat and a plan are both worth having. The outline measures near 45 km, so a boat opens up water the bank never reaches. Yellowknife sits 238 km from here and is the nearest stop. After that come Behchokǫ̀ at 277 km and Hay River at 431 km. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Matthews Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. North Slave Region records list Arctic grayling, lake trout and slimy sculpin among the fish reported. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The near bank of Matthews Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 13°C on average, January about -28°C. Little of the calendar is open water, so timing counts for everything. Ice is part of the season here, ending near early June. Expect the water usable from around early June until roughly mid October. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. Matthews Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. Dumbell Lake, 8.2 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Rules at Matthews Lake are worth checking on the day.