Methane Lake Fishing near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories

• Overview

  Methane Lake sits in North Slave Region, out in Northwest Territories. It lies 214 metres above sea level. It runs to roughly 97 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. With 7.4 km or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. It is one of the smaller waters we list in North Slave Region. The town to know is Yellowknife, 11 km out. For a city, Edmonton is 994 km off. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Methane Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Reported across North Slave Region: Arctic grayling, lake trout and slimy sculpin. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Methane Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs -26°C to 16°C. Little of the calendar is open water, so timing counts for everything. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around late May. The lid tends to go about late May and return around late October. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. That is the shape of the year on Methane Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Island Lake sits 3.6 km off and takes the overflow. Confirm before you fish Methane Lake.