Porphyry Lake Fishing Guide, North Slave Region, Northwest Territories

• Overview

  Set in North Slave Region, Northwest Territories, this is Porphyry Lake. The bank gives way to dry open country. This is sizeable water at about 3.49 sq km, and a boat opens up most of it. Shoreline length is close to 18 km, and each section fishes a little differently. For a base, Yellowknife sits 184 km out. Edmonton sits 1168 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Porphyry Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Open biodiversity records for North Slave Region list Arctic grayling, lake trout and slimy sculpin. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The near bank of Porphyry Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 14°C in July and bottom out at -29°C in January. Winter owns most of the year at this latitude. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly early June. The lid tends to go about early June and return around mid October. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. On Porphyry Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Failing this one, try Hunter Lake, 5.8 km away. Confirm access to Porphyry Lake locally before you travel.