Lake Hazen in Nunavut: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  In Nunavut, Lake Hazen belongs to Nunavut. Tidal water begins 28 km from here. This is big water, about 547.21 sq km, and in a wind it behaves like a small sea. Bays run back a long way, and the fish move between them with the season. Size puts it in the front rank of our Nunavut list. You are 1024 km from Pond Inlet. Anchorage sits 3143 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Lake Hazen

  Sounding records show water to about 267 metres. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. At Lake Hazen the water rewards a slow, careful approach. Work slowly along one feature rather than covering ground.

• Seasonal Patterns

  August is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 1°C, while March sits near -33°C. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. After late July the shallows warm and the fish move up. Ice usually gives way near late July, and forms again about early September. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. The season on Lake Hazen rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. Local rules can differ across the county line, so check where you stand. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Should this one be busy, Craig Lake is 36 km off. Nothing here settles the position at Lake Hazen for certain.