Atthilu Lake in Haines Junction: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Atthilu Lake belongs to Haines Junction, Yukon. The surroundings are dry open country. Surface area is around 50 hectares, which gives you real water without needing a boat. Shoreline length is close to 5.1 km, and each section fishes a little differently. It is one of the smaller waters we list in Haines Junction. You are 117 km from Whitehorse. Skagway is 216 km away, with Haines at 236 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Atthilu Lake

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Species logged across Haines Junction include Arctic grayling, northern pike, lake trout and Dolly Varden. Some of the species recorded here are protected or tightly regulated, so check what may be targeted before you fish. At Atthilu Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The seasonal spread runs -20°C to 12°C. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. Winter locks it down, and mid May brings it back. Break-up sits around mid May on average, with the water closing again about late October. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Plan any trip to Atthilu Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Hopkins Lake, 4.2 km away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Atthilu Lake in what we hold.