Fishing Canyon Lake in Haines Junction, Yukon

• Overview

  Haines Junction in Yukon is where Canyon Lake sits. It stands 872 metres above sea level. The water covers around 8.83 sq km, which puts most of it out of reach from the bank. With about 28 km of shoreline, local advice saves a lot of walking. It ranks high for size among our Haines Junction listings. You are 116 km from Whitehorse. Then Skagway, 208 km, and Haines, 228 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Canyon Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Open biodiversity records for Haines Junction list Arctic grayling, northern pike and lake trout. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Read Canyon Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 12°C and January reads -19°C. Cold dominates the calendar on water this far north. Ice-out usually falls in mid May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Expect the water usable from around mid May until roughly late October. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. Time your trip to Canyon Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. For the trout, small spinners and a box of nymphs cover both approaches. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Giltana Lake at 7.4 km is the sensible second choice. Confirm before you fish Canyon Lake.