Fishing Caribou Lake in Whitehorse, Yukon

• Overview

  Set in Whitehorse, Caribou Lake is a Yukon water. The ground round it is open dry country. It runs to roughly 50 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. A shoreline of some 4.0 km keeps the choices simple. For supplies, Whitehorse is 48 km out. Anchorage sits 848 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 Caribou Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Public occurrence data for Whitehorse names Chinook salmon, Arctic grayling and round whitefish. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Caribou Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -19°C in January up to 13°C in July. This is a two-season water: locked, then wide open. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early May. On the long-run averages the water opens up around early May and starts locking again about early November. The first weeks of open water and the last are the ones to plan for. The season on Caribou Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. 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. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. The nearest alternative is Elbow Lake, 1.5 km out. The position on Caribou Lake is worth confirming on the day.