Kit Lake, Yukon: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Set in Dawson, Yukon, this is Kit Lake. The country round it is northern bush from end to end. The water covers some 16 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Shoreline comes to about 1.8 km, small enough to learn in a day. It is high ground by Yukon standards. Start from Dawson City, 92 km down the road. The big place round here is Anchorage, 683 km distant. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Kit Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Records held for Dawson cover Arctic grayling, Chinook salmon, lake whitefish and round whitefish. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. The shape of Kit Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -25°C to 10°C. Everything is compressed into the middle of the year. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly early June. The open-water window runs from around early June to about early October in an average year. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. That is the shape of the year on Kit Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Trout here take small spinners, spoons and, where fly water allows, a nymph or dry. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Failing this one, try Caldwell Lake, 19 km away. Check the position at Kit Lake before loading the car.