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

• Overview

  You will find Pine Lake in Haines Junction, Yukon. Around the bank it is northern bush. The water covers around 6.13 sq km, which puts most of it out of reach from the bank. With 14 km or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. Whitehorse sits 131 km from here and is the nearest stop. Anchorage sits 671 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Pine Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Fish documented in Haines Junction include Arctic grayling, northern pike, lake trout, Dolly Varden and round whitefish. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. Read Pine Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 13°C, with January the cold end at about -20°C. Long winters and short summers set the pattern. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early May. Averages suggest open water from about early May through to roughly late October. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. It holds true on Pine Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Access points are not mapped for this water, which suits people who like quiet. Light line and small metal for the trout; a fly rod earns its place on calm evenings. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. For a change of water, Shurr Lakes is 15 km distant. Where Pine Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.