In June on Big Bar Lake, the shallows wake up in the morning. Chironomids rise off the bottom, damsel nymphs swim for the edges, and the rainbows that come up after them are Pennask fish, as bright as new coins and quick to jump. Then the light climbs, the shoal goes quiet, and you start wondering where they went.
Big Bar is a high plateau lake in the Cariboo, north-west of Clinton, and the ice age built it. At its west end a long gravel ridge, an esker left by a river that once ran under a glacier, holds the lake in like a dam. Read the water in three parts: the shoals, the drop-offs where those shoals fall away into deep water, and the esker end.
Start on the shoals at the campground end, by the boat launch. This is where the lake’s food lives, chironomids and mayflies first, then damsels and dragonflies. Anchor or drift just off the shelf early and late in the day, and fish the hatch you can see. The shoals along the south side are worth a look too, especially with a dragonfly nymph.
The drop-offs are where the trout go when the shoal turns bright. Fish that cruise shallow at dawn often hang on the edge of the deep water by noon, and a slow fly on a sinking line follows them there. In midsummer, when the lake warms, the deep edge is where your day is.
The esker end is worth the paddle on a calm evening. Work the edges below the ridge that holds the whole lake in, with the same slow leech you used on the drop-offs. On a hot afternoon, when the fish are down, the Otter Marsh trail leaves the park’s day-use area and loops through meadow, wetland and Douglas-fir along the eskers, and you can walk the shape of what the ice left behind.
Ice usually holds from November into May, so the ice-free season is short and full. Its best weeks depend on how you like to fish: the June hatches on the shoals, or spring and fall, when the water is cool and trout move freely between the shoal and the drop.
Fish in this water
Each fish is rated by its strongest evidence. A rating says how sure we are a fish is here, not how many there are, whether it is worth fishing for or whether you may keep it.
Likely
Older records here, recent stocking, a local guide or fly shop, a guide listing, or recent records on connected water nearby.
Big Bar is a classic Interior stillwater: rich water, broad shoals, and a clear line where the shallows meet the deep. It sits high enough to stay cool well into June. The trout feed on the shoals when the light is low and the water is cool, and drop back to the edge of the deep water when the sun is up or the surface warms. The ponds and wetlands around it, Otter Marsh among them, are busy with waterfowl.
Fish and forage
Most fish run to a good size, and there are bigger ones. They feed on chironomids, mayflies, damsel and dragonfly nymphs, scuds and leeches. Some days they key on glass worms, the near-transparent larvae of phantom midges, and ignore everything else; carry a pattern for those, because it can turn a slow day.
When to fish it
From ice-off in May into July the hatches come in order: chironomids first, then Callibaetis mayflies and damsels, then sedges as summer comes on. By late July the lake warms and trout move deep, so fish early and late or go down for them. September and October bring fish back onto the shoals as the water cools, and the lake fishes until freeze-up.
How to fish it
On a chironomid morning, hang one pupa in green or black, about size 14, under an indicator so it sits just above the bottom over the shoal. If the indicator doesn’t move, shorten or lengthen the drop until it does, then try a different colour.
When the shoal goes quiet, change to a maroon or black micro leech, or a Dr. Spratley in olive or black, on an intermediate or sinking line. Cast toward the drop-off and strip it back slowly up the slope. If fish follow and refuse, go smaller. On the south-side shoals, try a dragonfly nymph crawled slowly along the bottom. When the sedges hatch in July, a Brown Carey Special stripped just under the surface in the evening is worth a try.
Fish showing but taking nothing can mean glass worms or a hatch you haven’t matched. Look closely at what is in the water and change one fly at a time.
Access and safety
The park is about 42 km north-west of Clinton. Drive about 8 km north of town on Highway 97, turn west onto Big Bar Road at the top of the hill, and follow about 34 km of gravel to the park. There are two campgrounds, Lakeside and Upper, some sites reservable, usually open from mid-May through September, and a paved single-lane boat launch beside the lakeside sites.
Black bear, cougar and moose live here: keep a clean camp and give moose room. There are no lifeguards at the beach. Gravel roads off the main route can be gated; obey closures.
Regulations
Big Bar Lake is in Region 3 (Thompson-Nicola). The rules list no closure for Big Bar Lake; check in-season changes before you go. They do set a boat speed limit of 10 km/h and no towing on the lake. The regional daily quota for trout and char is five, with no more than one over 50 cm and no more than one bull trout or lake trout, none under 60 cm; lake trout must be released from 15 October to 31 January. You may possess two daily quotas. One artificial fly on the line, never a dropper, and at a lake you may not use freshwater invertebrates as bait or have them for that purpose. Big Bar Creek, the outlet, falls under the regional stream rules: no fishing from 1 January to 30 June, and a single barbless hook all year; check the regulations for any line of its own.