Hihium sits high enough on the plateau that the ice holds into May. When it finally goes, the chironomids start coming off the shallows, and rainbows that spent the winter under the ice move up onto weed beds so thin of water you can see the bottom through them. On a lake this shallow there is nowhere for a fish to hide from you, and not much cover for you either.
The lake is long and shallow, in the Arrowstone Hills east of Clinton, and it has no deep hole worth anchoring over. Its ends shape it. A broad weedy shoal runs out from each end, a fringe of sedge lines both long shores, and at the west end a creek slips out through a grassy meadow.
Start at the east end. The recreation site and launch are near the southeast corner, and the shoal there runs well out from shore in waterlilies, sedge and pondweed, backed by a low willow swamp. It is chironomid water in the early season, and the freshwater shrimp living in that weed keep fish working it all summer.
The west end is the longer row and the quieter water. Spruce and pine come down on either side of a wide, flat opening where Hihium Creek leaves the lake, and the shoal in front of it is the same kind of weedy flat as the east end, far enough from the launch that it is worth the row.
The long shores are for the evening. When the travelling sedge hatches at the start of summer, fish push into the sedge fringe after adults running across the surface toward the reeds.
The reward most people miss comes late in the season. In early fall flying ants come down onto the lake, and a black ant on the surface is worth having in the box when the hatches have thinned out.
Once you have the shoals worked out, Fatox Lake lies over the hills to the north-east, small and lightly fished, and Loon Lake is beside the road home.
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.
When to fish it
The ice is on from about November into May. The weeks after ice-off, from late May into June, are the chironomid weeks, with damsels and dragonflies through the same spring, best on the end shoals in the middle of the day once the water warms. Late June and early July evenings belong to the sedge. Through high summer, fish early and late, and fish the shoal edges in between. Early fall, September into October, is ant time and the lake is quieter.
How to fish it
Anchor on the edge of a shoal, close enough to cast onto the weed. Hang a single chironomid pupa just off the bottom under an indicator, matching its colour to what is coming off. If nothing takes in half an hour, change to a scud and strip it slowly over the weed tops. At dawn and dusk, change again to a leech. In the damsel weeks, cast toward shore and bring a damsel nymph back in short bursts.
For the sedge, cast a Tom Thumb tight to the sedge fringe and give it a twitch. If fish boil at it without taking, change to a sedge pupa and pull it up toward the surface. One fly on the line at a time, always.
Access and safety
From Highway 97 about 23 km north of Clinton, take Chasm Road, then the Clinton-Loon Lake Forest Service Road (signed as Chasm Road, formerly the 3400 Road) to the 37 km board. Turn onto Hihium Road, follow it to just past the 61 km marker, and turn right for about 1.5 km to Hihium Lake South Recreation Site. A second way in runs from 20 Mile House past Loon Lake. These are working logging roads, so drive with your lights on and give way to loaded trucks. The recreation site charges a fee and has a boat launch. A private resort on the lake has cabins and wooden boats; licences are not sold there, so buy yours before you leave the highway. Plateau weather turns quickly, and the water is cold for weeks after ice-off.