Isobel Lake sits in the timber above the Lac du Bois grasslands, small enough that a level trail runs right around it and a wheelchair can roll from the parking lot to the end of a fishing dock. Through the summer it is a family lake, picnic tables and kids on the dock. Its fishing is best when the families have gone home: in the fall, and then through the ice.
From 1 April to 30 September the regulations list Isobel as youth/disabled accompanied water, so read who may fish it in that window before you bring an adult-only party.
Think of the lake as a ring. The trail circles the shore with benches along the way, a fishing dock reaches out from the bank, and the open water in the middle belongs to whoever carries a canoe down from the campsite. In winter the whole thing freezes into one flat field.
The dock is the place to start, and for a child it may be the whole day. It is built for wheelchairs, with benches and a rail for stepping down into a boat, and it is the easiest place on the lake to keep a fly in the water for a whole afternoon.
The trail is for anyone who likes to walk with a rod. It is about 3 km around, flat and well made, and every bench is a place to stop and watch the margin for a rise before you cast.
The open water is the reward for bringing a canoe or a float tube. A small boat lets you follow the trout around the lake instead of waiting for them to pass the dock, and in October that freedom is worth the carry.
The ice is Isobel’s other season. Once the lake freezes you can walk out over the same water the canoes drifted across in the fall and fish it from a hole.
When Isobel has given you what it has, Pass Lake is a short drive west on the same road: a bigger, deeper lake with a name for big rainbows and bad moods.
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.
How to fish it
From the dock or the trail, a single chironomid pupa under an indicator is the simplest way to hold a fly at one depth over the drop-off. Start with the fly a little off the bottom and move it up in steps until something takes. If the indicator stays still for a while, switch to the small leech and strip it back slowly along the edge.
From a canoe or float tube, anchor over the deeper water and fish the same pupa down near the bottom. If that fails, troll the red Doc Spratley slowly around the lake until you find fish, then anchor where they are. Fish one fly at a time; the province allows only one on a line.
Through the ice, the rules allow one line with one lure or one artificial fly. Jig a single small fly near the bottom and lift it every so often.
Access and safety
From Kamloops, cross to the north shore and climb through Batchelor Heights onto the Lac du Bois Road, which turns to gravel at a cattle guard. Drive about 15.5 km, turn right onto the McQueen-Isobel Lake Road and keep left at the fork about 1.6 km in. The parking lot has information boards, washrooms and two trailheads, and a short side trail climbs to an old lookout tower.
The recreation site has campsites, accessible outhouses, a covered picnic shelter with fire pits, and room to launch a cartop boat or canoe. There is no cell service. The Lac du Bois Road is narrow gravel; watch for logging trucks, school buses and range cattle. Wood ticks are thick in the grasslands in spring, so check yourself after a walk. Dogs stay on leash. In winter, ask locally about the road before you head up.