In late April the ice lets go of Pass Lake while the grass on the hills around it is still more brown than green. Under the surface the chironomids are already moving, pupae lifting out of deep mud toward a cold sky, and the rainbows that spent the winter in the dark follow them up. The lake has a name for big trout and a name for moods, and it has earned both.
It is a small lake, simply built. Two shoals give it shallow edges, one across the west end near a farmhouse and a smaller one halfway along the north shore. Everywhere else it drops away fast into deep water, and most of the fishing happens where a shoal falls off into that depth.
Start at the west end. The shoal there is the biggest piece of shallow water on the lake, and in spring trout cruise its edge picking off pupae on their way up. Anchor just off the drop, where you can fish the shelf on one side and the deep water on the other, and stay put through a dead spell before you give up on it.
The north-shore shoal is smaller, and it is the obvious move when the west end goes quiet: the same kind of edge, the same pupae, and a second chance before you go deep.
The deep water is the surprise. A pupa hung on a sinking line well out from either shoal, in water most people would call too deep, can take the best fish of the day when a hatch is coming off. The quieter bays fish the same way at a middle depth: when you see fish rising out past your anchor, follow them out.
Pass rewards anyone willing to move. When a spot dies, pull the anchor. And when the whole lake sulks, Isobel Lake waits in the timber a few kilometres east, with the grasslands falling away below it toward the Thompson.
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 rules list no closure for the lake, so the season is set by the ice and the hatches. Spring and fall are the times to come: the weeks after ice-off in late April through May and into June, and again in September and October when the chironomids come back on before freeze-up. Weather turns fast up here in May, warm sun one hour and a cold downpour the next, and the fishing follows it: long dead stretches, then a short burst when the fish switch on. Be on the water for the bursts, early and late.
How to fish it
Anchor bow and stern on a drop-off so the boat holds still, or use a single anchor from a float tube or pontoon. Over the deep water, a full-sinking line in type 3 or 4 is the tool: strip off about as much line as the water is deep, cast, and let it sink until it hangs straight below you. Fish one pupa on a short leader with a very slow hand-twist retrieve; a single retrieve can take a couple of minutes from the bottom. Most takes come near the top and they are hard, so a softer rod saves tippets.
Over the shoals, a single pupa under an indicator lets you hold the fly at one depth. Change depth before you change the fly. If the pupa does nothing after you have tried it high and low, switch to a black leech fished slowly at the same depth; if that fails too, try a red Doc Spratley on a slow strip. Fish one fly at a time; the province allows only one on a line.
Access and safety
From Kamloops, cross to the north shore and climb through Batchelor Heights onto the Lac du Bois Road. The pavement ends at a cattle guard, and from there it is narrow gravel through the grasslands for roughly 16 km to a short access road on the north side of the lake. Most cars manage it unless it has rained hard. Watch for logging trucks and school buses.
The recreation site sits in timber on the lake, with campsites, pit toilets and a cartop launch. A small boat, pontoon or float tube is all you need; there’s no call for a motor. Wood ticks are thick on the grass in spring, so check yourself after a walk. Rattlesnakes are seldom seen but present; give one room and go around. Range cattle graze the road edges. Carry your own drinking water, and pack layers and rain gear: the hills run cooler than town. Dogs on leash.