Narrow Hills Provincial Park is an angler’s dream come true. I’m not normally one to give away my fishing spots that easily. I put a lot of time and effort into finding them and working them out and I do not part with that information easily. I will however, if you ask, tell you exactly where I will be fishing this fall: The Narrow Hills Provincial Park. It still surprises me how many anglers stare back at me with blank expressions having never heard of it. Truly one of Saskatchewan’s magnificent gems, the Narrow Hills Provincial Park has it all. It’s an easy 3 hour drive from Saskatoon or an hour and a half from Prince Albert and it gives you access to more than 60 fishable waters with the 10 different species to target.
HAVE A PLAN
When you come to fish a place like this it’s good to have a plan, a strategy, because if you don’t you will find yourself slumped over a map unsure of which way to turn, and why, and that is a waste of perfectly good fishing time. The variety of waters available is astonishing and they cater to every possible aspect of your angling addiction. There are the small, hike-in, out-of-the-way lakes, the easy roadside access lakes, small wade-able, hike-able creeks. There are also the larger bodies of water that hide huge trophies and they can also hide smaller lakes with good populations of fish.
BACKCOUNTRY LAKES ABOUND
There are the lakes that you can only get in with a quad, a chainsaw and a great deal of effort and the lakes that are so far out of the way that people rarely make the effort, although those that do certainly do get rewarded for that effort. This is a place where if the lake is not fishing well, you can quickly move on to the next one. It is not unreasonable to be able to fish two, three or even more waters in a single day and that is why it is good to have a plan.
WHERE TO FISH: WALLEYE, PIKE AND LAKE TROUT
Once you start looking at a map you will see that regardless of where you choose to setup home base you will never be too far from some great water. Pike and walleye are probably the most prolific species in the area and to find some of the best of these waters it is worth putting in the time and effort to explore all the out of the way places. If you are looking for a good place to start try visiting Lost Echo Lake, Summit Lake or Pinkney Lake. There are some great little pike only lakes that are more difficult to access and that much more out the way, but they are well worth the trip. If that excites you then you need to fish Grace, Beaver and Stickley Lakes. For a slightly different challenge, see if you can get to Heart Lake. There is quad access off Highway 106 or a short portage from the north end of Little Bear Lake, trust me on this one.
Speaking of Little Bear Lake, while there are walleye and some excellent pike in there, this is the lake you want to fish in the fall for lake trout. This lake holds a good population of lakers in the southern end of their range. The biggest advantage to this is that the fish grow so much quicker here than their family further north and so there are some really big lakers to be caught. Whiteswan Lake (Whelan Bay) is another popular lake trout lake, but it is closed in the fall to angling. Steepbank Lake is the third lake that holds lakers, but it is definitely the most difficult to access, but as any venturing angler knows, difficult access means low pressure and the possibility of more trophies so I’ll leave that one to you.
WHERE TO FISH: RAINBOW TROUT, BROWN TROUT, BROOK TROUT, TIGER TROUT AND SPLAKE
The Narrow Hills really sets itself apart when you start talking about the variety of trout fishing that exists here. This area is extremely popular with Saskatchewan’s fly fishing community, and for good reason. All along highway 106 you will find some great water that is easy to access.
Shannon Lake produces some of the largest brown trout in the province and the scenery is spectacular.
Cora, Road, Mackie and Sealey lakes are great fun if you are looking for access to rainbow trout. The hybrids, tiger trout and splake, are found together in Burtlein Lake and many, many great days can be spent on that water. While Nipawin Lake is a great little spot for brook trout, if it is the speckles that you want then explore the creeks of the cub hills. White Gull and McDougall Creek are the premiere creeks for brookies in the area with a number of sign posted access points.
ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
The ultimate trout challenge and the epitome of the Narrow Hills experience though would be to attempt the “Gem Slam”. The Gem Lakes are the crown jewel of the Narrow Hills. They are a cluster of sand bottomed lakes and they reflect the colours of emerald, jade and aqua blue, hence their names. There is a six kilometre hiking trail around the lakes with some wilderness camping spots at Jade, Diamond and Opal lakes. These lakes, however, are also the home to all five of the trout species and so to achieve the slam you need to catch all five species in a single day.
SO MUCH WATER SO LITTLE TIME
If you have never been to the Narrow Hills let me warn you, there is so much great water here that it will draw you back again and again. We have only scratched the surface here and so beware, this is a place that you may never want to leave.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
We all love to pour over maps and get the help of Google before we head out to new water. Fortunately for the Narrow Hills this job has been made a lot easier. Thanks to the work put in by Saskatchewan Parks if you visit their website http://www.saskparks.net/NarrowHills you will be able to find all the park area and campground maps. Most importantly though is that you can download the Narrow Hills Fishing Map
http://www.saskparks.net/Default.aspx?DN=f893a1f9-4a25-47f8-9958-7e067b1f2795
This is your best resource for placing and locating each lake at the nature of the facilities available at each place. Once you have the location of the lakes you wish to target head over to the Ministry of Environment’s page and you will be able to access the interactive map which will give you access to all the bathymetric maps of the lakes you wish to fish.
http://www.environment.gov.sk.ca/maps
For more information on the stocking and population monitoring information of the lakes in and around the Narrow Hills you can access that from the Ministry of Environment’s website for all the stocking, population and location information that you may need.