Mount Assiniboine Fishing

Like high-elevation lakes throughout the Canadian Rockies, the lakes of Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park are not renowned for fishing, but we’ve had luck in most lakes in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park’s core area. There’s limited information available on fishing in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, and the official BC Parks website simply states that a license is needed.

What we do know is that the only fish in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park were stocked, probably between the 1930s and as recently as 1988. According to the most recent park report, there has never been a study on fish species present or the stability of local populations.

A small cutthroat trout at Lake Magog.

CUTTHROAT TROUT is present in Lake Magog. We’ve had luck at the lake’s western end, near the cliffs. The water is often clear enough to see them cruising through the shallow water. In early summer, trout can often be seen entering the inlet stream below Assiniboine Lodge and heading up to rocky spawning beds beyond the Naiset Huts. Named for a bright red dash of colour that runs from below the mouth almost to the gills, the cutthroat can grow up to 80 centimetres (2.5 feet), but up at Lake Magog around 30 centimetres (one foot) is the maximum we’ve seen. Fishing for cutthroat requires using the lightest of tackle because the water is generally very clear; fly casting is most productive on the still water of the lake.

Nearby, Sunburst, Cerulean, and Elizabeth Lakes have decent fishing for cutthroat trout, with Cerulean catch-and-release only. RAINBOW TROUT is also present in Cerulean and Sunburst Lakes.

The lakes at the north end of Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, including Rock Isle, Grizzly, and Larix, have been closed for fishing since the 1980s.

Sunburst Lake fishing.

Regulations and Licenses

Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park is in British Columbia, where the cost of a license varies according to your age and place of residence. For more information, visit the BC government’s Freshwater Fishing page, with an online option to purchase your fishing license.

NOTE: Three different licenses are in effect in the Canadian Rockies—one license is required for the freshwater of British Columbia (above), another covers all the national parks and a third non-national park Albertan waters.