The water
North Star Lake sits south of Jaffray off the Jaffray-Baynes Lake Road, a compact 21-hectare stillwater built for an easy family trip rather than a backcountry mission. Most of the shoreline runs shallow and muddy, so the productive water concentrates around the northwest corner, where the recreation site gives boat and shore anglers their best entry point. No bathymetric survey has turned up a depth figure for the lake, but the stocking program and the summer full-sink tactics both point to a basin with enough depth to hold fish through the heat of the season.
Stocking
For an angler judging whether to stop, the release record is the fishing report. Provincial hatchery data logs a Blackwater-strain, all-female triploid rainbow trout yearling release of 4,000 fish every year from 2017 through 2026, planted each April or May at an average size of about 8 to 16 grams. That steady, unbroken program is why the lake fishes as well as it does: triploid rainbow can't spend energy spawning, so they put it all into growth, reaching up to about 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) on the lake's rich forage base.
North Star Lake — 598,121 fish stocked, 1925–2026
Rainbow Trout. Source: Province of BC — FIDQ / FISS Fish Releases via the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC.
| Year | Rainbow Trout |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 4,000 |
| 2025 | 4,000 |
| 2024 | 4,000 |
| 2023 | 4,000 |
| 2022 | 4,000 |
| 2021 | 4,000 |
| 2020 | 4,000 |
| 2019 | 4,000 |
| 2018 | 4,000 |
| 2017 | 4,000 |
| 2016 | 4,000 |
| 2015 | 4,000 |
| 2014 | 8,000 |
| 2013 | 4,829 |
| 2012 | 4,000 |
| 2011 | 4,000 |
| 2010 | 10,500 |
| 2009 | 6,000 |
| 2008 | 4,000 |
| 2007 | 4,000 |
| 2006 | 2,000 |
| 2005 | 2,500 |
| 2004 | 5,000 |
| 2003 | 5,000 |
| 2002 | 5,000 |
| 2001 | 2,500 |
| 2000 | 4,950 |
| 1999 | 2,472 |
| 1998 | 5,400 |
| 1997 | 5,000 |
| 1996 | 3,000 |
| 1995 | 5,000 |
| 1994 | 5,000 |
| 1993 | 3,000 |
| 1992 | 3,000 |
| 1991 | 3,000 |
| 1990 | 3,000 |
| 1989 | 3,000 |
| 1988 | 3,000 |
| 1987 | 3,000 |
| 1986 | 3,000 |
| 1985 | 4,000 |
| 1984 | 5,000 |
| 1983 | 7,000 |
| 1981 | 5,000 |
| 1980 | 5,000 |
| 1979 | 5,000 |
| 1978 | 5,000 |
| 1977 | 5,000 |
| 1976 | 10,000 |
| 1975 | 10,000 |
| 1974 | 10,000 |
| 1973 | 10,000 |
| 1972 | 10,000 |
| 1971 | 10,000 |
| 1970 | 12,000 |
| 1969 | 9,000 |
| 1968 | 9,000 |
| 1966 | 8,800 |
| 1965 | 5,000 |
| 1964 | 10,120 |
| 1963 | 10,450 |
| 1962 | 10,510 |
| 1961 | 12,000 |
| 1960 | 4,800 |
| 1959 | 4,750 |
| 1958 | 14,400 |
| 1957 | 20,000 |
| 1955 | 12,300 |
| 1954 | 21,840 |
| 1953 | 8,000 |
| 1952 | 8,000 |
| 1951 | 7,500 |
| 1950 | 3,500 |
| 1949 | 10,000 |
| 1948 | 7,000 |
| 1947 | 7,500 |
| 1946 | 7,500 |
| 1945 | 4,000 |
| 1944 | 3,000 |
| 1943 | 4,000 |
| 1942 | 10,000 |
| 1941 | 10,000 |
| 1940 | 15,000 |
| 1939 | 24,000 |
| 1938 | 9,500 |
| 1925 | 23,500 |
The fishing
Rainbow trout here key on big food, so match the hatch to the lake's forage rather than fishing small. Cast or troll Leeches, Woolly Buggers and dragonfly nymphs along the shallow drop-offs early in the season, working the northwest corner near the recreation site first. As the shallows warm through summer, switch to a full-sink line and work leeches deeper, following the hot-weather stillwater approach used across the region's put-grow lakes. In the evenings, watch for a Hexagenia mayfly emergence or a sedge hatch and switch to a dry fly on top. Redside shiners are present in the lake too, adding to the forage base but also competing with the stocked rainbow for food.
Before you fish
Access and the rules
The North Star Lake Recreation Site sits at the northwest corner of the lake, with 11 campsites, a cartop boat launch, wharves and toilets, making it a straightforward overnight base as well as the best put-in on the lake. The exact turnoff and driving distance from Jaffray along the Jaffray-Baynes Lake Road have not been confirmed, so check current road conditions locally before heading out. Largemouth bass fans can round out the trip nearby at Suzanne Lake, which also carries stocked rainbow trout alongside its bass.
Conditions
- Stocking: Blackwater triploid rainbow trout only, 4,000 yearlings released every spring from 2017 through 2026, with no gap years. A consistent put-grow program rather than a one-off plant.
- Depth: no bathymetric survey found; treat the lake as shallow-to-moderate stillwater based on its mostly shallow, muddy shoreline and the need to fish deeper water in summer.
