Walleye (pickerel)
Good
Through the ice where it is safe: jigging spoons and a dead-stick minnow near the bottom at first and last light. Open rivers: slow jigs in the deep holes.
Lake Diefenbaker Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
Lake Diefenbaker: walleye, pike and perch in a 225 km reservoir on the South Saskatchewan River, with stocked trout below the dam and a live level gauge at Gardiner Dam.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Level
555.31 m
Air / High
5 °C / 11 °C
Wind
WNW 23 km/h
Sources: Water Survey of Canada station 05HF003, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Lake Diefenbaker is in its winter rhythm: slow, deep and around the brightest hours. The gauge reads 555.31 m, holding steady. Today brings clear skies, wind WNW around 24 km/h, rising pressure near 1012 hPa and a high of 11 °C. Water sits around 4 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:53 PM-1:53 AM and 12:11 PM-2:11 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Good
Under the ice where it is safe: tip-ups with dead bait in the shallow bays.
Yellow perch
Good
The ice season where the ice is safe: small spoons and tungsten jigs tipped with minnow heads, moving hole to hole to find the school.
Tie on: Jigging spoon through the ice · Dead-stick minnow · Tip-up with dead bait · Tungsten jig and wax worm. Prime windows: 11:53 PM-1:53 AM, 12:11 PM-2:11 PM, 8:48 AM-9:48 AM. Similar at 9 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Saskatchewan requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from C$15.00. Saskatchewan fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing walleye (pickerel) here? Check the size and bag limits with Saskatchewan before you keep anything; the Walleye (pickerel) page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Lake Diefenbaker today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (08:14), sunset (17:27), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:53 PM-1:53 AM and 12:11 PM-2:11 PM; minor 8:48 AM-9:48 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Water Survey of Canada station 05HF003 (LAKE DIEFENBAKER AT GARDINER DAM).
Lake level, last 30 days
Water Survey of Canada real-time hydrometric data, station 05HF003. Latest reading 2026-11-09 03:35.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp5 °C
High / Low11 °C / 1 °C
WindWNW 23 km/h, gusts 38 km/h
Pressure101.22 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset08:14 / 17:27
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~4 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Lake Diefenbaker
The best day on Lake Diefenbaker this week looks like Wednesday Nov 11, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Wednesday, Nov 11 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Nov 9 — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:53 PM-1:53 AM and 12:11 PM-2:11 PM
- Minor period
- 8:48 AM-9:48 AM
- Sun
- 08:14 to 17:27
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 34 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Lake Diefenbaker: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Walleye (pickerel)
Spring opener to fall, and the ice
Open now Closes Apr 1, 2027. The southern zone is open 5 May to 31 March. The irrigation bay of Coteau Bay is closed 1 March to 14 May. Rule as read from Government of Saskatchewan on 2026-09-27.
Called pickerel in much of Ontario and Manitoba. The fish of Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg and the Red River, Lake Diefenbaker, Tobin Lake, Lake Erie and the Bay of Quinte. Most zones close in spring for the spawn. Through the ice where it is safe: jigging spoons and a dead-stick minnow near the bottom at first and last light. Open rivers: slow jigs in the deep holes.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Spring, fall and the ice
Open now Closes Apr 1, 2027. The southern zone is open 5 May to 31 March. The irrigation bay of Coteau Bay is closed 1 March to 14 May. Rule as read from Government of Saskatchewan on 2026-09-27.
Called jackfish on the prairies. Found in almost every lake and slow river from Ontario to Alberta; big fish in the cold, deep lakes. Under the ice where it is safe: tip-ups with dead bait in the shallow bays.
Yellow perch
Year-round; the ice season at Lake Simcoe and Long Point
Open now Closes Apr 1, 2027. The southern zone is open 5 May to 31 March. The irrigation bay of Coteau Bay is closed 1 March to 14 May. Rule as read from Government of Saskatchewan on 2026-09-27.
The ice-fishing fish of Lake Simcoe, Long Point Bay and Lake St. Clair, and a summer staple on every Great Lakes shore. Schools move constantly. The ice season where the ice is safe: small spoons and tungsten jigs tipped with minnow heads, moving hole to hole to find the school.
When to come: the Lake Diefenbaker calendar
Activity by species and month for the Canadian year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Walleye (pickerel)
Northern pike (jackfish)
Yellow perch
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 4 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Diefenbaker today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at good. High of 16 °C, wind to 37 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at good. High of 13 °C, wind to 51 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at excellent. High of 12 °C, wind to 24 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Saskatchewan angling licence, from C$15.00 for a resident adult, with higher prices for other Canadians and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and protected areas are set by Saskatchewan and, in salt water and for salmon, by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Saskatchewan licence page before you keep anything. The zone-by-zone seasons and limits are on Saskatchewan fishing seasons.
Access
A Saskatchewan angling licence and, for anglers 16 to 64, the Fisheries Habitat Certificate are needed; anglers under 16 and Saskatchewan residents 65 and over are exempt.
About this water
Lake Diefenbaker is a lake in Saskatchewan, Canada, covered from the Saskatchewan reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Lake Diefenbaker: the full guide
Lake Diefenbaker
Lake Diefenbaker was formed by two dams opened in 1967, the Gardiner Dam on the South Saskatchewan River and the Qu’Appelle River Dam; the Water Security Agency, which owns and runs them, describes a 225 km long reservoir and the largest body of water in southern Saskatchewan. Danielson and Douglas provincial parks sit on its shores. The Water Survey of Canada gauge at Gardiner Dam, station 05HF003, supplies the lake level and the 30-day chart on this page.
Species and seasons
Walleye, northern pike and yellow perch are the fish most anglers target, and the tailwater of the river between Gardiner Dam and the Enbridge pipeline crossing has its own stocked-trout limit of one. The lake is in Saskatchewan’s southern zone, open from 5 May 2026 to 31 March 2027 under the general limits: four walleye, sauger and saugeye combined with only one over 55 cm, five pike with only one over 75 cm, and 25 perch.
Where to fish it
Boats go out from the provincial parks and the marinas around the lake, and the shore at the parks is fished as well; in winter, the bays are fished through the ice. The irrigation bay of Coteau Bay is closed to angling from 1 March to 14 May. The lake is long and open to the wind, which can build large waves in a hurry, so small boats should stay close to shelter.
Planning a visit
Launch conditions change with the reservoir level and with park works: Saskatchewan Parks closed the south part of Danielson Provincial Park, including its boat launch, for road paving from 8 September 2026, and both Danielson and Douglas run reduced fall services from 1 October. Check each park’s page before towing a boat. Elbow lies 25 km upstream of Gardiner Dam, according to the Water Security Agency.
The water through the year
The reservoir rises with the spring and early summer runoff and falls as water is released for the river, power and irrigation; the Water Security Agency says it also supplies domestic water to about 60 per cent of Saskatchewan people. The lake freezes in winter, and ice shelters south of Highway 16 must be off the ice by 15 March.
Reading this report here
The gauge at Gardiner Dam shows the reservoir level; the Water Security Agency gives the full supply level as 556.87 metres, and the station reports on the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration datum, so treat the comparison as a guide: a lake drawn well down leaves shallow bays and some launches hard to use. Across the 30-day chart, changes in level move the fish along the shore, and the score adds the barometer and the sky over the dam.
Licence, access and rules
A Saskatchewan angling licence and, for anglers 16 to 64, the Fisheries Habitat Certificate are needed; anglers under 16 and Saskatchewan residents 65 and over are exempt. The Saskatchewan Anglers’ Guide is linked below, and our Saskatchewan licence page has the fees.
Common questions
What fish are in Lake Diefenbaker?
Walleye, northern pike and yellow perch, with stocked trout in the river tailwater below Gardiner Dam.
How long is Lake Diefenbaker?
The Water Security Agency describes it as a 225 km long reservoir.
When is Lake Diefenbaker open to fishing?
In the southern zone season, 5 May 2026 to 31 March 2027; the irrigation bay of Coteau Bay is closed from 1 March to 14 May.
Is fishing good at Lake Diefenbaker right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Water level and flow readings
- Environment and Climate Change Canada, Water Survey of Canada real-time hydrometric data, station 05HF003 — LAKE DIEFENBAKER AT GARDINER DAM
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- publications.saskatchewan.ca/api/v1/products/128321/formats/153858/dow
- api.weather.gc.ca/collections/hydrometric-stations/items/05HF003
- wsask.ca/infrastructure/infrastructure-l1-1/south-saskatchewan-river-p
- parks.saskatchewan.ca/danielson-provincial-park/r/facilityDetails.do?c
- parks.saskatchewan.ca/douglas-provincial-park/r/facilityDetails.do?con
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.