‘So green it was unbelievable:’ Fisherman deals with early-season algae at Katepwa Lake

Bill Edwards was excited to go on his first fishing trip of the year.

On Thursday, he and his friends drove to Katepwa Point Provincial Park looking to have a good time angling.

They launched their boat right after the docks were put in the lake, but they came across a very unusual sight.

“We couldn’t believe the colour of the water,” Edwards recalled Friday. “It was so green it was unbelievable.”

Bill Edwards’ boat and trailer picked up quite a bit of green algae at Katepwa Beach on May 11, 2023. (Bill Edwards/Submitted)

Edwards, who is from Regina, has been fishing for more than 20 years. He said the water is normally crystal clear at this time of the year and typically doesn’t get as green as it is now until around August or September.

“All over the lake we went,” he said. “It was smelly and (it was as bad as) I’ve seen it in the last 20 years out there but (it’s normally not that bad) until the fall.”

Despite the algae, Edwards said he spent five hours on the water.

Edwards said the fish were very deep in the water; according to the group’s fishfinder, all the fish were more than 20 feet below the surface of the water.

“All the normal spots where we would fish at this time of year, (there were) no fish. They were all deep and way deep,” he said. “You had to go down to 40 feet of water in some cases.”

He said it was particularly odd since the water was at a decent temperature of 7 C or 44 F.

Edwards had just put on a brand new licence plate for his boat. He said that after launching and retrieving the boat on the water, the plate had become stained.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said.

Edwards said they managed to catch a small pickerel before putting it back in the water. He said they didn’t examine it closely but it looked fine.

On Friday, Edwards was at the Regina Beach boat launch, and he said the water there is just as green as it was at Katepwa.

Recently, residents who live in the Regina and Moose Jaw areas have complained about a strange smell and taste coming from their tapwater.

According to an official at the Buffalo Pound Water Treatment Plant, it’s the result of an early-season algae bloom.