Codette Lake, which was named after

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

Baptiste Codette, is a reservoir in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

of Saskatchewan. The lake was created in 1986 with the construction of the

Francois-Finlay Dam Nipawin Hydroelectric Station is a hydroelectric station owned by SaskPower, located near Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Canada. Description The Nipawin Hydroelectric Station has a capacity of 255MW, and consists of: *one Hitachi 85 net MW unit (commi ...

across the Saskatchewan River about upstream from the town of

Nipawin Nipawin () is a town in Saskatchewan, Canada, on the Saskatchewan River portion of Tobin Lake. The town lies between Codette Lake, created by the Francois-Finlay Dam (built in 1986) and Tobin Lake, created by the E.B. Campbell Dam built in ...

. The dam is the site of the

Nipawin Hydroelectric Station Nipawin Hydroelectric Station is a hydroelectric station owned by SaskPower, located near Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to t ...

. Downsteam from Codette Lake is Tobin Lake, which is another man-made lake along the course of the Saskatchewan River that was created in 1963 with the construction of the E.B. Campbell Dam. Codette Lake covers the site of Bushfield Flats, which was an important site for First Nations and an historic trading post. The lake's northern shoreline is in the RM of Torch River No. 488 while the southern shore is in the RM of Nipawin No. 487.

Bushfield Flats

The Bushfield Flats, which were submerged under Codette Lake when the dam was built, was an important site for local

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and the site of the trading post built by James Finaly and Francois LeBlanc in 1768. The Francois-Finlay Dam was named after the pair. The flats were directly upstream from the current site of the dam on a peninsula that jutted out into the Saskatchewan River. These flats were the original "meeting place" for the town of

's namesake. The flats were named after William Bushfield, a local farmer. Prior to the flooding of the lake in 1986, there were two archaeological digs there. The West Site had a pre-historic

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

encampment while the East Site showed evidence "that the area had been an important Indian stopover for centuries". Bushfield's Landing—a marina located on the lake's southern shore—is near the original site.

Recreation

Wapiti Valley Regional Park straddles the lake near the western end. The park has

downhill Downhill may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Downhill'' (1927 film), a British film by Alfred Hitchcock * ''Downhill'' (2014 film), a British comedy directed by James Rouse * ''Downhill'' (2016 film), a Chilean thriller directed by Patrici ...

and

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

in the winter and camping in the summer. The park is accessed from Highways 6 and

789 __NOTOC__ Year 789 ( DCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 789 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...

. About south of Nipawin along Highway 35 is Francois Finlay Hydroelectric Dam Vista Viewpoint. The viewpoint is on a plateau and has views of Codette Lake, the dam and power station, and the

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

. On the southern shore of the lake, about west of Codette, is Smit's Campground and Blue Winds Fish n' Tours. Access is from Highway 789.

Fish species

Fish commonly found in Codette Lake include walleye, northern pike, burbot, yellow perch, white sucker,

goldeye The goldeye (''Hiodon alosoides'') is a freshwater fish found in Canada and the northern United States. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hiodontidae, the other species being ''Hiodon tergisus''. The species name ''alosoides'' ...

, Lake sturgeon, sauger, and

white sturgeon White sturgeon (''Acipenser transmontanus'') is a species of sturgeon in the family Acipenseridae of the order Acipenseriformes. They are an anadromous fish species ranging in the Eastern Pacific; from the Gulf of Alaska to Monterey, Californ ...

References

{{Authority control Lakes of Saskatchewan Nipawin No. 487, Saskatchewan Torch River No. 488, Saskatchewan

Bushfield Flats

Recreation

Fish species

See also

References