Lake Winnipegosis is a large (5,370 km²)

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in central

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada, some 300 km northwest of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. It is Canada's eleventh-largest lake. An alternate spelling, once common but now rare, is Lake Winipigoos or simply 'Lake Winipigis'. The lake's name derives from that of

Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg (french: Lac Winnipeg, oj, ᐑᓂᐸᑲᒥᐠᓴᑯ˙ᑯᐣ, italics=no, Weenipagamiksaguygun) is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Its southern end is about north of t ...

, with a diminutive suffix. Winnipeg means 'big muddy waters' and Winnipegosis means 'little muddy waters'. It appears as Winipgassish on the Fidler map of 1820, while modern spelling dates from as early as 1811.

Geography

The elongated 195-kilometre-long lake is the second-largest of three large lakes in central Manitoba; the other two are

, the largest, and Lake Manitoba. All three lakes are on the floor of the prehistoric glacial

Lake Agassiz Lake Agassiz was a large glacial lake in central North America. Fed by glacial meltwater at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined. First postulated in 1823 by William H. Keating, i ...

(as are nearby Cedar Lake and the Lake of the Woods). The lake's watershed extends over some 49,825 km² in

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. It receives most of its waters from the

Manitoba Escarpment The Manitoba Escarpment, or the Western Manitoba Uplands, are a range of hills along the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border. The eastern slopes of the range are considered to be a scarp. They were created by glacial scouring and formed the western s ...

. Lake Winnipegosis is separated from Cedar Lake by a 6 km (3.7 miles) wide (minimum width) land barrier at the north end and from Lake Manitoba by a 3 km (1.9 miles) wide (minimum width) land barrier at the southeast end at Meadow Portage. Birch Island is the largest island on Lake Winnipegosis. The island, located near the middle of the lake, is part of

Birch Island Provincial Park Birch Island Provincial Park is a remote provincial park located on Lake Winnipegosis in Manitoba, Canada. The park is bordered on its western boundary by the Swan-Pelican Provincial Forest and on its eastern side by Chitek Lake Anishinaabe Provi ...

, created in 2010, and is adjacent to the Chitek Lake Park Reserve on the eastern shore.

Outflows

The lake drains through the Waterhen River into Lake Manitoba, and is thus part of the

Nelson River The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. The river drains Lake Winnipeg and runs before it ends in Hudson Bay. Its full length (including the Saskatchewan River and Bow River) is , i ...

, and

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

watersheds. From Long Island Bay at the southeast end of the lake the West Waterhen and Little Waterhen rivers flow north about 16 km (10 miles) into Waterhen Lake then the Waterhen River flows south 22 km (13.5 miles) into Lake Manitoba.

Tributaries

Tributaries include the Mossy River (from

Dauphin Lake Dauphin Lake is located in western Manitoba near the city of Dauphin, Manitoba. The lake covers an area of and has a drainage basin of about . The Mossy River drains the lake into Lake Winnipegosis. The basin is drained by seven major streams and ...

), Point River, Pine River, North Duck River, Pelican River (from Pelican Lake), Shoal River (from Swan Lake), Steeprock River,

Red Deer River The Red Deer River is a river in Alberta and a small portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a major tributary of the South Saskatchewan River and is part of the larger Saskatchewan-Nelson system that empties into Hudson Bay. Red Deer River h ...

, and the Overflowing River.

Communities

The communities of Winnipegosis, Camperville, Pine Creek, Duck Bay, Salt Point and Meadow Portage are south of Birch Island while

Shoal River Shoal River is a river located primarily in Okaloosa County, Florida, near the city of Crestview. It is a tributary of the Yellow River, emptying into Pensacola Bay Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United S ...

, Pelican Rapids,

Dawson Bay Dawson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Dawson (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Dawson (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name Places Antarctica ...

and Denbeigh Point are to the north of the island.

Fisheries

The lake supports a commercial fishery of

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

and other freshwater species.

Northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

and mullet together now account for over 80 percent of its commercial fishing.

References