Turtle Lake in Manitoba: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Turtle Lake in the Manitoba part of Manitoba. The land about it is rolling bush. Roughly 2.98 sq km of surface: treat each bay as a water in its own right. The margin runs to about 11 km in total. The closest town, Lac du Bonnet, is 51 km distant. Kenora is 75 km and Beausejour 83 km. No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Turtle Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. At Turtle Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes. Shallow bays warm first and pull fish in early.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -19°C in January up to 19°C in July. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Expect the water usable from around late April until roughly mid November. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. That shapes the year on Turtle Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. If the gate is shut, Olynyk Lake at 1.7 km is the nearest alternative. What applies at Turtle Lake may have changed since it was mapped.