Band Lake, Ontario: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Out in Nipissing District, Ontario, sits Band Lake. The ground round it is mixed forest. Roughly 17 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The edge runs 1.7 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde sits 49 km from here and is the nearest stop. It is 177 km to Barrie, the nearest city. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Band Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. County-wide records name smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch, pumpkinseed and rock bass. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. The near bank of Band Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 18°C at the top of summer and -13°C at the bottom of winter. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late April. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about late November. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Plan around that when you fish Band Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Overnight stays are possible 1.1 km away. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Bailey Lake at 1 km is the sensible second choice. What applies at Band Lake may have changed since it was mapped.