Fishing Basshaunt Lake in Haliburton County, Ontario

• Overview

  Out in Haliburton County, Ontario, sits Basshaunt Lake. The surface lies 404 metres up. Roughly 50 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The whole outline is near 4.7 km, and most of it is walkable. Nearest place of any size is Haliburton Village, 8.9 km away. After that come United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde at 9.3 km and Bancroft at 48 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Basshaunt Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. County-wide records name smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed, rock bass, yellow perch and lake trout. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Treat Basshaunt Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -11°C to 18°C. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Winter locks it down, and late April brings it back. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about late April until roughly late November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Plan around that when you fish Basshaunt Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. For a change of water, West Lake is 1.5 km distant. Check the current arrangement for Basshaunt Lake.