Bear Lake Fishing Guide, Lennox and Addington County, Ontario

• Overview

  Bear Lake sits within Lennox and Addington County in Ontario. The bank is 198 metres above sea level. It runs to roughly 39 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. On our Lennox and Addington County list it sits near the top for size. Sharbot Lake sits 27 km from here and is the nearest stop. After that come Tweed at 34 km and Sharpton/Glenvale at 39 km. This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on Bear Lake

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Across Lennox and Addington County, recorded fish include pumpkinseed, rock bass, smallmouth bass and bluegill. Several of these carry legal protection or closed seasons; the rulebook comes before the rod. The near bank of Bear Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -10°C to 20°C. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near mid April. The season between ice runs from about mid April to early December. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. At Bear Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. A camping area sits within 160 m of here. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. Big Sunfish Lake, 0.4 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the current arrangement for Bear Lake.