Bear Lake Fishing Guide, Nipissing District, Ontario

• Overview

  Out in Nipissing District, Ontario, sits Bear Lake. It lies 325 metres above sea level. The water covers some 17 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The edge runs 2.0 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Nearest town is Bancroft, 51 km off. Then United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde, 54 km, and Eganville, 62 km. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Bear Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Survey and observation records for Nipissing District include smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch, pumpkinseed and rock bass. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Bear Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 18°C and January reads -13°C. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Look for the thaw near late April; the fishing lifts straight after. Ice clears near late April and comes back about late November in a typical year. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. It sets the rhythm of the year at Bear Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. For a change of water, McLachlin Lake is 2.9 km distant. What applies at Bear Lake may have changed since it was mapped.