Fishing Bear Lake in Manitoulin District, Ontario

• Overview

  Bear Lake is a Manitoulin District water, in Ontario. It lies 176 metres above sea level. Surface area is around 21 hectares, which gives you real water without needing a boat. About 2.4 km of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. Ground here is low by Ontario standards. Nearest town is Little Current, 4.3 km off. Espanola is 29 km and Elliot Lake 70 km. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Bear Lake

  Depth is not on record here, which means reading the ground instead. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Fish documented in Manitoulin District include rainbow smelt, lake whitefish and cisco. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The near bank of Bear Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-run averages give July about 19°C and January about -10°C. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around mid April. Averages suggest open water from about mid April through to roughly early December. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. That is the shape of the year on Bear Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. The nearest alternative is Jenkins Lake, 1.1 km out. For Bear Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.