Bittern Lake Fishing in Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Bittern Lake is a Thunder Bay District water, in Ontario. The country round it is taiga from end to end. The water covers some 11 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Bank access stretches around 2.6 km in total. It is one of the smaller waters we list in Thunder Bay District. Some 10 km away sits Amethyst Harbour, the nearest settlement. Shuniah Township follows at 25 km, then Current River at 33 km. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Bittern Lake

  No chart reached our records; the first cast is your sounding. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for Thunder Bay District include cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt, bloater and shortjaw cisco. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. Bittern Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 17°C; by January the average is down near -16°C. The ice season is long here and the open one short. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around late April. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. It sets the rhythm of the year at Bittern Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No car park, ramp or path is recorded within easy reach of the shore. Keep the gear simple: light line, small hooks, split shot and a couple of proven lures. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Should this one be busy, Loon Lake is 3.2 km off. Treat Bittern Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.