Blades Lake near Manitouwadge: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  Ontario holds Blades Lake, in Thunder Bay District. The setting is northern bush. Small at around 9 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. Our Thunder Bay District list holds plenty of bigger water. Manitouwadge sits 2.5 km from the bank. It is 261 km to Thunder Bay, the nearest city. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Blades Lake

  Depth is not on record here, which means reading the ground instead. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Species logged across Thunder Bay District include cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt, bloater and shortjaw cisco. The county list is broader than any single water. Blades Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 16°C and January near -17°C. Open water arrives late and leaves early, which concentrates the fishing. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early May. The open-water window runs from around early May to about mid November in an average year. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. At Blades Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. A light spinning outfit with a small box of lures and some bait covers most of what swims here. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Schist Lake at 0.9 km is the sensible second choice. Where Blades Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.