Fishing at Blue Lake, Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Blue Lake lies within the bounds of Thunder Bay District, Ontario. The water sits 322 metres up. At about 30 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. With about 4.2 km of edge, you can try several depths in one session. The nearest town is Greenstone, 26 km away. Thunder Bay sits 191 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Blue Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Open biodiversity records for Thunder Bay District list cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt, bloater and shortjaw cisco. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Anyone new to Blue Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 16°C, while January sits near -20°C. Cold dominates the year and the fishing works around it. Once it clears, about early May, the fishing comes on quickly. Ice clears near early May and comes back about mid November in a typical year. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. It holds true on Blue Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No made access is recorded, so a short walk in is the likely arrangement. Keep the gear simple: light line, small hooks, split shot and a couple of proven lures. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. Failing this one, try Spring Lake, 0.4 km away. Treat access at Blue Lake as something to verify.