Brewster Lake near Petawawa: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  Brewster Lake stands in Renfrew County, Ontario. What surrounds it is rolling bush. It runs to roughly 81 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The margin runs to about 5.3 km in total. On our Renfrew County list it sits near the top for size. Petawawa lies 30 km from the water. Eganville lies 32 km off, Pembroke another 32 km. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Brewster Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Species logged across Renfrew County include smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed, yellow perch and rock bass. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. At Brewster Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -13°C and July at about 19°C, the water has a wide range to work through. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Ice is part of the season here, ending near late April. Break-up sits around late April on average, with the water closing again about early December. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Brewster Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Mapping shows an empty shoreline: no ramp, no jetty, no marked entry. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. The nearest alternative is Buck Lake, 1.4 km out. Where Brewster Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.