Bush Lake, Ontario: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Thunder Bay District, Ontario, is where Bush Lake sits. Around the bank it is spruce and muskeg. Roughly 1.20 sq km of surface: treat each bay as a water in its own right. With 9.1 km or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. The nearest town is Greenstone, 37 km away. It is 186 km to Thunder Bay, the nearest city. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Bush Lake

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Fish documented in Thunder Bay District include cisco, blackfin cisco and rainbow smelt. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. On Bush Lake a short move beats a long cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 16°C in July and bottoms out near -20°C in January. Water stays cold even at the height of the year. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near early May. Open water usually runs from early May until about mid November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Anyone fishing Bush Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Ida Lake, 1 km away, makes the obvious fallback. What applies at Bush Lake may have changed since it was mapped.