Carlton Lake Fishing Guide, Timiskaming District, Ontario

• Overview

  Out in Timiskaming District, Ontario, sits Carlton Lake. The setting is spruce and muskeg. The water covers some 69 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Around 7.7 km of bank, which is a long day on foot. Size puts it in the front rank of our Timiskaming District list. Some 28 km away sits Timmins, the nearest settlement. Greater Sudbury sits 214 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Carlton Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Reported across Timiskaming District: brook trout, northern pike, yellow perch, Iowa darter and walleye. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. At Carlton Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 17°C and January reads -17°C. Open water arrives late and leaves early, which concentrates the fishing. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around early May. Averages suggest open water from about early May through to roughly mid November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. That is the shape of the year on Carlton Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. A campsite is mapped about 620 m away, which makes an early start easier. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Ask in the nearest town if you are unsure. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Hoof Lake at 1.1 km is the sensible second choice. Confirm access to Carlton Lake locally before you travel.