Castlewood Lake in Thunder Bay District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  You will find Castlewood Lake in Thunder Bay District, Ontario. The water sits 330 metres up. About 1.25 sq km, so local knowledge or a boat saves a lot of walking. There is roughly 7.1 km of bank, more than one visit can cover properly. Supplies mean a trip to Greenstone, 43 km off. After that come Geraldton at 58 km and Longlac at 85 km. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Castlewood Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Survey and observation records for Thunder Bay District include cisco, blackfin cisco and rainbow smelt. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. At Castlewood Lake light and wind decide more than tackle does.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 16°C and January near -20°C. Little of the calendar is open water, so timing counts for everything. The lid arrives early and lasts until roughly early May. Expect the water usable from around early May until roughly mid November. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. Castlewood Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Calvert Lake, 3.5 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing on Castlewood Lake should be assumed from this page alone.