Fishing Cedar Lake in Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Cedar Lake sits within Thunder Bay District in Ontario. This is boreal forest country. Surface area runs to roughly 4.49 sq km, so plan for one area rather than the whole. There is roughly 11 km of bank, more than one visit can cover properly. Size puts it in the front rank of our Thunder Bay District list. Start from Manitouwadge, 46 km down the road. Hornepayne is 93 km away, with Terrace Bay at 96 km. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Cedar Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Thunder Bay District records list cisco, blackfin cisco and rainbow smelt among the fish reported. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Cedar Lake responds to conditions more than to tactics.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 16°C in July and bottom out at -16°C in January. Everything is compressed into the middle of the year. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around early May. From about early May to around mid November, expect open water on the long-run figures. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. At Cedar Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The access position is unclear from public sources. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Rust Lake, 2.4 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Treat Cedar Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.