Clearaqua Lake in Timiskaming District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  This water sits in Timiskaming District, Ontario. The country round it is pine and birch from end to end. Around 19 hectares of surface means several distinct areas to work. The bank runs about 4.3 km all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. The nearest place of any size is Kirkland Lake, 7.9 km away. Then Englehart, 45 km, and Iroquois Falls, 76 km. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Clearaqua Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Open biodiversity records for Timiskaming District list brook trout, northern pike, yellow perch, Iowa darter and walleye. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. On Clearaqua Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 17°C, with January the cold end at about -17°C. A solid cap is the normal state through winter. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around early May. Averages suggest open water from about early May through to roughly mid November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. That is the shape of the year on Clearaqua Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. Winnie Lake, 1.3 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Treat Clearaqua Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.