Fishing Cocoa Lake in Kenora District, Ontario

• Overview

  Cocoa Lake falls in Kenora District, part of Ontario. The water sits 415 metres up. Around 29 hectares of surface means several distinct areas to work. Shoreline comes to about 2.9 km, small enough to learn in a day. Most waters listed here for Kenora District are larger. Sioux Lookout is the closest place, 37 km off. The big place round here is Thunder Bay, 239 km distant. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Cocoa Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Kenora District records list northern pike, longnose sucker, white sucker and johnny darter among the fish reported. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Cocoa Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July near 18°C and January near -19°C on the long-run figures. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. Climate averages put the opening at about late April and the closing near mid November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. It sets the rhythm of the year at Cocoa Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No car park, ramp or path is recorded within easy reach of the shore. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. The nearest alternative is Tea Lake, 2 km out. What applies at Cocoa Lake may have changed since it was mapped.