Cooley Pond in Oxford County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Cooley Pond is one of the Oxford County listings for Ontario. The water sits 268 metres up. About 7 hectares of surface, which puts the far bank inside easy sight. Burford is the closest town at 11 km. Then Woodstock, 16 km, and Paris, 17 km. If this one is busy: Levey Lake 6.9 km off, Park Haven Lake a touch under 10 km, Trotters Lake 11 km off, Buchanan Lake a touch under 11 km and Burgess Lake 12 km off. This one sits near enough to a boundary to be worth checking.

• Where to Fish on Cooley Pond

  We hold no depth figure for this one. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Records held for Oxford County cover common carp, johnny darter and white sucker. Species recorded across the county may be limited to a few waters. On Cooley Pond the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 20°C and January near -6°C. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. Ice is part of the season here, ending near early April. Climate averages put the opening at about early April and the closing near mid December. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. The season on Cooley Pond follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. You can camp about 160 m away, going by the mapping. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Signs go up and come down, so check on the day. Failing this one, try Levey Lake, 6.9 km away. Nothing on Cooley Pond should be assumed from this page alone.