Fishing Crabtree Lake in Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Set in Thunder Bay District, Ontario, this is Crabtree Lake. The ground round it is taiga. With some 66 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. About 3.6 km of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. Nearest town is Geraldton, 9.1 km off. It is 230 km to Thunder Bay, the nearest city. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Crabtree Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Public occurrence data for Thunder Bay District names cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt, bloater and shortjaw cisco. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. On Crabtree Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -19°C in January up to 16°C in July. Cold dominates the calendar on water this far north. Winter locks it down, and early May brings it back. The season between ice runs from about early May to mid November. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. The season on Crabtree Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. 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. A light spinning outfit with a small box of lures and some bait covers most of what swims here. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Night access is frequently treated as a separate matter. Forrester Lake sits 0.9 km off and takes the overflow. Treat access at Crabtree Lake as something to verify.