Crosby Lake Fishing near Sharbot Lake, Ontario

• Overview

  The Lanark County end of Ontario holds Crosby Lake. Pine and birch runs right down to the water. This is sizeable water at about 2.71 sq km, and a boat opens up most of it. The shoreline runs about 15 km, so it pays to pick a stretch and stay with it. Size puts it in the front rank of our Lanark County list. For a base, Sharbot Lake sits 20 km out. Kingston is the closest city, 58 km away. The county edge is within a short distance of the bank.

• Where to Fish on Crosby Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Across Lanark County, recorded fish include pumpkinseed, rock bass, smallmouth bass and bluegill. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. Crosby Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about -10°C in January to roughly 20°C in July. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. The lid usually goes in mid April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Averages suggest open water from about mid April through to roughly early December. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. At Crosby Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Little Crosby Lake, 2.9 km away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Crosby Lake in what we hold.