Fishing at Donahue Long Lake, Renfrew County, Ontario

• Overview

  Donahue Long Lake lies in Renfrew County, in Ontario. The bank is 368 metres above sea level. At about 45 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Shoreline comes to about 3.9 km, small enough to learn in a day. Size puts it in the front rank of our Renfrew County list. Nearest town is Eganville, 20 km off. Then Cobden, 36 km, and Renfrew, 36 km. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Donahue Long Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Records held for Renfrew County cover smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed, yellow perch, rock bass and brook trout. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Take Donahue Long Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 18°C and January near -12°C. A full turn of seasons, with the strongest sport on either side of summer. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The water is typically free of ice between late April and early December. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. Anyone fishing Donahue Long Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. For a change of water, Proven Lake is 0.6 km distant. What applies at Donahue Long Lake may have changed since it was mapped.