Durrell Lake Fishing Guide, Parry Sound District, Ontario

• Overview

  Durrell Lake belongs to Parry Sound District, Ontario. Around the bank it is mixed forest. It runs to roughly 33 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The perimeter runs near 5.5 km, so plan the walk before you start. The closest town, Powassan, is 38 km away. Beyond it, South River at 39 km and Sturgeon Falls at 42 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Durrell Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Open biodiversity records for Parry Sound District list smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed and yellow perch. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Fish Durrell Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 19°C, while January sits near -11°C. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. The lid usually goes in mid April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. On the long-run averages the water opens up around mid April and starts locking again about early December. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. On Durrell Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Look for a notice board at the entrance. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Fairplay Lake at 2.2 km is the sensible second choice. None of that is settled for Durrell Lake in what we hold.