Fishing at Ethel Lake, Kenora District, Ontario

• Overview

  Set in Kenora District, Ontario, this is Ethel Lake. The surface lies 352 metres up. The water covers some 16 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. About 3.3 km of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. Most waters listed here for Kenora District are larger. Supplies mean a trip to Kenora, 25 km off. Further out sit Vermilion Bay (70 km) and Moose Lake (110 km). The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Ethel Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Fish documented in Kenora District include northern pike, longnose sucker, white sucker, johnny darter and logperch. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. The near bank of Ethel Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 19°C; by January the average is down near -18°C. Winter shuts the surface down for months. Look for the thaw near late April; the fishing lifts straight after. Averages suggest open water from about late April through to roughly mid November. Late spring and early autumn carry the year between them. Anyone fishing Ethel Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Public mapping records no formal access here, so plan for a walk and soft ground. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Little Mud Lake is 1.3 km off. Nothing on Ethel Lake should be assumed from this page alone.