Fishing at Felsen Lake, Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Felsen Lake is a Thunder Bay District water, in Ontario. What surrounds it is spruce and muskeg. It runs to roughly 64 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The shoreline runs about 11 km, so it pays to pick a stretch and stay with it. For supplies, Longlac is 75 km out. Thunder Bay is the closest city, 293 km away. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Felsen Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. County-wide records name cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt, bloater and shortjaw cisco. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. Anyone new to Felsen Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 16°C in July and bottom out at -20°C in January. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. Ice-out usually falls in early May, and the weeks after it fish hardest. The season between ice runs from about early May to mid November. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. On Felsen Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. If the gate is shut, Queenston Lake at 4.7 km is the nearest alternative. Where Felsen Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.