Fishing Fish Lake in Nipissing District, Ontario

• Overview

  Nipissing District, Ontario, is where Fish Lake sits. The water sits 397 metres up. It measures about 12 hectares, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. Shoreline comes to about 1.8 km, small enough to learn in a day. 54 km away sits Bancroft, the nearest town. Eganville follows at 58 km, then United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde at 59 km. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Fish Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Across Nipissing District, recorded fish include smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch and pumpkinseed. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. On Fish Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -13°C in January up to 18°C in July. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. The lid usually goes in late April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Open water usually runs from late April until about late November. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. That is the shape of the year on Fish Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Billings Lake, 2.4 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing here settles the position at Fish Lake for certain.