Fishing Fitzell Lake in District Municipality of Muskoka, Ontario

• Overview

  Ontario holds Fitzell Lake, in District Municipality of Muskoka. This is mixed forest ground. Surface area runs to about 8 hectares — small enough to read in one session. It is a small entry by District Municipality of Muskoka standards. You are 21 km from Huntsville. Barrie sits 114 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Fitzell 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. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. County-wide records name pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass, northern pike and yellow perch. The county list is broader than any single water. Read Fitzell Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 18°C; by January the average is down near -11°C. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. Winter locks it down, and mid April brings it back. Climate averages put the opening at about mid April and the closing near early December. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. On Fitzell Lake that shapes the whole year.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A phone call first saves an afternoon. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. For a change of water, Little Rookery Lake is 1.5 km distant. For Fitzell Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.