Forsythe Lake in Cochrane District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  In Ontario, Forsythe Lake belongs to Cochrane District. The bank is 259 metres above sea level. At roughly 8 hectares, the whole thing is within casting reach of a single walk. On size it sits at the modest end of our Cochrane District list. 14 km away sits Cochrane, the nearest town. Smooth Rock Falls lies 36 km off, Iroquois Falls another 54 km. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Forsythe Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Open biodiversity records for Cochrane District list northern pike, yellow perch, white sucker, Iowa darter and logperch. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. On Forsythe Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 17°C and January near -19°C. Open water arrives late and leaves early, which concentrates the fishing. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around early May. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about early May until roughly mid November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. Forsythe Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. A pier 80 m from here gives a platform over deeper water. There is a campsite 220 m from the water. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Should this one be busy, Lee Lake is 0.6 km off. Treat access at Forsythe Lake as something to verify.