Fishing at Gaffhook Lake, Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  The Thunder Bay District end of Ontario holds Gaffhook Lake. Height above sea level is 310 metres. It runs to roughly 78 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The edge covers about 8.8 km, enough to hold several distinct areas. The closest town, Manitouwadge, is 10 km distant. Hornepayne follows at 86 km, then Terrace Bay at 90 km. The county line is nowhere near, so one local authority covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Gaffhook Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Thunder Bay District records list cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt, bloater and shortjaw cisco among the fish reported. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Read Gaffhook Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 16°C on average, January about -17°C. A short, intense season is the rule this far north. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early May. Climate figures give an open season running early May to mid November. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. That is the shape of the year on Gaffhook Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Mapping shows an empty shoreline: no ramp, no jetty, no marked entry. A light spinning outfit with a small box of lures and some bait covers most of what swims here. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Barehead Lake, 2.8 km away, makes the obvious fallback. For Gaffhook Lake in particular, ask before you travel.