Gat Lake Fishing Guide, Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Gat Lake lies in Thunder Bay District, Ontario. Spruce and muskeg runs right down to the water. Roughly 43 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. The edge runs 3.9 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. For a base, Longlac sits 64 km out. Thunder Bay is the closest city, 299 km away. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Gat Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Thunder Bay District records list cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt and bloater among the fish reported. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Fish Gat Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 16°C and January near -20°C. Water stays cold even at the height of the year. The lid usually goes in early May, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. The lid tends to go about early May and return around mid November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Expect Gat Lake to follow that timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. A light spinning outfit with a small box of lures and some bait covers most of what swims here. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Should this one be busy, Anchor Lake is 2.4 km off. Nothing on Gat Lake should be assumed from this page alone.