Fishing Gillies Lake in Timiskaming District, Ontario

• Overview

  Look for Gillies Lake in the Timiskaming District part of Ontario. Height above sea level is 295 metres. At about 84 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Some 5.9 km of bank gives room to move when the wind turns. Few waters listed in Timiskaming District are bigger. Haileybury lies 11 km from the water. Temiskaming Shores is 13 km and Ville-Marie 24 km. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Gillies Lake

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. 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. Open biodiversity records for Timiskaming District list brook trout, northern pike and yellow perch. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. At Gillies Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 18°C on average, January about -16°C. Four clear seasons, with a proper winter at one end. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around late April. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late April and starts locking again about late November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Plan any trip to Gillies Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing built is recorded close to the bank here. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Should this one be busy, Loon Lake is 2.1 km off. Check the position at Gillies Lake before loading the car.