Fishing at Grin Lake, Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Grin Lake is a Thunder Bay District water, Ontario side. This is spruce and muskeg country. It measures about 17 hectares, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. With about 2.5 km of edge, you can try several depths in one session. Start from Geraldton, 28 km down the road. Greenstone is 32 km away, with Longlac at 46 km. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Grin Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Across Thunder Bay District, recorded fish include cisco, blackfin cisco and rainbow smelt. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. Grin Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -18°C to 16°C. Cold dominates the calendar on water this far north. After early May the shallows warm and the fish move up. The season between ice runs from about early May to mid November. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Grin Lake fishes to that pattern most years.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Smile Lake, 1 km away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Grin Lake in what we hold.