Gurney Lake Fishing Guide, Cochrane District, Ontario

• Overview

  This water sits in Cochrane District, Ontario. The ground round it is boreal forest. At 1.29 sq km this is proper open water rather than a pond. At about 9.8 km of edge, most people work one arm at a time. Size puts it in the front rank of our Cochrane District list. Kapuskasing is the closest place, 26 km off. Smooth Rock Falls lies 50 km off, Cochrane another 100 km. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Gurney Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Records held for Cochrane District cover northern pike, yellow perch and white sucker. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. Gurney Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -19°C to 16°C. Water stays cold even at the height of the year. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. Averages place the thaw at early May and the freeze at mid November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. The season on Gurney Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. If the gate is shut, Maxwell Lake at 2.7 km is the nearest alternative. Treat access at Gurney Lake as something to verify.