Fishing Hornet Lake in Sudbury, Ontario

• Overview

  In Ontario, Hornet Lake belongs to Sudbury. The bank is 373 metres above sea level. At roughly 5 hectares, the whole thing is within casting reach of a single walk. Most waters listed here for Sudbury are larger. For a base, Timmins sits 79 km out. The big place round here is Greater Sudbury, 168 km distant. Also worth knowing: Mallet Lake 0.5 km, Ketchini Lake roughly 1 km, Docks Lake 1.4 km, Ralph Lake roughly 1.6 km and Pearl Lake 1.7 km. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Hornet Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Public occurrence data for Sudbury names smallmouth bass, northern pike and yellow perch. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Read Hornet Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 17°C in July and bottom out at -17°C in January. Winter runs most of the calendar, and everything worth doing happens in the gap. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around early May. On average, early May opens the water and mid November closes it again. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. The season on Hornet Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Mallet Lake, 0.5 km away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for Hornet Lake in what we hold.