Horse Lake in District Municipality of Muskoka: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  This water sits in District Municipality of Muskoka, Ontario. The country here is rolling bush. The water covers some 17 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The edge runs 2.7 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Huntsville at 32 km is the nearest place to stop. A county line runs close by, so local bylaws can differ within a short drive.

• Where to Fish on Horse Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Across District Municipality of Muskoka, recorded fish include pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and northern pike. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Anyone new to Horse Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -11°C to 18°C. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Count the season from break-up, usually mid April. Ice usually gives way near mid April, and forms again about early December. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. That is the shape of the year on Horse Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is camping recorded roughly 170 m off. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. McEwen Lake, 1.5 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Nothing here settles the position at Horse Lake for certain.