Kawabesonka Lake near Chapleau: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  The Sudbury end of Ontario holds Kawabesonka Lake. The setting is spruce and muskeg. With some 22 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The bank runs about 3.0 km all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Compared with other Ontario water on our list, it sits high. The town to know is Chapleau, 27 km out. For a city, Greater Sudbury is 239 km off. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Kawabesonka Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Across Sudbury, recorded fish include smallmouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch and Iowa darter. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Kawabesonka Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 17°C in July and bottom out at -15°C in January. This is a two-season water: locked, then wide open. Winter locks it down, and late April brings it back. The lid tends to go about late April and return around mid November. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. Time your trip to Kawabesonka Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. The nearest alternative is Gale Lake, 2.3 km out. Treat access at Kawabesonka Lake as something to verify.