Kelly Lake Fishing Guide, Renfrew County, Ontario

• Overview

  Renfrew County in Ontario is where Kelly Lake sits. The bank gives way to lake country bush. It measures about 57 hectares, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. A shoreline of some 4.9 km keeps the choices simple. Few waters listed in Renfrew County are bigger. Pembroke lies 20 km from the water. Then Petawawa, 22 km, and Eganville, 26 km. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Kelly Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Fish documented in Renfrew County include smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed, yellow perch and rock bass. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. The shape of Kelly Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between -13°C in January and 19°C in July. Fishing here follows the temperature more than the calendar. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages suggest open water from about late April through to roughly early December. Early summer and early autumn carry the open-water season. On Kelly Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Failing this one, try Teapot Lake, 1.7 km away. Confirm before you fish Kelly Lake.