Knowles Lake Fishing near Markstay-Warren, Ontario

• Overview

  In Ontario, Knowles Lake falls inside Sudbury. The ground round it is pine and birch. It runs to roughly 45 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The bank runs about 3.4 km all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. The nearest town is Markstay-Warren, 25 km away. After that come Capreol at 40 km and Valley East at 46 km. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Knowles Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Records held for Sudbury cover smallmouth bass, northern pike and yellow perch. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Read Knowles Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July near 18°C and January near -14°C on the long-run figures. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Once it clears, about late April, the fishing comes on quickly. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late April and starts locking again about late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. That is the shape of the year on Knowles Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Should this one be busy, Blanket Lake is 1.8 km off. Confirm access to Knowles Lake locally before you travel.