Leckie Lake Fishing Guide, Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  The Thunder Bay District end of Ontario holds Leckie Lake. Around the bank it is spruce and muskeg. Surface area runs to roughly 2.20 sq km, so plan for one area rather than the whole. With 8.9 km or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. Few waters listed in Thunder Bay District are bigger. The nearest town is Nipigon, 52 km away. After that come Amethyst Harbour at 57 km and Shuniah Township at 60 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Leckie Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Public occurrence data for Thunder Bay District names cisco, blackfin cisco and rainbow smelt. County records show what lives in the area; the local agency holds the water-by-water list. Read Leckie Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 17°C and January near -18°C. Winter runs most of the calendar, and everything worth doing happens in the gap. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about early May. On average, early May opens the water and mid November closes it again. The shoulder weeks of the open season are the productive ones. Anyone fishing Leckie Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Access points are not mapped for this water, which suits people who like quiet. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. A landowner's word beats anything printed elsewhere. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Mona Lake sits 2 km off and takes the overflow. Signs at Leckie Lake carry more weight than any list.