Long Lake Fishing Guide, Nipissing District, Ontario

• Overview

  The Nipissing District end of Ontario holds Long Lake. It sits in rolling bush. Roughly 14 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Roughly 3.3 km of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. By elevation it sits in the lower part of our Ontario listings. 13 km away sits Callander, the nearest town. North Bay is 17 km and Powassan 31 km. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Long Lake

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Records held for Nipissing District cover smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch and pumpkinseed. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Long Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -13°C and July at about 19°C, the water has a wide range to work through. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from late April. The water is typically free of ice between late April and late November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. The season on Long Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  The paperwork position is blank for this one. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. There is a slipway on the shore, 1.4 km from the water we list. You will be walking about 1.4 km from the nearest car park. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Failing this one, try Loren Lake, 3.1 km away. Confirm before you fish Long Lake.