Lorne Lake, Ontario: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Lorne Lake is a Manitoulin District water, in Ontario. The land about it is lake country bush. At 1.27 sq km this is proper open water rather than a pond. The shoreline runs about 5.7 km, so it pays to pick a stretch and stay with it. Ground here is low by Ontario standards. The nearest place of any size is Blind River, 52 km away. Greater Sudbury sits 147 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Lorne Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. County-wide records name rainbow smelt, lake whitefish and cisco. The county list is broader than any single water. The shape of Lorne Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 18°C at the top of summer and -9°C at the bottom of winter. Winter shuts the surface down for months. The lid usually goes in mid April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Open water usually runs from mid April until about early December. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. Anyone fishing Lorne Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Mapping shows an empty shoreline: no ramp, no jetty, no marked entry. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Some banks are open only from a marked point. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Failing this one, try Portage Lake, 6.5 km away. Nothing here settles the position at Lorne Lake for certain.