Lower Matagamasi Lake in Sudbury: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Sudbury, Ontario, this is Lower Matagamasi Lake. Height above sea level is 253 metres. Roughly 1.32 sq km of surface: treat each bay as a water in its own right. Shoreline length is close to 7.8 km, and each section fishes a little differently. It ranks high for size among our Sudbury listings. Nearest place of any size is Capreol, 36 km away. Greater Sudbury sits 55 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Lower Matagamasi Lake

  Our records carry no depth, so judge it from the bank. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Survey and observation records for Sudbury include smallmouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch, Iowa darter and walleye. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Treat Lower Matagamasi Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 18°C in July and bottom out at -15°C in January. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late April. The open-water window runs from around late April to about late November in an average year. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. It holds true on Lower Matagamasi Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No made access is recorded, so a short walk in is the likely arrangement. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Dip Lake, 0.9 km away, makes the obvious fallback. For Lower Matagamasi Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.