Fishing at Lumber Lake, Nipissing District, Ontario

• Overview

  Lumber Lake sits in Nipissing District, out in Ontario. The bank gives way to pine and birch. Surface area runs to about 7 hectares — small enough to read in one session. On size it sits at the modest end of our Nipissing District list. Huntsville lies 27 km from the water. After that come United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde at 43 km and Haliburton Village at 48 km. The boundary is close enough to be worth checking before you fish.

• Where to Fish on Lumber Lake

  Depth is unmeasured here, so let the shoreline guide you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. County-wide records name smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch and pumpkinseed. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. On Lumber Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 18°C, while January sits near -12°C. Winter shuts the surface down for months. The freeze runs deep into the year, with break-up near late April. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late April and starts locking again about late November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. It holds true on Lumber Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Lucy Lake, 0.6 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Confirm before you fish Lumber Lake.