Fishing at Mathe Lake, Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Mathe Lake is a Thunder Bay District water, Ontario side. Pine and birch runs right down to the water. The water covers some 23 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Around 3.1 km of margin, front to back. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Ontario listings. Lappe sits 66 km from here and is the nearest stop. The big place round here is Thunder Bay, 79 km distant. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Mathe Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Public occurrence data for Thunder Bay District names cisco, blackfin cisco and rainbow smelt. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Work Mathe Lake in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 17°C and January near -18°C. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around early May. Climate figures give an open season running early May to mid November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. On Mathe Lake the same rules apply, with local timing.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. A light spinning outfit with a small box of lures and some bait covers most of what swims here. Parking space is the usual limit rather than the bank itself. Close seasons apply to some species and not others. Pistol Lake, 1.2 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Rules at Mathe Lake are worth checking on the day.