Mattowacka Lake in Nipissing District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Mattowacka Lake is one of the Nipissing District listings for Ontario. It sits in lake country bush country. At about 39 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Shoreline comes to about 4.4 km, small enough to learn in a day. Head to Powassan, 19 km away, for anything you forgot. For a city, Greater Sudbury is 154 km off. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Mattowacka Lake

  Depth is not on record here, which means reading the ground instead. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Open biodiversity records for Nipissing District list smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch and pumpkinseed. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. On Mattowacka Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 18°C, the coldest about -13°C. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. Expect a solid lid for months and a thaw around late April. The season between ice runs from about late April to late November. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. Plan around that when you fish Mattowacka Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. A camping area sits within 290 m of here. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Some ground is open by custom rather than by right, so tread carefully. Keewaydin Lake at 2 km is the sensible second choice. For Mattowacka Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.