McKenna Lake Fishing Guide, Renfrew County, Ontario

• Overview

  McKenna Lake is a Renfrew County water, in Ontario. The ground around here is pine and birch. It runs to roughly 15 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Around 1.6 km of margin, front to back. It lies lower than most water we list in Ontario. Start from Deep River, 32 km down the road. After that come Chalk River at 39 km and Petawawa at 56 km. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on McKenna 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. Open biodiversity records for Renfrew County list smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed, yellow perch, rock bass and brook trout. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On McKenna Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 19°C at the top of summer and -13°C at the bottom of winter. Winter shuts the surface down for months. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around late April. Ice clears near late April and comes back about late November in a typical year. May into June fishes hardest, and September gives a second good stretch before the lid returns. It holds true on McKenna Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Access points are not mapped for this water, which suits people who like quiet. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Sweezy Lake, 1.1 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Confirm access to McKenna Lake locally before you travel.