McNamara Lake Fishing in Sudbury, Ontario

• Overview

  McNamara Lake stands in Sudbury, Ontario. The water sits 437 metres up. It runs to roughly 17 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The edge runs 2.6 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Compared with other Ontario water on our list, it sits high. Some 51 km away sits Capreol, the nearest settlement. For a city, Greater Sudbury is 73 km off. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on McNamara Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. This is a lake, so the margins and the first drop matter most. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Across Sudbury, recorded fish include smallmouth bass, northern pike and yellow perch. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Read McNamara Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July is the warm end of the year here, averaging about 17°C, while January sits near -16°C. Expect a real winter and a strong spring after it. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough late April. Averages place the thaw at late April and the freeze at late November. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. McNamara Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. For a change of water, Wrench Lake is 2.2 km distant. Confirm access to McNamara Lake locally before you travel.