Merl Lake Fishing in Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Look for Merl Lake in Thunder Bay District, Ontario. The water sits 329 metres up. With some 21 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The edge runs 3.6 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Greenstone lies 38 km from the water. Geraldton lies 52 km off, Longlac another 79 km. Within a short run: 1 km away is Embee Lake, Fairview Lake roughly 2.3 km, 2.5 km away is Barnspoon Lake, Grasser Lake roughly 2.7 km and 3 km away is Olson Lake. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Merl Lake

  No figure exists for depth, so let the water show you. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Open biodiversity records for Thunder Bay District list cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt, bloater and shortjaw cisco. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. The near bank of Merl Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 16°C; the cold one sits at -20°C. The freeze holds for the better part of the year. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from early May. Break-up sits around early May on average, with the water closing again about mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. That is the shape of the year on Merl Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. 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. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Failing this one, try Embee Lake, 1 km away. Rules at Merl Lake are worth checking on the day.