Fishing Minor Lake in Nipissing District, Ontario

• Overview

  In Ontario, Minor Lake falls inside Nipissing District. The setting is mixed forest on every side. This is a pocket water of some 6 hectares, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. It is a small entry by Nipissing District standards. United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde is the closest place, 49 km off. The big place round here is Barrie, 169 km distant. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Minor Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Survey and observation records for Nipissing District include smallmouth bass, cisco and yellow perch. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Take Minor Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 18°C in July and bottoms out near -13°C in January. Four clear seasons, with a proper winter at one end. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late April and starts locking again about late November. Spring is short and heavy here; autumn is longer and steadier. The season on Minor Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Von Lake, 0.9 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Ask locally about Minor Lake if anything is unclear.