Mountain Lake Fishing near Bancroft, Ontario

• Overview

  Mountain Lake is a Nipissing District water, in Ontario. It lies 415 metres above sea level. Surface area runs to about 4 hectares — small enough to read in one session. Our Nipissing District list holds plenty of bigger water. Some 55 km away sits Bancroft, the nearest settlement. For a city, Gatineau is 165 km off. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Mountain Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Records held for Nipissing District cover smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch and pumpkinseed. Read it as a county summary, not a water-by-water list. The near bank of Mountain Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages move between -13°C in January and 18°C in July. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. Hard cover is dependable here; it goes around late April. The open-water window runs from around late April to about late November in an average year. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. It holds true on Mountain Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. 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. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Failing this one, try Minnow Lake, 1.2 km away. Ask locally about Mountain Lake if anything is unclear.