Muskrat Lake Fishing near Kapuskasing, Ontario

• Overview

  Muskrat Lake sits in Cochrane District, out in Ontario. Elevation runs to 222 metres. The water covers around 1.29 sq km, which puts most of it out of reach from the bank. At about 8.0 km of edge, most people work one arm at a time. Size puts it in the front rank of our Cochrane District list. You are 26 km from Kapuskasing. Smooth Rock Falls follows at 34 km, then Cochrane at 83 km. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Muskrat Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. County-wide records name northern pike, yellow perch, white sucker and Iowa darter. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. On Muskrat Lake that means starting tight and working out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 17°C at the top of summer and -18°C at the bottom of winter. The ice season is long here and the open one short. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. Averages suggest open water from about early May through to roughly mid November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. The season on Muskrat Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, Lac Brochet is 1.5 km distant. Nothing on Muskrat Lake should be assumed from this page alone.