Nick Lake, Ontario: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Out in Sudbury, Ontario, sits Nick Lake. Country round the bank runs to boreal forest. The water covers some 87 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. Some 6.8 km of bank gives room to move when the wind turns. It sits higher than most water we list in Ontario. Chapleau lies 13 km from the water. It is 225 km to Greater Sudbury, the nearest city. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Nick Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Survey and observation records for Sudbury include smallmouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch, Iowa darter and walleye. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. On Nick Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 17°C and January at -16°C. The freeze holds for the better part of the year. Look for the thaw near late April; the fishing lifts straight after. Ice usually gives way near late April, and forms again about mid November. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. Plan around that when you fish Nick Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Slipper Lake sits 1.7 km off and takes the overflow. Treat access at Nick Lake as something to verify.