North Branch Lake Fishing Guide, Nipissing District, Ontario

• Overview

  North Branch Lake is a Nipissing District water, in Ontario. The bank is 370 metres above sea level. It runs to roughly 51 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. There is roughly 6.2 km of bank, more than one visit can cover properly. Head to Chalk River, 52 km away, for anything you forgot. It is 188 km to Gatineau, the nearest city. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on North Branch Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Public occurrence data for Nipissing District names smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch, pumpkinseed and rock bass. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. Take North Branch Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 18°C on average, January about -13°C. Winter closes the water for a while, and the reopening is worth catching. Count the season from break-up, usually late April. The season between ice runs from about late April to late November. June through September is the settled part of the year, with the shoulders busier for fish. Plan around that when you fish North Branch Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. You can camp about 150 m away, going by the mapping. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. For a change of water, May Lake is 1.7 km distant. Nothing on North Branch Lake should be assumed from this page alone.