Fishing at Old Shoes Lake, Kenora District, Ontario

• Overview

  You will find Old Shoes Lake in Kenora District, Ontario. Elevation runs to 324 metres. Surface area runs to some 30.56 sq km, so a boat and a plan are both worth having. With about 186 km of shoreline, local advice saves a lot of walking. It ranks high for size among our Kenora District listings. Red Lake at 134 km is the nearest place to stop. The big place round here is Winnipeg, 328 km distant. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Old Shoes Lake

  Depth figures are not published for this one. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Records held for Kenora District cover northern pike, longnose sucker, white sucker, johnny darter and logperch. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. On Old Shoes Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 18°C at the top of summer and -21°C at the bottom of winter. A hard winter is normal, and the thaw brings a strong few weeks. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. Climate figures give an open season running early May to early November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Plan around that when you fish Old Shoes Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Our records carry no access rule either way. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. A wire trace and a big bright lure handle the pike; deep water asks for a heavier spoon. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Schutze Lake, 16 km away, makes the obvious fallback. What applies at Old Shoes Lake may have changed since it was mapped.