Otter Lake in Algoma: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Otter Lake sits in Algoma, out in Ontario. Around the bank it is boreal forest. At about 49 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Some 6.1 km of bank gives room to move when the wind turns. Hornepayne at 23 km is the nearest place to stop. The nearest city of size is Thunder Bay, 331 km away. Water in the same corner: Lake Placid at 1.5 km, 2.4 km away is Fall-In Lake, Whitepine Lake at 3 km, 3.1 km away is Bone Lake and Wabos Lake at 3.4 km. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Otter Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Records held for Algoma cover walleye, northern pike, Iowa darter and yellow perch. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Read Otter Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Average temperature peaks around 16°C in July and bottoms out near -18°C in January. The fishing year opens late and shuts early. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough early May. Climate averages put the opening at about early May and the closing near mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. It holds true on Otter Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. The nearest alternative is Lake Placid, 1.5 km out. None of that is settled for Otter Lake in what we hold.