Periwinkle Lake in Thunder Bay District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Periwinkle Lake sits in Thunder Bay District, out in Ontario. The country round it is northern bush from end to end. At about 21 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. Around 3.3 km of margin, front to back. Supplies mean a trip to Geraldton, 38 km off. Thunder Bay sits 217 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Periwinkle Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. County-wide records name cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt and bloater. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. The near bank of Periwinkle Lake is often the one people ignore.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate records put July near 16°C and January near -18°C. The fishing year opens late and shuts early. Look for the thaw near early May; the fishing lifts straight after. Open water usually runs from early May until about mid November. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. That is the shape of the year on Periwinkle Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Viridis Lake, 1.9 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Signs at Periwinkle Lake carry more weight than any list.