Petit Lake in Nipissing District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  You will find Petit Lake in Nipissing District, Ontario. It lies 383 metres above sea level. It covers about 4 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. Our Nipissing District list holds plenty of bigger water. Deep River is the closest town at 59 km. It is 198 km to Gatineau, the nearest city. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Petit Lake

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Open biodiversity records for Nipissing District list smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch, pumpkinseed and rock bass. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. At Petit Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Averages here run 18°C at the top of summer and -13°C at the bottom of winter. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Winter locks it down, and late April brings it back. Averages place the thaw at late April and the freeze at late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. It sets the rhythm of the year at Petit Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. A small crankbait along the drop and a worm in the thick stuff cover the bass. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Should this one be busy, Fin Lake is 0.6 km off. Treat access at Petit Lake as something to verify.