Pibroch Lake, Ontario: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Look for Pibroch Lake in the Sudbury part of Ontario. The bank is 375 metres above sea level. It covers about 9 hectares, so this is small water you can walk round in under an hour. On size it sits at the modest end of our Sudbury list. The closest town, Dowling, is 42 km distant. It is 70 km to Greater Sudbury, the nearest city. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Pibroch Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Records held for Sudbury cover smallmouth bass, northern pike and yellow perch. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Pibroch Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -14°C and July at about 18°C, the water has a wide range to work through. The season turns properly here, and fish follow it closely. After late April the shallows warm and the fish move up. The water is typically free of ice between late April and late November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Anyone fishing Pibroch Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. There is no mapped parking or launch nearby, which keeps numbers down. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Check locally before you travel, because a wasted drive is a long one. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Len Lake, 0.4 km away, makes the obvious fallback. The position on Pibroch Lake is worth confirming on the day.