Pountney Lake in Sudbury: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Pountney Lake lies in Sudbury, in Ontario. This is mixed forest ground. Small at around 8 hectares: two anglers spread out cover most of it. On size it sits at the modest end of our Sudbury list. Some 36 km away sits Chapleau, the nearest settlement. Beyond it, Wawa at 103 km and Sault Ste. Marie at 127 km. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Pountney Lake

  Depth here is unknown, so count the lead down before committing. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Across Sudbury, recorded fish include smallmouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch, Iowa darter and walleye. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. Fish Pountney Lake to its features, not to its size.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 16°C, the coldest about -15°C. The year runs cold to warm and back, with clear transitions. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about late April. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. At Pountney Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  There is no clear statement anywhere on who can fish it. Nothing is listed nearby for parking or launching a boat. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. Should this one be busy, Sheppard Lake is 2.8 km off. Where Pountney Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.