Fishing Quinn Lake in Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Out in Thunder Bay District, Ontario, sits Quinn Lake. The bank is 359 metres above sea level. It runs to roughly 85 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. Roughly 4.5 km of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. Greenstone sits 35 km from here and is the nearest stop. The nearest city of size is Thunder Bay, 231 km away. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Quinn Lake

  Nothing we hold settles how deep this runs. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Survey and observation records for Thunder Bay District include cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt, bloater and shortjaw cisco. County records show the wider picture rather than this one place. At Quinn Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Between January at about -20°C and July at about 16°C, the water has a wide range to work through. This far north the hard season runs and runs. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early May. The lid tends to go about early May and return around mid November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Time your trip to Quinn Lake by conditions rather than dates.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Access is unmapped, which usually means a farm track and a walk. Keep the gear simple: light line, small hooks, split shot and a couple of proven lures. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. For a change of water, Carl Lake is 3.3 km distant. None of that is settled for Quinn Lake in what we hold.