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

• Overview

  In Ontario, Rabbitskin Lake falls inside Thunder Bay District. The setting is taiga on every side. The water covers some 84 hectares, so pick a bank rather than trying to cover it all. The margin runs to about 6.6 km in total. The closest town, Manitouwadge, is 9.6 km distant. Thunder Bay sits 268 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Rabbitskin Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Public occurrence data for Thunder Bay District names cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt and bloater. County data is a starting point rather than a guarantee. Read Rabbitskin Lake before you fish it and the day goes better.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 16°C for July and -18°C for January. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. After early May the shallows warm and the fish move up. From about early May to around mid November, expect open water on the long-run figures. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. Rabbitskin Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. A light spinning outfit with a small box of lures and some bait covers most of what swims here. Parking is often the real limit rather than the bank itself. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. For a change of water, Dead Lake is 2.4 km distant. Nothing on Rabbitskin Lake should be assumed from this page alone.