Fishing at Richard Lake, Nipissing District, Ontario

• Overview

  Richard Lake is a Nipissing District water, in Ontario. Elevation runs to 415 metres. It measures about 29 hectares, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. Shoreline comes to about 2.8 km, small enough to learn in a day. United Townships of Dysart, Dudley, Harcourt, Guilford, Harburn, Bruton, Havelock, Eyre and Clyde is the closest town at 48 km. Bancroft follows at 64 km, then Haliburton Village at 66 km. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on Richard Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. County-wide records name smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch, pumpkinseed and rock bass. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. On Richard Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -13°C to 18°C. The middle months are generous; the ends are demanding. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around late April. Open water usually runs from late April until about late November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. That is the shape of the year on Richard Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Public data shows nothing built here, so treat the whole approach as informal. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Read any posted signs at the access point rather than assuming. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Ojibway Lake sits 0.9 km off and takes the overflow. None of that is settled for Richard Lake in what we hold.