Fishing Ril Lake in District Municipality of Muskoka, Ontario

• Overview

  In Ontario, Ril Lake belongs to District Municipality of Muskoka. The bank is 341 metres above sea level. This is sizeable water at about 1.39 sq km, and a boat opens up most of it. With 12 km or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. Few waters listed in District Municipality of Muskoka are bigger. For supplies, Huntsville is 25 km out. The nearest city of size is Barrie, 99 km away. There is no boundary nearby to worry about.

• Where to Fish on Ril Lake

  We hold no depth figure for this one. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Reported across District Municipality of Muskoka: pumpkinseed, smallmouth bass and northern pike. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. On Ril Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -11°C in January up to 18°C in July. Winter shuts things down for a spell, then spring reopens them fast. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from mid April. Break-up sits around mid April on average, with the water closing again about early December. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. Plan any trip to Ril Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public data does not answer the access question here. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing in the way of made access shows up nearby: no ramp, no car park, no path. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Some stretches are reserved and marked as such on the ground. Failing this one, try Porcupine Lake, 1.4 km away. None of that is settled for Ril Lake in what we hold.