Samuel Lake in Lanark County: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Samuel Lake sits in Lanark County, out in Ontario. It stands 178 metres above sea level. Roughly 20 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. There is roughly 2.4 km of shoreline here, which is a short walk end to end. Ground here is low by Ontario standards. Supplies mean a trip to Mississippi Mills, 21 km off. Nepean sits 60 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. No county line comes close, which keeps the paperwork simple.

• Where to Fish on Samuel Lake

  No published figure covers depth, so learn it as you fish. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Survey and observation records for Lanark County include pumpkinseed, rock bass and smallmouth bass. Protected fish appear in the records for this area, so treat the list as information, not an invitation. On Samuel Lake the quiet end is the one worth the extra effort.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 20°C for July and -11°C for January. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Count the season from break-up, usually mid April. Break-up sits around mid April on average, with the water closing again about early December. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. Samuel Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Gates get locked out of season on water like this. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. If the gate is shut, MacKay Lake at 1.9 km is the nearest alternative. None of that is settled for Samuel Lake in what we hold.