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

• Overview

  Ontario holds Sands Lake, in Thunder Bay District. Country round the bank runs to boreal forest. At 1.43 sq km this is proper open water rather than a pond. The margin runs to about 5.4 km in total. Nearest town is Longlac, 136 km off. It is 341 km to Thunder Bay, the nearest city. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Sands Lake

  Without a survey to go on, judge depth from how the bank falls away. 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 Thunder Bay District: cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt and bloater. Species recorded across the county may be limited to a few waters. Sands Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 16°C, with January the cold end at about -21°C. The freeze holds for the better part of the year. Winter fishing happens on the ice here, with open water back around early May. In an average year the thaw lands around early May and the freeze near early November. The first weeks of open water and the last are the ones to plan for. That shapes the year on Sands Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. A light spinning outfit with a small box of lures and some bait covers most of what swims here. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Should this one be busy, Byford Lake is 5.8 km off. Nothing here settles the position at Sands Lake for certain.