Fishing Scroll Lake in Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Scroll Lake lies within the bounds of Thunder Bay District, Ontario. This is taiga ground. Surface area runs to roughly 1.54 sq km, so plan for one area rather than the whole. The edge covers about 11 km, enough to hold several distinct areas. On our Thunder Bay District list it sits near the top for size. Start from Greenstone, 4.1 km down the road. The big place round here is Thunder Bay, 211 km distant. Rules here are straightforward: one set of provincial rules.

• Where to Fish on Scroll Lake

  Depth is not on record here, which means reading the ground instead. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Records held for Thunder Bay District cover cisco, blackfin cisco and rainbow smelt. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. At Scroll Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -19°C in January up to 16°C in July. Open water is the exception rather than the rule here. Count the season from break-up, usually early May. The season between ice runs from about early May to mid November. Just after the ice goes and just before it returns, the fishing lifts. Scroll Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether the bank is open is not something our records settle. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No slipway, car park or made path shows up nearby in mapping, so treat access as rough. A light spinning outfit with a small box of lures and some bait covers most of what swims here. Where the road in crosses private land, ask first. Check whether bait restrictions apply before you buy any. If the gate is shut, Mar Lake at 1.3 km is the nearest alternative. The position on Scroll Lake is worth confirming on the day.