Serpentine Lake, Ontario: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Look for Serpentine Lake in the Peterborough County part of Ontario. The setting is lake country bush. Surface area is around 76 hectares, which gives you real water without needing a boat. There is roughly 12 km of bank, more than one visit can cover properly. Haliburton Village lies 38 km from the water. For a city, Oshawa is 113 km off. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Serpentine Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Species logged across Peterborough County include rock bass, pumpkinseed and smallmouth bass. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Treat Serpentine Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warmest month averages 19°C, the coldest about -10°C. Cold winters and warm summers give a wide working range. Once it clears, about mid April, the fishing comes on quickly. Expect the water usable from around mid April until roughly early December. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. Serpentine Lake runs to that rhythm year in and year out.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. A camping area sits within 250 m of here. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Season dates differ by species, so read the table. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, North Rathbun Lake is 2.8 km off. What applies at Serpentine Lake may have changed since it was mapped.