Shiner Lake in Nipissing District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Shiner Lake falls in Nipissing District, part of Ontario. It lies 433 metres above sea level. It measures about 19 hectares, which is a comfortable size for bank fishing. Roughly 1.8 km of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. It sits higher than most water we list in Ontario. Barrie sits 172 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. It sits well inside its county, with no border complications.

• Where to Fish on Shiner Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Survey and observation records for Nipissing District include smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch and pumpkinseed. Take it as the county picture rather than a promise for this water. On Shiner Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 18°C in July and bottom out at -13°C in January. Hard water is a season in its own right here. Break-up comes around late April, and the run that follows is short and strong. Climate figures give an open season running late April to late November. Reckon on open water from spring through to late autumn, with May and June the strongest. The season on Shiner Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. 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. The nearest alternative is Bower Lake, 2.6 km out. Check the current arrangement for Shiner Lake.