Slipper Lake in Sudbury: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Set in Sudbury, Slipper Lake is an Ontario water. The ground round it is spruce and muskeg. Surface area is around 54 hectares, which gives you real water without needing a boat. With 6.0 km or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. By elevation it is in the upper part of our Ontario listings. Some 12 km away sits Chapleau, the nearest settlement. Wawa lies 115 km off, Timmins another 159 km. No boundary runs near, so the local rules hold throughout.

• Where to Fish on Slipper Lake

  Depth is unknown to us, and the shoreline is the better guide. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Where the bottom changes texture, fish gather; find that line. County-wide records name smallmouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch and Iowa darter. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Anyone new to Slipper Lake should walk it once before setting up.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 17°C; by January the average is down near -16°C. The ice season is long here and the open one short. The lid usually sets by midwinter and gives way around late April. Ice clears near late April and comes back about mid November in a typical year. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. The season on Slipper Lake rarely departs from it.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. No car park, ramp or path is recorded within easy reach of the shore. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Provincial rules still apply whatever the bank status. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. The nearest alternative is Nick Lake, 1.7 km out. Signs at Slipper Lake carry more weight than any list.