Smylie Lake in Sudbury: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Look for Smylie Lake in Sudbury, Ontario. Height above sea level is 355 metres. It runs to roughly 41 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The margin runs to about 6.0 km in total. The closest town, Timmins, is 61 km away. Greater Sudbury sits 161 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Smylie Lake

  Our records hold no depth for this water. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. County-wide records name smallmouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch and Iowa darter. Records at this level tell you what is in the area. Smylie Lake repays a walk before the first cast.

• Seasonal Patterns

  In an average year July sits at 17°C and January at -17°C. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough early May. Ice usually gives way near early May, and forms again about mid November. The open run goes from the thaw to the freeze, and April through October covers most of it. Anyone fishing Smylie Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing in our records says who may fish here. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. Mapping records no facilities at all near this water. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Take the rules with you rather than trusting memory. Fishing rules and camping rules are set separately here. If the gate is shut, Edleston Lake at 1.7 km is the nearest alternative. What applies at Smylie Lake may have changed since it was mapped.