Sprout Lake Fishing in Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Sprout Lake falls in Thunder Bay District, part of Ontario. Around the bank it is rolling bush. With some 52 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. The edge runs 2.8 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. The town to know is Nipigon, 37 km out. Amethyst Harbour follows at 68 km, then Shuniah Township at 75 km. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on Sprout Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Survey and observation records for Thunder Bay District include cisco, blackfin cisco and rainbow smelt. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. Read Sprout Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The range across the year is -18°C to 17°C. Cold locks it up for a good stretch each year. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from early May. Break-up near early May, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. It holds true on Sprout Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  Public sources are silent on who controls the bank. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. We find no slipway, car park or made path within a short radius, so treat access as rough. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. If the gate is shut, Twit Lake at 3.9 km is the nearest alternative. None of that is settled for Sprout Lake in what we hold.