Fishing at Squash Lake, Sudbury, Ontario

• Overview

  The Sudbury entry here is Squash Lake, in Ontario. The surface lies 388 metres up. At about 21 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The bank runs about 3.2 km all the way round, so one visit can cover most of it. Chapleau is the closest town at 62 km. Timmins lies 114 km off, Wawa another 164 km. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Squash Lake

  Depth is not on record here, so the bank has to tell you. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Public occurrence data for Sudbury names smallmouth bass, northern pike and yellow perch. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. At Squash Lake the water rewards a slow, careful approach.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about -16°C in January to roughly 17°C in July. Little of the calendar is open water, so timing counts for everything. 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 mid November. The strongest runs come at either end of the open season. Anyone fishing Squash Lake regularly works to that calendar.

• Tackle & Baits

  Ownership and access are not documented in what we hold. 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. Where access is informal, keep it that way by behaving. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Thedan Lake sits 1.2 km off and takes the overflow. Treat Squash Lake as unsettled until someone local tells you otherwise.