Fishing St. Joe Lake in Algoma, Ontario

• Overview

  St. Joe Lake stands in Algoma, Ontario. Height above sea level is 322 metres. With some 13 hectares of water, there is room for a boat but no need of one. About 2.1 km of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. It is a small entry by Algoma standards. The town to know is Sault Ste. Marie, 15 km out. For a city, Greater Sudbury is 247 km off. The nearest boundary is a fair way off.

• Where to Fish on St. Joe Lake

  No depth figure appears in our records, so the bank has to tell you. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Across Algoma, recorded fish include walleye, northern pike, Iowa darter and yellow perch. The county list is broader than any single water. Read St. Joe Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Climate normals give 18°C for July and -12°C for January. Four clear seasons, with a proper winter at one end. Count on hard cover from midwinter, and open water from late April. On the long-run averages the water opens up around late April and starts locking again about late November. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. That is the shape of the year on St. Joe Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. Records list it as a natural water body rather than an impoundment. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Sort the permit out before you load the car. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. If the gate is shut, Caribou Lake at 1 km is the nearest alternative. Check the current arrangement for St. Joe Lake.