Stinking Lake in Nipissing District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  In Ontario, Stinking Lake belongs to Nipissing District. The water sits 218 metres up. The water measures roughly 8 hectares, so nothing here is far from anything else. Roughly 2.5 km of bank means you can walk to a fresh area when one goes quiet. On size it sits at the modest end of our Nipissing District list. The closest town, Sturgeon Falls, is 30 km distant. The nearest city of size is Greater Sudbury, 100 km away. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Stinking Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. County-wide records name smallmouth bass, cisco, yellow perch, pumpkinseed and rock bass. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. Read Stinking Lake for ten minutes before the first cast goes out.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The year swings from about -12°C in January to roughly 19°C in July. Spring and autumn carry the fishing; summer and winter test it. The lid usually goes in late April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about late April until roughly early December. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Stinking Lake runs to its own calendar within the local pattern.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing on record says whether the bank is open or closed. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no recorded infrastructure here; expect to find your own way in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Little Clear Lake, 0.9 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Check the position at Stinking Lake before loading the car.