Sturgeon Lake in Rainy River District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Rainy River District, Ontario, is where Sturgeon Lake sits. The bank is 372 metres above sea level. Surface area runs to some 35.29 sq km, so a boat and a plan are both worth having. At about 150 km of edge, most people fish a single area and learn it well. Few waters listed in Rainy River District are bigger. The nearest place of any size is Atikokan, 33 km away. For a city, Thunder Bay is 177 km off. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Sturgeon Lake

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Records held for Rainy River District cover northern pike, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, walleye and white sucker. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. At Sturgeon Lake the first feature you find is worth twenty minutes.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Temperature averages peak at 18°C in July and bottom out at -16°C in January. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Ice is part of the season here, ending near late April. Break-up near late April, freeze-up near mid November: that is the shape of an average year. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. That shapes the year on Sturgeon Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Nothing we hold confirms whether access is permitted. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No launch point is recorded nearby, so this is a bank water unless you carry a boat in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Where the way in crosses private ground, ask first. Walsh Lake at 3 km is the sensible second choice. Rules at Sturgeon Lake are worth checking on the day.