Fishing at Summit Lake, Timiskaming District, Ontario

• Overview

  The Timiskaming District end of Ontario holds Summit Lake. The surface lies 325 metres up. This is a pocket water of some 2 hectares, and every part of it is reachable from the bank. Our Timiskaming District list holds plenty of bigger water. For supplies, Haileybury is 22 km out. Then Temiskaming Shores, 25 km, and Ville-Marie, 26 km. No border sits close enough to matter.

• Where to Fish on Summit Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Still water like this holds fish on the edges rather than out in the open. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Across Timiskaming District, recorded fish include brook trout, northern pike and yellow perch. Those are county-wide records, so not every one of them will be in this water. Summit Lake gives up its fish to patience rather than distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 18°C, with January the cold end at about -16°C. The year splits cleanly: hard water, then open water. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from late April. The open-water window runs from around late April to about late November in an average year. The middle of summer slows a little, with dawn and dusk carrying it. At Summit Lake the season follows that pattern closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  Whether you may fish here is not something records settle. Mapping shows a campsite some 900 m from the water. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. A polite question at the farm gate opens more banks than anything else. Failing this one, try Johnson Lake, 1.1 km away. Check the current arrangement for Summit Lake.