Fishing at Sunfish Lake, Greater Sudbury, Ontario

• Overview

  Set in Greater Sudbury, Sunfish Lake is an Ontario water. The water sits 284 metres up. At about 30 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The edge runs 3.7 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. Capreol sits 38 km from here and is the nearest stop. The big place round here is Greater Sudbury, 60 km distant. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Sunfish Lake

  We hold no survey for this water; read the slope of the shoreline instead. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Greater Sudbury records list smallmouth bass, yellow perch, northern pike and pumpkinseed among the fish reported. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Treat Sunfish Lake as a water to read rather than to cover.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Long-term averages put July at about 18°C and January near -15°C. Winter puts a hard lid on this one. Ice-out usually falls in late April, and the weeks after it fish hardest. Averages place the thaw at late April and the freeze at late November. The strong weeks are the first after break-up and the last before the freeze. That is the shape of the year on Sunfish Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. No built facilities appear in mapping around this water. Largemouth respond to soft plastics tight to cover; go weedless where the growth is heavy. Look for a notice board at the entrance. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. If the gate is shut, Marion Lake at 1.7 km is the nearest alternative. What applies at Sunfish Lake may have changed since it was mapped.