Sunshine Lake, Ontario: Fishing Spots and Seasons

• Overview

  Set in Cochrane District, Ontario, this is Sunshine Lake. It sits at 232 metres above sea level. Surface area runs to roughly 2.65 sq km, so plan for one area rather than the whole. There is roughly 6.8 km of bank, more than one visit can cover properly. Few waters listed in Cochrane District are bigger. For a base, Hornepayne sits 84 km out. The nearest city of size is Thunder Bay, 331 km away. It sits well inside the county, so one set of rules covers it.

• Where to Fish on Sunshine Lake

  Nothing in our records gives a depth for this one. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. The productive water is a rod length or two out, not a hundred. Records held for Cochrane District cover northern pike, yellow perch, white sucker, Iowa darter and logperch. It is the county picture; the agency list is water-specific. Take Sunshine Lake a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Seasonal averages run from -19°C in January up to 16°C in July. The season is measured in weeks rather than months. Hard water holds through the cold months, breaking up near early May. Going by climate averages, expect open water from about early May until roughly mid November. From the thaw to midsummer the fishing improves week by week. The season on Sunshine Lake follows the weather closely.

• Tackle & Baits

  The rules here are undocumented as far as public sources go. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Mapping shows an empty shoreline: no ramp, no jetty, no marked entry. 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. Keep proof of licence with you rather than in the car. Little Sunshine Lake, 2.5 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Where Sunshine Lake is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.