Tester Lake Fishing in Thunder Bay District, Ontario

• Overview

  Look for Tester Lake in Thunder Bay District, Ontario. What surrounds it is spruce and muskeg. This is sizeable water at about 1.29 sq km, and a boat opens up most of it. With 6.7 km or so of shoreline, boat anglers cover ground the bank cannot. Head to Greenstone, 109 km away, for anything you forgot. Thunder Bay sits 303 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The nearest edge is a long way off, so local rules apply throughout.

• Where to Fish on Tester 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. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. County-wide records name cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt and bloater. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. On Tester Lake the first feature you find is usually worth a session.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 16°C; by January the average is down near -21°C. Winter owns most of the year at this latitude. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough early May. The water is typically free of ice between early May and mid November. Fishing peaks soon after break-up and again before the cold returns. Plan around that when you fish Tester Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  No public source sets out the position on this bank. It formed naturally, so levels move with rainfall rather than with a gate. Public mapping records no formal access here, so plan for a walk and soft ground. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. Bank access can be seasonal on ground like this. Barbless rules turn up on managed water more often than not. Kapikotongwa Lake sits 2.6 km off and takes the overflow. Confirm before you fish Tester Lake.