Upper Raft Lake Fishing near Huntsville, Ontario

• Overview

  Within Parry Sound District, Ontario, you have Upper Raft Lake. The bank is 362 metres above sea level. At about 37 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. The whole outline is near 3.1 km, and most of it is walkable. 17 km away sits Huntsville, the nearest town. The big place round here is Barrie, 127 km distant. A county boundary sits nearby, which can matter for local access rules.

• Where to Fish on Upper Raft Lake

  There is no published depth for this one, so start shallow and work out. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. Look for the band where the shallows give up and the bottom falls away. Across Parry Sound District, recorded fish include smallmouth bass, pumpkinseed, yellow perch and northern pike. Records at county level tell you what is around, not what is stocked here. On Upper Raft Lake the obvious spot is not always the productive one.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July near 18°C and January near -11°C on the long-run figures. Seasons are distinct, and each one fishes differently. Ice fishing carries the winter, and the water opens about late April. The season between ice runs from about late April to early December. September and October fish steadily right up to the freeze. It sets the rhythm of the year at Upper Raft Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Who may fish here is not settled in anything we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No made access appears within a short radius, so plan to park on a verge and walk. 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. Some water is controlled locally without a sign saying so. Lower Raft Lake sits 1.5 km off and takes the overflow. What applies at Upper Raft Lake may have changed since it was mapped.