Upper Trapper Lake in Thunder Bay District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  Upper Trapper Lake is a Thunder Bay District water, Ontario side. The country round it is northern bush from end to end. Roughly 11 hectares: a morning covers one end, an afternoon the other. Shoreline comes to about 1.9 km, small enough to learn in a day. On size it sits at the modest end of our Thunder Bay District list. Manitouwadge is the closest place, 15 km off. Longlac is 74 km away, with Hornepayne at 86 km. This one is safely inside the county line.

• Where to Fish on Upper Trapper Lake

  The records we hold are silent on depth, so plan to find it yourself. Read the surface for the wind lane, then fish the edge of it. A natural lake fishes on cover, and cover here means weed and timber. County-wide records name cisco, blackfin cisco, rainbow smelt, bloater and shortjaw cisco. The county figures include rivers and lakes alike. Upper Trapper Lake gives up more to patience than to distance.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Expect July to average close to 16°C, with January the cold end at about -17°C. The ice season is long here and the open one short. Break-up comes around early May, and the run that follows is short and strong. From about early May to around mid November, expect open water on the long-run figures. The weeks after the thaw and the ones before the freeze are the strongest. Plan around that when you fish Upper Trapper 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. Mapping is blank for access, so scout the approach before committing the car. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. Rules differ from one water to the next round here. Where parking is tight, arriving early solves most problems. Lower Trapper Lake, 0.9 km away, makes the obvious fallback. Treat access at Upper Trapper Lake as something to verify.