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

• Overview

  Set in Thunder Bay District, Waif Lake is an Ontario water. The bank is 391 metres above sea level. At about 15 hectares, a day is enough to walk the shoreline properly. About 1.9 km of bank, so nothing stays unexplored for long. It is a small entry by Thunder Bay District standards. Nearest place of any size is Geraldton, 26 km away. After that come Greenstone at 27 km and Longlac at 48 km. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Waif Lake

  Depth remains unrecorded, so treat the first session as a survey. On a natural lake the weed line and the shelf beyond it do the work. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. Open biodiversity records for Thunder Bay District list cisco, blackfin cisco and rainbow smelt. These are county-wide records, so not all of them will be in this water. The shape of Waif Lake rewards a slow walk along one bank.

• Seasonal Patterns

  July runs about 16°C on average, January about -19°C. Cold dominates the year and the fishing works around it. The open season starts with the thaw, near enough early May. The water is typically free of ice between early May and mid November. Look to early summer and the first cool weeks of autumn. Keep it in mind when planning a trip to Waif Lake.

• Tackle & Baits

  Access is not recorded for this water. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. Nothing formal is recorded here: no ramp, no car park, no marked path. One rod, a handful of hooks and floats, and a few small lures are enough for this water. Rules for this water may differ from the county norm. Rules for boats are stricter than rules for the bank in many places. Should this one be busy, Orphan Lake is 2.7 km off. Treat access at Waif Lake as something to verify.