Waterlily Lake Fishing near Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario

• Overview

  Waterlily Lake lies within the bounds of Cochrane District, Ontario. This is taiga country. It runs to roughly 14 hectares — big enough to hold fish away from the bank, small enough to learn. The edge runs 2.0 km or so, easy to work in an afternoon. The nearest place of any size is Smooth Rock Falls, 20 km away. Then Kapuskasing, 42 km, and Cochrane, 67 km. It lies deep inside the county rather than near an edge.

• Where to Fish on Waterlily Lake

  No depth figure has reached our records, which makes a plummet useful. Bays and points beat straight shoreline every time on water like this. The shallow end warms first and pulls fish in ahead of the rest. Public occurrence data for Cochrane District names northern pike, yellow perch, white sucker, Iowa darter and logperch. The list covers the county rather than this water alone, so treat it as a guide. Waterlily Lake fishes better once you know its edges.

• Seasonal Patterns

  On the long-term average, July reads 17°C and January reads -18°C. Long winters and short summers set the pattern. Firm cover through the cold months, then open water from early May. Break-up sits around early May on average, with the water closing again about mid November. Right after break-up, and again as the nights sharpen, is when to go. Plan any trip to Waterlily Lake around it.

• Tackle & Baits

  We have no record of the rules that apply on this bank. This is a natural basin, not a dammed one. There is no mapped parking or launch close by, which usually means walking in. For the bass here, soft plastics worked slow along cover and a spinnerbait for searching do most of the work. A phone call first saves an afternoon. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Waterloo Lake, 3.1 km away, makes the obvious fallback. For Waterlily Lake, the notice at the access point is the final word.