William Lake in Kenora District: How and When to Fish It

• Overview

  William Lake lies within the bounds of Kenora District, Ontario. The bank is 369 metres above sea level. Shoreline length is close to 17 km, and each section fishes a little differently. Size puts it in the front rank of our Kenora District list. Head to Kenora, 44 km away, for anything you forgot. Winnipeg sits 221 km out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. The nearest boundary is well away, so one set of rules covers the water.

• Where to Fish on William Lake

  Depth went unrecorded, which puts the reading back on you. A soft bed grows weed late into autumn, which keeps fish shallow. Weed, then depth: that is the order to fish a water of this kind. County-wide records name northern pike, longnose sucker, white sucker and johnny darter. What holds for the county may not hold for this water. Work William Lake in sections rather than trying to cover it.

• Seasonal Patterns

  The warm month here averages 19°C; the cold one sits at -18°C. The freeze arrives properly here and holds. The lid usually goes in late April, which opens the strongest weeks of the year. The season between ice runs from about late April to mid November. Fish feed hardest at the start and the close of the open season. It holds true on William Lake more years than not.

• Tackle & Baits

  No access rule appears in what we hold. No dam controls it, and the level follows the season. No car park, ramp or path is recorded within easy reach of the shore. Pike mean a wire trace, no exceptions; big spoons and jerkbaits do the searching. Check whether a boat is allowed before you tow one. Where tickets apply, they are sold in the nearest town rather than on the bank. Tom Lake, 2.1 km away, makes the obvious fallback. None of that is settled for William Lake in what we hold.