In July, my partner, Eric, and I towed our boat to North Bay for a fishing adventure out on Lake Nipissing. We’d fished here once before during an ice fishing trip several years ago, but it has been a goal of mine to spend time here on open water as well. We caught walleye, smallmouth bass, freshwater drum, northern pike, and more. It turned out to be a fantastic fishing experience! Thank you to Tourism North Bay and Northeastern Ontario for partnering with me on this adventure.
A scenic drive 3.5 hours north of Toronto or 4 hours from Ottawa, Lake Nipissing is a popular year-round fishing destination that is home to a wide variety of fish species. It is the third-largest lake that is located entirely in the province of Ontario. At over 65 kilometres long and 25 kilometres wide, this body of water has a maximum depth of over 200 feet; however, the average depth is less than 20 feet. North Bay is the largest city along the shores of Lake Nipissing, and made for a perfect venue to stay, offering all the amenities during our trip.
We spent a couple of nights at North Bay Inn, located on Lakeshore Drive across the road from the shores of Lake Nipissing in North Bay. We had a great stay here. The staff were very kind, and there was plenty of room to park our boat with several outlets available for charging boat batteries. Our motel room was spacious, as well as nice and cool in the summer heat.
There were lots of restaurant options nearby, so we decided to head out on foot. We enjoyed delicious dinners at the Crown and Beaver Pub with my favourite meal being their curry, while Eric’s pick was the Chef’s Special burger. It was so good that we went back a second night in a row. For breakfast, we stopped in at Terry’s Place, which was another winner. I loved the breakfast poutine with tater tots, and Eric enjoyed the Ultimate Scrambler. I even had leftovers from breakfast!
We began our fishing outing by launching our boat at Champlain Park Boat Ramp, a nice launch located on La Vase River, which is sheltered from the main lake. It was a nice calm day, so we took the opportunity to run around the lake and cover water. We fished as deep as around 20 feet to up shallow along shorelines and around vegetation, including reeds and lily pads. The majority of our catches, including smallmouth bass, walleye, and some freshwater drum, were found in 10 feet of water around rocky humps.
Although we picked up fish on squarebill crankbaits, different Ned rig set-ups, and a drop shot, our most effective technique by far was a Ned rig using the new CrushCity Salted Ned Roll in black. Several times, we set the trolling motor to anchor mode and worked our Ned rigs slowly through the rocks, catching fish after fish. It was so much fun as we were picking up walleye and smallmouth in the same areas, with some freshwater drum mixed in. Eric also landed 2 small northern pike in shallow water near vegetation, both on a ChatterBait. I encountered some heartbreak towards the end of our trip, having a big smallmouth come off right at the boat (you’ll have to see it unfold on video). We also saw 5 musky, and hope to return to the area with musky gear next time! I cannot wait to get back to Lake Nipissing!
You can see all the fishing action in the full video from this adventure!
