Cloudy lake is clearly a fisherman’s dream

[Spiel]

Cloudy lake is clearly a fisherman’s dream

 

 

Sept. 14, 2008

Eric Sharp / DETROIT FREE PRESS

 

 

RICE LAKE, Ont. — We were visiting friends Bob and Barb Campbell at Lake Muskoka when my wife mentioned that our next stop would be Rice Lake, about a two-hour drive away.

 

“Why would you want to go there? It’s cloudy and full of weeds,” said Barb, whose cottage in the rocky Laurentian Shield country sits on some of the clearest fresh water you’ll find anywhere. “The only people who go to Rice Lake are fishermen.”

 

As the kids say, Barb, “Duh!” Who else would be more eager to visit a place that claims to have more fish than any other inland lake in Ontario?

 

That’s why Jim Peterson of Knoxville, Tenn., was there with his brother, Alan, and three friends who have been making a trip to Rice Lake each summer for 19 years.

 

“We’re bass guys, and the bass fishing here usually is really good — better than we get at home. You have largemouths and smallmouths, and there’s a real good chance of catching fish over five pounds,” he said. “I had a largemouth yesterday that went five pounds nine [ounces] and two smallmouths over four pounds. And that was along with seven or eight smaller bass, three walleyes and three perch that were over 12 inches.”

 

Peterson said it was about the same distance from his home to Rice Lake as it was to Lake Okeechobee in Florida, another bass Mecca.

 

“Okeechobee is fun because there’s always the chance you’ll get a 10-pound largemouth. But I’d say Rice is a better all-around bass lake, especially the past few years when the water levels have been so far down in Florida,” he said.

 

I’ve fished Rice Lake several times, always in spring and early summer for its wonderful bluegills and other panfish. When the gills are bedding, you can easily catch and release 50 to 100 in a day on a fly rod or spinning tackle, and some will honestly reach the 11-inch mark on a ruler and push 1z poun 2/3 1/3 .

 

The reason the fishing is so good — and stays that way year after year despite being 90 minutes northeast of Toronto — is that Rice Lake is open to fishermen only from late April through mid-November and is closed to ice fishing in the winter months.

 

This year I decided to try Rice Lake in late summer and look for the big largemouths I’d heard so much about, and it was worth the effort. In about eight hours of fishing over two days, I caught and released seven largemouths, three of them five to six pounds.

 

But I also caught four smallmouths and two walleyes, and when I went in search of bluegills with Yo Zuri Snap Bean crankbaits, I caught enough 6-to-9-inch perch in two hours to half fill a bucket, along with a dozen 9-to-11-inch crappies.

 

For the bass, I concentrated on shallow weedbeds, mostly 3 to 6 feet deep, with plastic critter baits in dark green and purple that mimicked crayfish and salamanders.

 

Several dozen resorts and fishing camps on the lake offer two-bedroom cabins for $80 to $120 a night. Many also rent small boats for $50 to $100 a day, depending on the engine size.

 

For more information visit www.ricelakecanada.com