Black Donald Lake - S/W of Renfrew

[keram]

I'm going for one week to White Pines resort. I've never fished this area. From available info it looks that lake

is "rocky" and v.deep in some spots. Looking for some pointers in to right direction

Thanks in advance.

 

[jjcanoe]

It's a pretty big lake and connected to Centenial lake Never fished it and hard to find info on it on the net, Give the resort a call and ask them about what you should bring in the way of gear

 

jjcanoe

[Lostchild]

I have only fished Centenial, have never really concentrated on Black Donald but have always wanted to. (lots of water in that system)

 

Mountian-Chute dam would be on the top of my list of places to try (again never fished it) it should be almost directly across the lake from White Pines. Rumor is when they created Black Donald/Centennial somewhere in the 50's or 60's an old mining town was flowed over near the dam.

 

I am not sure what the bottom structure is like in BD but in Centennial it is all over the place, sonar is your best friend in this lake. Lots of mid lake/channel shoals and humps can go from 100ft to 30ft with in seconds, some nice points surrounded by deep water, big weedy bays, islands, 20ft flats, this lake has it all.

 

All the usual baits seem to work, perch pattern is my go to colour. Smallmouth and lots of pike around, walleye seem to be best later evening, musky are far and few between.

 

Not sure if you are aware but there is special regs regarding walleye in this system only 2 and they have to be over 50cm/19.7inches on a sport licence and only 1 for a conservation licence that has to be over 50cm/19.7inches.

 

Good luck!

 

When are you heading up?

Edited July 13, 2009 by Lostchild

[Badger Shark]

We just had an event yesterday on that group of lakes. We were targetting eyes but also got pike and bass. We used mainly bottom bouncers with single blades in bright yellow and red devil colour with worms and leeches but minnows also did well. Lots were caught jigging as well. We mainly stuck to large flats shallow slipping to deep water and trolled the bouncers at less than 1 mph. Hope this helps you.

[qmccharlie]

Me too, I will be up in August at the same resort. The lake is deep in spots and has a lot of shoreline. Throw three and four inch grubs, four inch senkos, they both work. There are a lot of smallmouth in this lake. There are also some decent pike, walleye and a number of panfish. The rock bass are pretty big and are good to eat. There are also some scattered largemouth. The fishing is good and there does not seem to be much pressure on the lake. The walleye minimum is about 20 inches. I have fished about ten percent of the lake and have caught plenty of fish beating the banks. The lake is big enough that a map is in order to find your way around and be careful, there are some unmarked shallow rock piles here and there which need to be avoided. Have had some luck with Mepps in the coves but have stuck to grubs the majority of the time I have fished there. It can be considered a good lake for smallmounth. Have caught a ton of little fish and a few big ones in the mix. Much of the lake is deep, have not been to the dam, but am hoping to head down near it in August. Never took the trip down, which is actually up, to Centennial, never needed to, there were fish all around. This lake is completely different from Norcan, which is the next lake downriver. Norcan is shallow and the pike are small, but Black Donald has way more smallies and the pike are much larger. There are legends of muskie, but have not seen any. It is deep and rocky. There was no current where I have fished, but it might be worth your while to be somewhere in the current if they are making electricity at the power station, but I don't know. I will definitely be drifting the channel in August to see what it holds. Cannot wait. Have not fished any of the deep spots at all, but there may be a reason to if the weather gets hot.

For tackle, I take mostly all spinning rods and do a lot of dead sticking with the various baits. Colors are the greens, pumpkinseed and watermelon. Line is Stren and Power Pro in six pound test and diameter. Fish slow, bites are very light on the plastics, so keep an eye on your line. I did throw some DT-6 baits in fire tiger and also caught a few on that bait.

For specific areas, I have fished the little islands to the left of the White Pines and have caught fish on them, also fished down the bank to the right and done well. If you head north, there are a couple of islands and coves that hold fish. There is a large stream near the top of the lake that held a good number of fish after a rain. Let me know how you did, it would be interesting to here. You want to hope for a west wind and some cloud cover, like everywhere else a bluebird sky and east wind will spoil the fihing.

[keram]

I'm Thanks a lot guys .I'm going there on Sat. I will have a repert two weeks later. Second week of my vac is on Lake Kmaniskeg, but I know this place.

 

Thanks again. You rocks