Buying a Cottage in Kawartha Area

[alexw]

Hi everyone,

 

We are considering to buy a cottage within 1.5hr from Toronto in the Kawartha area. The biggest thing for us is good fishing. Which lake do you guys think is best for walleye, bass fishing? We are eyeing on Sturgeon for now since we are familiar with that lake, but it does not have many cottages on the market between 300k to 400k price range. How does Pigeon / Chemong lake compare with Sturgeon in terms of fishing? Which lake would you pick?

 

By the way, if you know someone selling a cottage that you like to recommand, please let me know.

 

Thanks in advance for your input.

 

Alex

[canadadude]

Pigeon/ Chemong is my favorite area, I imagine you'll get alot of different answers to this post.

[basskicker09]

lake dalrymple you will not be disapointed the fishing is amazing but the population of walleye is low but you can catch 50 pike in a day easy trustme i know my best day for pike was 4 hours on the water 53 pike boated look into it

[bigbuck]

Pigeon or Upper Buckhorn, I'm not too sure what you'll find in your price range but good luck.

[Hooked]

Rice Lake for sure. I spent a week at Rice Lake this year and was surprised how little the boat traffic was. The fishing was tremendous too.

Edited October 23, 2009 by Hooked

[basskicker09]

bass fishing on dalrymple is bar none as well almost all my big fish have come from that lake

[DRIFTER_016]

If you are looking at Pigeon, don't forget the 2 lakes off the North end Big & Little Bald. You get a nice quiet home area with instant access to Pigeon and the North end locks. Dalrymple while nice and it does have good fishing is confined to Upper and Lower (if I remember correctly ) while Pigeon, Buckhorn, Stoney etc. are interconnected giving you access to more fishable water.

 

Just my .02

Edited October 23, 2009 by DRIFTER_016

[jediangler]

I'd go for the Tri-lakes (Pigeon, Buckhorn & Chemong) if I had the cash. The lots I saw for sale this summer were $380,000 though.

[bigugli]

I would get a place on a smaller K-lake to avoid the weekend crowd. Doesn't take much to travel down the road to fish the bigger systems. You will appreciate the added quiet.

[cowanjo]

i had the same issue - if you dont buy Little Bald lake or big bald lake your nuts - buy slightly off lake and rates are less and roads are plowed - fishing is as good as it gets world wide (I am aussie who fished a great number of places, muskie, bass walleye and others) PM me

[alexw]

Thanks everyone for your replies. While dalrymple / big & little bald have good fishing, they are a little too far than we like. If possible, we would like to stay at the south end of either Sturgeon / rice / tri-lakes.

 

We like Sturgeon very much, just can't find a good cottage now in our price range. Pigeon is nearby, but not sure how the fishing is compared with Sturgeon.

 

Thanks again.

 

Alex

[Dutch]

If I were buying a cottage in this area JUST for fishing, I would go with Pigeon for certain.

 

Further to that, I would stay closer to the South end, maybe as high up as Grenadier Island. Depending on your boat, the middle part and more Northern area of the lake can get rough and windy.

 

Keep in mind the South end is VERY weedy, but is great for crappie in the early spring, walleye early in the season, bass all season and muskie (and walleye) in the fall.

 

You should be able to find a pure cottage in your price range.

 

Don't even think about finding "weed-free" frontage in your price range. There isn't much weed-free frontage in the Tri-Lakes area as it is, if something comes up, you pay a premium.

 

I haven't fished Sturgeon much, but hear it is a great fishing lake.

 

You may also want to consider places on the Otonabee River, near the mouth of Rice Lake. Rice is a great fishery, but can get nasty in windy conditions. If it is windy, you can tuck in the river and fish the breaks for walleye or wood for bass. Lots of muskie in the river as well.

 

http://www.youronlineagents.com/peterborough/

 

Use this site and set the filter to show only waterfront - good site and beats the heck out of that junk MLS site.

 

The "Call a Ball" people out of Lakefield list and sell a lot of waterfront around the Tri-Lakes.

[Big Cliff]

While all of the lakes have much to offer, we really prefer Sturgeon Lake. we spent four years looking and researching before we bought this place and the effort was worth it.

 

There are some very nice cottages/year round houses in your price range if you just know where to look but you do need to know what to look for/at. There is one not too far from me that isn't on the market yet but I have reason to believe it will be by spring, it will probably be well below your bottom price as it will need some work done to it but with your budget you could have the whole place rebuilt and still be well under your top end. It is a nice large lot with nice homes on either side of it. The elderly gentalman that ownes it spends his winters down South and I know his kids aren't interested in it and he is finding it too much work for him.

 

I've sent you a PM and would be happy to help you anyway I can. Good luck in your search!

Edited October 25, 2009 by Big Cliff

[alexw]

Thanks Dutch for the link, and thanks Big Cliff for the offer to help. PM sent.

 

Alex

[Big Cliff]

Sorry Alex, I didn't realize when I offered to help and passed along the information that I did that your wife is a realestate agent and that you had already talked to Rhonda this past spring. She explaned to me that there some ethicall issues with what she could do to help you because of the circumstances.

 

Good luck in your quest!

[alexw]

Thanks Cliff. Yes my wife is a realestate agent, but she just started the profession. I feel I know more about cottages than she does, and besides the cottage is mainly for fishing. Therefore it's me who is doing the main research and making the decision.

 

No matter what we decide to do in the end, I really appreciate all the great info given here. You guys are simply the best!

 

Alex