rice lake for the first time

[Drock6687]

Im going to rice lake for the first time and just wondering where we can find a public place to launch our boat. we will be coming from cambridge so coming from toronto going to the lake... thanks for the help and any other tips/info you have would be a great help...thanks everyone!

 

Derrick

[MillerPhoto]

Depending on the vehicle you drive, if its a 4wd you could launch at Gores Landing, if not then try Harris Boat works.. its like $5-$10 but its a cement ramp, secure parking and deep launch. All depends too on which end of the lake you wanna start at.

[toca]

Near the mouth of otonabee river is a good place to start looking for bass/walleye.

 

its like in the middle of the lake on the west side of tick island.

 

but dont take my word for it i still havent found a prime bass spot in that bloody lake.

[lew]

It's been alot of years since I fished Rice Lake but there used to be a decent ramp in Bewdely at the extreme west end of the lake.

 

I imagine it's still there ??

[esoxansteel]

There is a launch in Keene at the bridge, which is a good one, and is sheltered by the Indian river, just head south to the lake or fish the river down to the lake, lots of Largies and panfish, the flats as you enter the river hold Bass and Walleye as well as does the flats both east and west of the river, you do not need 4 wheel drive to launch their. Launch is public no fee, farther east their is a launch at the end of Birdsall beach road, a little tighter and 4 wheel drive would help their. Their is also a launch at Hiawatha, which will put you in about the middle of the lake, and also a launch as lew said at Bewdely as well, I live on the north shore and launch at either of these 4 locations depending on which end I want to fish

[Drock6687]

There is a launch in Keene at the bridge, which is a good one, and is sheltered by the Indian river, just head south to the lake or fish the river down to the lake, lots of Largies and panfish, the flats as you enter the river hold Bass and Walleye as well as does the flats both east and west of the river, you do not need 4 wheel drive to launch their. Launch is public no fee, farther east their is a launch at the end of Birdsall beach road, a little tighter and 4 wheel drive would help their. Their is also a launch at Hiawatha, which will put you in about the middle of the lake, and also a launch as lew said at Bewdely as well, I live on the north shore and launch at either of these 4 locations depending on which end I want to fish

 

Thanks for the info...im on google maps now looking forKenne and im not having much luck finding it... any more info on where it is or how i get there would be a great help!! thanks again!

[Jigs_up]

If you're coming from Cambridge then Bewdley launch is the closest for you (Just north of the LCBO on Rice Lake Drive). It's a decent free public launch but since the town decided to revamp the area there is no parking for your trailer directly near the launch. There is free parking right at the launch but you would have to disconnect your trailer and park it in one of the spots (secured of course). A better place to launch is Harris Boat Works. Only another 5 minutes east at Gores landing. For $5 you can launch, park and take out. Beat deal around and a great launch.(You can launch before they're open on the Honour system, use the mail box at the launch) Don't use the public launch at Gores landing unless you like to swear a lot. One of the most frustrating launches I've ever used. No parking, no dock and very shallow.

As for fishing, if you launch at Harris you will see three islands straight north. Jigging or drifting on the north side of the channel between the western two islands over towards the mouth of the Otonabee river has been decent for walleye. The points off the island and the area just south of what's known as the "sunken islands" (see charts) have been decent fro smallmouth and for largemouth try your luck heading east from Harris (Gores Landing) to the first point on the southern shore. Just around the east side of the point there are some prime largemouth habitat. Hope that's enough to get you started. Enjoy.

 

Cheers

Edited August 1, 2010 by Jigs_up