Lake Nosbonsing

[Skidoo22]

Hi all

New member here.  I fished Lake Nosbonsing about 17 years ago and we had a decent catch that day.   Can anyone comment on how the fishing there is nowadays?   I have this perception based on previous experiences that fishing anywhere between North Bay/Sudbury and Toronto is generally a frustrating experience.   Just as an example, last time I spent $$$ on a cabin and a rental boat, I was on the French River near Hartley Bay for 3 days, equipped with the Navionics app on my large tablet out on the water, looking at bottom contours etc,  and all I ended up with was a small pike and a smallish walleye over 2.5 days of fishing.  I digress.  I would love to get out again this year but I'm worried I will be disappointed again.  

[BillM]

Hartley Bay is loaded with fish, walleye, pike, bass, crappie etc.   If you're going to spend the time and money, you're fishing blind without knowing what's on the bottom.    Spend the $250 on a Helix 5.    A few years ago we destroyed walleyes on jigging spoons tipped with a bit of worm.   

[AKRISONER]

At minimum you should be able to catch a whack load of bass and like on effectively any lake in Ontario that has em.

 

may just need to adjust your approach dependant on the time of year.

[Rizzo]

Ouch. Keep at it, try some new things. Sounds like Hartley Bay is a decent spot so maybe you were just there at a bad time or maybe you were using the wrong techniques. There are plenty of good spots within a few hours of Toronto...spots where you can "limit out" within an hour or two. Spend some more time on the water and you will find them. Sorry I have not been to Nosbonsing so can't comment on that fishery, but right next door is Nipissing and I have not had problems catching fish when I go there. 

[Headhunter]

It's been my experience that fishing lakes that are surrounded by year round cottages/homes are lakes that get hit pretty hard.

HH

[CrowMan]

Although just a liitle further afield, two places that have always been good to me are Lac Kipawa (in Quebec, 90 minutes east of North Bay), and the WhalesBack Channel on the north shore of Lake Huron (mouth of the Spanish River, about an hour west of Sudbury).

As Headhunter stated, Nosbonsing is basically a suburb of North Bay...gets a lot of pressure.

[Skidoo22]

On 4/25/2023 at 10:16 PM, BillM said:

Hartley Bay is loaded with fish, walleye, pike, bass, crappie etc.   If you're going to spend the time and money, you're fishing blind without knowing what's on the bottom.    Spend the $250 on a Helix 5.    A few years ago we destroyed walleyes on jigging spoons tipped with a bit of worm.   

Actually I did have a fishfinder with me.  I wasn't seeing much overall except for in one spot but I guess they weren't biting.

[Skidoo22]

2 hours ago, CrowMan said:

Although just a liitle further afield, two places that have always been good to me are Lac Kipawa (in Quebec, 90 minutes east of North Bay), and the WhalesBack Channel on the north shore of Lake Huron (mouth of the Spanish River, about an hour west of Sudbury).

As Headhunter stated, Nosbonsing is basically a suburb of North Bay...gets a lot of pressure.

Thank you so much for the tips.  I was actually just checking out WhalesBack Channel area the other day on Google Maps

[CrowMan]

31 minutes ago, Skidoo22 said:

Thank you so much for the tips.  I was actually just checking out WhalesBack Channel area the other day on Google Maps

We stay at Brennan Harbour (good people), but there's  a couple of other places right at the mouth of the Spanish too. Loads of Smallmouth (and some Largemouth), consistent Walleye and plenty of Pike. There's Musky too, and in September we've even incidentally caught Chinook right in front of the cabins.

Edited April 28, 2023 by CrowMan

[porkpie]

Nosbonsing is 1/10th the fishery as Nippissing.  Rent a place on Nip, I dare you to get skunked!