Field Guides/Temagami/Freshwater Fishing
Strong
Best WindowLate May through October for open water; January through March for ice fishing (lake trout Feb 15 to Mar 15 in FMZ 11)
Variantslake-trout · walleye · smallmouth-bass · pike · ice-fishing
RegionTemagami, Ontario

Freshwater Fishing.

Lake Temagami fishes for lake trout, walleye, smallmouth bass, northern pike, and lake whitefish across deep cold water and an intricate island-dotted shoreline. The lake's lake-trout fishery is significant enough that Ontario's 2020 Fisheries Management Zone 11 plan added a one-over-50 cm size limit specifically for large-bodied lake trout in Lake Temagami, Cross, Kokoko, Diamond, and Makobe Lakes — institutional acknowledgement of the trophy-fishery status the regional substrate has long claimed.

Freshwater Fishing in Temagami
01 — What to know

The brief.

The applicable zone is FMZ 11, which covers the broader North Bay and Temagami area; the 2020 management plan also added a one-over-40 cm zone-wide size limit for small-bodied lake trout. Temagami sits inside the Northeast Bait Management Zone, and live or dead baitfish and leeches may not be transported into or out of the BMZ (preserved dead baitfish are exempt).

Lake-trout open season in FMZ 11 includes a tight ice-fishing window of February 15 to March 15; whitefish are typically productive earlier in the ice-fishing season starting in early January. Open-water best window is late May through October.

The Temagami Lakes Association is the volunteer fisheries-advocacy body for Lake Temagami and the most current local-conditions reference outside the official Ontario regulations summary.

02 — Locations

2. places.

  1. 01

    Lake Temagami

    Deep cold-water lake (max ~110 m) supporting lake trout, walleye, smallmouth bass, northern pike, and lake whitefish; the regional anchor fishery.

  2. 02

    Cross, Kokoko, Diamond, and Makobe Lakes

    Four neighbouring FMZ 11 lakes named alongside Lake Temagami in the 2020 large-bodied lake-trout one-over-50 cm regulation; reached via the broader Temagami canoe network.

03 — Conditions

Today's read.

Air Quality
23
eu-aqi · low
UV Index
1.6
scale 0–11
Humidity
58%
relative
Visibility
31.1 km
clear
Temp
+4.6°
H 13° · L -1°
Sun
05:46 / 20:44
14h 58m daylight
A+
Prime conditions for freshwater fishing

Cold but firm — winter-ready conditions · light winds · clean air.