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Best landlocked salmon lakes in Ontario

8 Ontario waters hold landlocked salmon, 8 mapped with real state-agency depth surveys. Ranked below by size and depth-data quality — open any water to see exactly where to fish it: depth contours, scored spots with plain-English reasons, seasonal windows and bait picks. Lake-dwelling Atlantic salmon that lives and dies by the smelt run. Ice-out surface fishing at its finest.

1. Lake Wanapitei — 396 ft max · survey depth data · Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Northern Pike, Rainbow Trout
2. Trout Lake — 220 ft max · survey depth data · Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Rainbow Trout
3. Cauchon Lake — 140 ft max · survey depth data · Brook Trout, Landlocked Salmon, Burbot, Cisco (Lake Herring)
4. Blackstone Harbour — 62 ft max · survey depth data · Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, White Bass
5. Woods Bay — 39 ft max · survey depth data · Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, White Bass
6. Moon River Bay — 23 ft max · survey depth data · Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, White Bass
7. Westward Lake — 140 ft max · survey depth data · Brook Trout, Landlocked Salmon, Arctic Char
8. Whitefish River — 23 ft max · survey depth data · Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, White Bass

When to fish landlocked salmon in Ontario

• Spring 1–15 ft — The legendary ice-out bite: salmon follow spawning smelt to tributary mouths and windblown shorelines, right on the surface.
• Summer 25–60 ft — Salmon hold just above the thermocline with the smelt schools — depth control decides the day.
• Fall 5–30 ft — Turnover scatters bait and salmon shallow; spawners stage off tributary mouths, hot-tempered and territorial.
• Winter 10–40 ft — Where winter seasons allow, salmon cruise for smelt under the ice — sewn bait near a drop is the classic set.

Also in Ontario: best largemouth bass lakes · best smallmouth bass lakes · best walleye lakes · best white bass lakes · best sauger lakes · best northern pike lakes · best crappie lakes · best bluegill lakes · best channel catfish lakes · best rainbow trout lakes · best muskellunge lakes · best yellow perch lakes · best freshwater drum lakes · best common carp lakes · best longnose gar lakes · best chinook salmon lakes · best coho salmon lakes · best lake trout lakes · best brown trout lakes · best brook trout lakes · best lake whitefish lakes · best burbot lakes · best rock bass lakes · best white perch lakes · best cisco (lake herring) lakes · best splake lakes · best pumpkinseed lakes · best brown bullhead lakes · best lake sturgeon lakes

Landlocked Salmon elsewhere: Québec · New Hampshire · New York · Maine