Area Waters


Eagle Lake


Eagle Lake is located in northwestern Ontario about 120 miles north of International Falls, Minnesota. There is plenty of water to fish with over 68,000 acres of water and over 400 miles of shoreline. Eagle Lake is a great lake for catching walleye, smallmouth bass, northern pike and muskie. There are plenty of fishing resorts and lodges located on the lake.


Indian Lakes Chain


This chain of lakes consists of 9 lakes and almost 30 miles of shorelines to fish.  It is known as a trophy muskie fishery, but anglers also target walleye, lake trout, smallmouth bass and perch on these lakes.


Blue Lake


Blue Lake is a beautiful lake with crystal clear waters and a long sandy beach.  the Blue Lake Provincial Park is here, so plan on seeing quite a few people when fishing here, but it’s worth a trip here to check out the lake.  Anglers target lake trout, smallmouth bass and northern pike.  In summer and fall, you’re going to need to fish deeper and fluorocarbon line will definitely help you get more bites.


Corner Lake


Corner Lake is a decent-sized lake just south of Blue Lake and just minutes from the center of town.  It is a pretty good fishing lake for muskie, walleye and pike.


Canyon Lake


Canyon Lake is a large, deep, clear lake that is known for its awesome muskie fishing.  It’s one of the better action lakes for muskie in the area.  Good muskie anglers have multiple fish days consistently from summer through fall.  Anglers also target smallmouth bass and walleye here, but plan on fishing pretty deep if you are here in the summer or fall.


Gordon Lake


Gordon Lake is a 200-foot deep little jewel that is just boiling with Lake Trout. The Lake Trout fishing is so spectacular that he has guests that stay at his camp and walk the short portage every day. Lake Trout are the dominant species in the lake and are common in the 1 to 5-pound range but tons of trout in the 6 to 12-pound range get caught and released.


Square Lake, Long Lake & Bowden Lake


These three lakes are pretty remote, but there are some houses near the boat launch and you will most likely see some other anglers on these lakes, but they usually have minimal fishing pressure.  You will need a 4×4 truck or SUV to launch your boats here and you’re probably better off with an 18 foot boat or smaller.


Long Lake


Long Lake is the first lake of these 3 connected lakes.  It has murky water and is very shallow.  It’s loaded with small northern pike, so if you want some action, you will enjoy this lake.  One part of the lake does have some deeper water and some anglers do report some decent walleye fishing too.  It is definitely more of a pike lake and most will be smaller.


Square Lake


Square Lake is deeper than Long Lake and it offers better fishing, especially for bigger fish.  Walleye, northern pike and smallmouth bass are all here in fishable numbers.  You have some deep shorelines, lots of rocks, some weeds, current and islands.  It is a small lake that you can easily fish in a half day.


Bowden Lake


Bowden Lake is the biggest of these 3 lakes.  You may be able to get in through the stream that connects these lakes.  If the water is low or your boat too big, you won’t be able to get through here due to the shallow water and rocks.  If you can’t get through the stream, there is a resort that has its own launch.

Bowden Lake is the best lake of these 3 lakes.  It has good numbers of northern pike, smallmouth bass and walleye with quality fish too.  You have points, islands, rocks, weeds and bays to fish.  It’s a nice lake to fish with minimal fishing pressure.


Ely Lake


Ely Lake is a small lake close to the center of town.  The boat launches aren’t great, so bring a smaller boat and a 4×4 truck or SUV.  This lake has some deep water, lots of rocks, some bays with weeds and wood and a good sized island that attracts a lot of fish.  There are some nice smallmouth bass, some pike and walleye here too.  Most of the pike will run smaller and you won’t catch a ton of walleye, but the smallmouth bass are worth a half day or more on this lake.


Other Backcountry Lakes


The smaller, backcountry lakes give anglers all kinds of options if you don’t mind fishing some of these lakes in a rowboat or kayak.  Many of the smaller lakes in the area will have areas to launch your boat, but you will need a 4×4 truck or SUV.  There are several lakes worth fishing that won’t have a launch, so you can just drop a rowboat, kayak or inflatable.

The smaller lakes in this area will have a good variety of fish.  Most will have some pike in them.  Some lakes have some walleye.  Several lakes have good lake trout fishing and you can find some smallmouth bass here too.