Welcome to our Lake Simcoe Fishing Home Page
Lake Simcoe is a huge lake and it is close to Toronto, which helps make this a very popular lake destination for so many people. There aren’t a lot of places to get out of the wind on windy days, so most people will come here with a good-sized boat or they just head to some of the smaller lakes in the area when the wind blows. If you have the right size boat or hit it just right with the weather and a smaller boat, the fishing can be flat out awesome here.
Primary Species of Fish
Smallmouth Bass, Northern Pike & Perch
Lake Simcoe is known for its amazing perch fishery. It is one of the best places to fish for big perch anywhere. The smallmouth bass fishery is also very good with some of the biggest catches that you will find when comparing tournament weights among other lakes with smallmouth bass. The pike fishing is also very good here, especially if you are going to target them around the deeper weed edges.
Secondary Species of Fish
Lake Trout, Whitefish, Largemouth Bass, Crappie
Lake Simcoe has good fishing for lake trout and whitefish. Most anglers target these fish in the winter or early spring when they are much shallower. Largemouth bass and crappie are here too with the better fishing usually in Cook’s Bay or the Holland River area.
Clear Water Fishing
Lake Simcoe has a lot of very deep water and it is very clear. Anglers that do well here will usually downsize their line and/or they will use fluorocarbon line or leaders. If you understand how to fish clear water, you can do very well here.
Fish the Bays
Cook’s Bay
Cook’s Bay is a large bay with lots of weeds and a good mix of shallow water and some deeper water. The bay is known for its excellent perch, northern pike and largemouth bass fishing. Smallmouth bass are here too, espeically early in the year.
The Holland River also dumps into Lake Simcoe in this part of the lake. The vegetation in the river attracts crappie and perch early in the year and some largemouth bass will live here from spring through fall.
Kempenfelt Bay
Kempenfelt Bay is a large bay with very deep water. With a maximum depth of 135 feet, it is the deepest area in Lake Simcoe. The cool, deep waters are home to plenty of lake trout. Up a little shallower, anglers catch a lot of perch, smallmouth bass, northern pike and sunfish in the bay. The town of Barrie has a lot of shoreline access in case you want to try fishing here without a boat. The shoreline bite is better early in the year and late in the year.
Fish the Islands
South – Central Part of the Lake
There are 4 islands on the south – central part of the lake. Fox Island and Snake Island are near each other just outside of Cook’s Bay. Fox Island is very small and Snake Island is a good-sized island. Georgina Island and Thorah Island are on the east side of the lake and these islands are huge.
These islands provide huge structures to fish offshore and many different fish will be around these islands. Up shallower, you may find perch, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike and sunfish. On the deeper around these islands and around the shoals near these islands, you can find smallmouth bass, northern pike, lake trout, perch and more.
North Part of the Lake
The northern part of Lake Simcoe has a few islands as well, but these islands aren’t nearly as big. Anglers report some very good smallmouth bass fishing around the shoals around these islands. Grape Island also has a lot of docks around the island, which are great for holding bass, perch, crappie and other fish too early in the year. Some of the deeper water around the islands can hold just about anything as well.
Fish the Points
There are some major points on Lake Simcoe and these structures will hold just about everything that swims in the lake at some point throughout the fishing season.
Fish the Main Lake Basin
The deeper waters of the main lake basin will hold a lot of fish, but many anglers won’t target these fish. Lake trout and whitefish are popular fish to target through the ice when they go shallower, but most anglers don’t fish for them during the open water season. Some anglers do come here to target the lake trout during the open water season and Lake Simcoe has good numbers of them with some trophy fish too and these fish will be found in these deeper waters in the summer and early fall.
Fish Lake Couchiching
Lake Couchiching is located just north of Lake Simcoe. You need to go through the narrows to get into Lake Couchiching, which is easy to do, but you will have plenty of boat traffic as you go through. Once you get into Lake Couchiching, you can experience some very good fishing still. Anglers do well with big largemouth and smallmouth bass, northern pike and panfish such as perch, crappie and sunfish.
Fish Holland River
Holland River is located on the south end of Lake Simcoe in Cook’s Bay. It is considered an excellent spot to target largemouth bass from spring through fall, but other fish do move into the river. Anglers do report better fishing for crappie and perch early in the year.
This is a Very Popular Lake for Ice Fishing
When the ice freezes over, Lake Simcoe is accessible to so many more anglers because they don’t need a boat to ice fish. Lake Simcoe has such excellent fishing and the winter will give many anglers their best chance of the year to take an advantage of this awesome fishery. Lake Simcoe is extremely popular, so plan on seeing lots of people out here with you on the ice.
The perch fishing can be unbelievable through the ice. Anglers catch huge perch in the 13 to 14 inch range all winter long. You can also catch lake trout, northern pike and crappie through the ice as well.
Fishing Tips
We have plenty of fishing tips in the following sections:
Fishing Regulations
Ontario Regulations (Lake Simcoe is in Zone 16)
