Walleye (pickerel)
Good
Through the ice where it is safe: jigging spoons and a dead-stick minnow near the bottom at first and last light. Open rivers: slow jigs in the deep holes.
Rice Lake Fishing Report
Updated Mon, Nov 9, 2026 from live weather and water data
Rice Lake south of Peterborough: walleye, muskie, bass and panfish in open water, and crappie, perch and pike through the ice, on the Trent–Severn system.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~6 °C est.
Air / High
6 °C / 8 °C
Wind
NW 21 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Rice Lake has cold water and fish that move for very little; fish the warmest hours. Today brings clear skies, wind NW around 21 km/h, rising pressure near 1010 hPa and a high of 8 °C. Water sits around 6 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:38 PM-1:38 AM and 11:14 AM-1:14 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Yellow perch
Good
The ice season where the ice is safe: small spoons and tungsten jigs tipped with minnow heads, moving hole to hole to find the school.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Good
Under the ice where it is safe: tip-ups with dead bait in the shallow bays.
Tie on: Jigging spoon through the ice · Dead-stick minnow · Tip-up with dead bait · Tungsten jig and wax worm. Prime windows: 11:38 PM-1:38 AM, 11:14 AM-1:14 PM, 7:15 AM-8:15 AM. Similar at 11 °C. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Ontario requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from C$12.21. Ontario fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing smallmouth bass here? Check the size and bag limits with Ontario MNR before you keep anything; the Smallmouth bass page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Rice Lake today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (07:00), sunset (16:52), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:38 PM-1:38 AM and 11:14 AM-1:14 PM; minor 7:15 AM-8:15 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Conditions here are modelled from weather, season and the nearest stations.
No live gauge on this water
Water readings appear when a Water Survey of Canada station covers it. Until then the seasonal curve below is the estimate.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp6 °C
High / Low8 °C / 5 °C
WindNW 21 km/h, gusts 46 km/h
Pressure101.00 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 40%
Sunrise / Sunset07:00 / 16:52
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~6 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Rice Lake
The best day on Rice Lake this week looks like Thursday Nov 12, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.
Best day this week: Thursday, Nov 12 — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Nov 9 — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 11:38 PM-1:38 AM and 11:14 AM-1:14 PM
- Minor period
- 7:15 AM-8:15 AM
- Sun
- 07:00 to 16:52
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 24 km/h
- Rain chance
- 40%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on Rice Lake: seasons written for the Canadian year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Smallmouth bass
Opens late June in most of Ontario; best July to October
Open now Closes Dec 16, 2026. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are open from the third Saturday in June to 15 December. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The rock-and-current bass of the Great Lakes shores, the Bay of Quinte, the St. Lawrence and Lake St. Clair. The Ontario bass season opens in late June in most zones, after the nesting period. Closed or out of season in most waters.
Largemouth bass
Late June to October in Ontario
Open now Closes Dec 16, 2026. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are open from the third Saturday in June to 15 December. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The weed and dock bass of southern Ontario, Rice Lake and the Bay of Quinte. Same season as smallmouth in most zones. Out of season.
Walleye (pickerel)
Spring opener to fall, and the ice
Open now Closes Nov 16, 2026. Walleye and sauger are open from the second Saturday in May to 15 November, so there is no walleye season through the ice. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
Called pickerel in much of Ontario and Manitoba. The fish of Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg and the Red River, Lake Diefenbaker, Tobin Lake, Lake Erie and the Bay of Quinte. Most zones close in spring for the spawn. Through the ice where it is safe: jigging spoons and a dead-stick minnow near the bottom at first and last light. Open rivers: slow jigs in the deep holes.
Muskellunge
Opens in June in Ontario; best in fall
Open now Closes Dec 16, 2026. Muskellunge are open from the first Saturday in June to 15 December; minimum size 112 cm. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The trophy fish of Lake St. Clair, the St. Lawrence, the Detroit River and Lake of the Woods. Catch-and-release is the culture; minimum sizes are large where retention is allowed. Out of season.
Yellow perch
Year-round; the ice season at Lake Simcoe and Long Point
Open all year Northern pike and yellow perch are open all year in Zone 17. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
The ice-fishing fish of Lake Simcoe, Long Point Bay and Lake St. Clair, and a summer staple on every Great Lakes shore. Schools move constantly. The ice season where the ice is safe: small spoons and tungsten jigs tipped with minnow heads, moving hole to hole to find the school.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Spring, fall and the ice
Open all year Northern pike and yellow perch are open all year in Zone 17. Rule as read from Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources on 2026-09-27.
Called jackfish on the prairies. Found in almost every lake and slow river from Ontario to Alberta; big fish in the cold, deep lakes. Under the ice where it is safe: tip-ups with dead bait in the shallow bays.
When to come: the Rice Lake calendar
Activity by species and month for the Canadian year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Smallmouth bass
Largemouth bass
Walleye (pickerel)
Muskellunge
Yellow perch
Northern pike (jackfish)
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 6 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Rice Lake today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at good. High of 10 °C, wind to 23 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at good. High of 9 °C, wind to 16 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Walleye (pickerel) led the card at good. High of 14 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Outdoors Card and Ontario fishing licence, from C$12.21 for a resident adult, with higher prices for other Canadians and visitors. Details and where to buy → Except on a one-day licence you also need the Outdoors Card.
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and protected areas are set by Ontario MNR and, in salt water and for salmon, by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Ontario licence page before you keep anything. The zone-by-zone seasons and limits are on Ontario fishing seasons.
Access
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed, and the Zone 17 summary linked below has the walleye slot and the other limits; the licence fees are on our Ontario page..
About this water
Rice Lake is a lake in Ontario, Canada, covered from the Ontario reports and listed in all Canada waters.
Fishing Rice Lake: the full guide
Rice Lake
Rice Lake is a long, shallow lake south of Peterborough, with the Otonabee River entering from the north and the Trent River leaving at the east end toward Hastings, part of the Trent–Severn Waterway that Parks Canada operates between Lake Ontario and Georgian Bay. Its weedy shallows and islands make it a productive warm-water lake, fished from cottages and marinas around its shores. There is no live public level gauge used here; the report is built from the weather and the season.
Species and seasons
Rice Lake is in Fisheries Management Zone 17. Walleye are open only from the second Saturday in May to 15 November, with a slot on the size that may be kept; muskellunge from the first Saturday in June to 15 December; and largemouth and smallmouth bass from the third Saturday in June to 15 December. Crappie, yellow perch, sunfish and northern pike are open all year.
No walleye through the ice
Because the Zone 17 walleye season closes on 15 November, there is no legal walleye ice fishing on Rice Lake, and Ontario makes it illegal to fish for a closed species even to release it. Ice anglers here fish for crappie, perch, sunfish and pike.
Where to fish it
The weed edges, the islands and the river mouths are the main areas; the lake is shallow enough that weed covers much of it by midsummer. The Otonabee River from Lock 19 in Peterborough down to the Bensfort Bridge, about 20 kilometres, is a sanctuary from 1 January to the Friday after the second Saturday in May and from 16 November to 31 December, and the Trent River around the Hastings dam has the same closures.
Ice and seasons
The lake freezes most winters, but no agency certifies the ice. In Zone 17, ice huts must be registered online and removed before 2 March. Summer brings dense weed growth and warm water, and spring runoff from the Otonabee can colour the north end.
Reading this report here
The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, follows the shallow lake’s quick warm-up and cool-down. Pressure and cloud are what move the score from day to day.
Licence, access and rules
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed, and the Zone 17 summary linked below has the walleye slot and the other limits; the licence fees are on our Ontario page.
Common questions
What can I catch in Rice Lake?
Walleye, muskie, largemouth and smallmouth bass in their seasons, and crappie, perch, sunfish and pike all year.
Can I ice fish for walleye on Rice Lake?
No. The Zone 17 walleye season runs from the second Saturday in May to 15 November, so walleye are closed under the ice.
Is there ice fishing on Rice Lake?
Yes, most winters, for crappie, perch, sunfish and pike where the ice is safe; huts must be off before 2 March.
Is fishing good at Rice Lake right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Fish stocking
- Ontario fish stocking report
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.