Smallmouth bass
Excellent
The prime season: tubes, crankbaits and topwater along the rocky points and breaks.
Rice Lake Fishing Report
Updated Fri, Sep 25, 2026 from live weather and water data
Rice Lake south of Peterborough: walleye, muskie, bass and panfish in a shallow, weedy lake on the Trent-Severn Waterway.
2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~19 °C est.
Air / High
7 °C / 21 °C
Wind
NNW 6 km/h
Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Rice Lake has the water in the comfortable band where most of its fish feed through the day. Today brings clear skies, wind NNW around 6 km/h, rising pressure near 1028 hPa and a high of 21 °C. Water sits around 19 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Walleye (pickerel)
Excellent
Jig and minnow along the weed edges, reefs and current breaks; troll the flats when they scatter.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Good
Spinnerbaits, spoons and jerkbaits over the weed beds and along the points.
Tie on: Jig and minnow · Spinnerbait over the weeds · Bucktail fly, fast troll · Leech pattern under an indicator. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Similar at 22 °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 (07:03), sunset (19:04), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% 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 temp7 °C
High / Low21 °C / 3 °C
WindNNW 6 km/h, gusts 9 km/h
Pressure102.79 kPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:03 / 19:04
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~19 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Rice Lake
The best day on Rice Lake this week looks like Wednesday Sep 30, at 5 out of 5, against 2 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Wednesday, Sep 30 — excellent at 5/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, Sep 25 — Tough
Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 07:03 to 19:04
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 13 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
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
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. The prime season: tubes, crankbaits and topwater along the rocky points and breaks.
Largemouth bass
Late June to October in Ontario
The weed and dock bass of southern Ontario, Rice Lake and the Bay of Quinte. Same season as smallmouth in most zones. Topwater at dawn, then soft plastics and spinnerbaits along the weed lines.
Walleye (pickerel)
Spring opener to fall, and the ice
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. Jig and minnow along the weed edges, reefs and current breaks; troll the flats when they scatter.
Muskellunge
Opens in June in Ontario; best in fall
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. Bucktails, jerkbaits and trolling big crankbaits along the breaks.
Yellow perch
Year-round; the ice season at Lake Simcoe and Long Point
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. Small jigs and minnows along the weed edges and the sand flats.
Northern pike (jackfish)
Spring, fall and the ice
Called jackfish on the prairies. Found in almost every lake and slow river from Ontario to Alberta; big fish in the cold, deep lakes. Spinnerbaits, spoons and jerkbaits over the weed beds and along the points.
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 19 °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 dataThu, Sep 24
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 20 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 18 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 17 °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 →
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.
Access
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed; the rules are in the regulations summary linked below.
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 in the Kawarthas region south of Peterborough, part of the Trent-Severn Waterway, with the Otonabee River entering from the north and the Trent River leaving from the east. Its weedy shallows and islands make it a productive warm-water lake, fished from the cottages and marinas at Bewdley, Gores Landing and Harwood, and from Hiawatha First Nation on its north shore. There is no live public level gauge used here; the report is built from the weather and the season.
Species and seasons
Walleye, muskellunge, largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie and yellow perch are all fished; the lake is known for its panfish and its walleye through the ice. Ontario’s zone seasons and limits apply, including the bass and muskie seasons. The lake takes its name from the wild rice that once grew thickly in its shallows.
Where to fish it
The weed edges, the islands and the mouths of the rivers are the main areas; the lake is shallow enough that the weeds cover much of it by midsummer. Launches at Bewdley and Gores Landing give access.
Planning a visit
Rice Lake is about ninety minutes northeast of Toronto; the Trent-Severn Waterway’s boat traffic passes through in summer. The Serpent Mounds, an ancient burial site on the north shore near Hiawatha, are a national historic site.
Ice and seasons
The lake freezes most winters and is fished through the ice for walleye and panfish; no agency certifies the ice. Summer brings dense weed growth and warm water. The Otonabee brings Peterborough’s water in from the north, and spring runoff can colour the north end for weeks.
Reading this report here
The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, follows the shallow lake’s quick warm-up and cool-down; pressure and sky build the score.
Licence, access and rules
An Outdoors Card and an Ontario fishing licence are needed; the rules are in the regulations summary linked below. Our Ontario licence page has the fees.
Common questions
What can I catch in Rice Lake?
Walleye, muskie, largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie and perch.
Where is Rice Lake?
South of Peterborough in the Kawarthas, on the Trent-Severn Waterway.
Is there ice fishing on Rice Lake?
Yes, most winters, for walleye and panfish, where the ice is safe.
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
- 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.