Ontario Lake Depths

Game fish · trout and salmon family

Rainbow trout

Oncorhynchus mykiss · also called steelhead (lake-run fish)

Introduced to OntarioRecorded in 83 Ontario lakes

Native to western North America; brought to the Great Lakes from the Pacific coast.

Illustration of a rainbow trout in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Typical adult
20–60 cm (8–24 in), about 0.5–6.8 kg (1–15 lb)
Lives
Commonly 3–8 years
Spawns
March to May, over gravel in streams, at 4–10 °C (39–50 °F)
Eats
Invertebrates and small fish
Needs
Cold water; prefers 12–18 °C (54–64 °F)

Where rainbow trout have been recorded

83 of the 1,347 Ontario lakes on this site with angler catch reports list rainbow trout, across 23 counties and districts. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Lake Nipissing, Nipissing DistrictLake Simcoe, York RegionManitou Lake, Manitoulin DistrictLake Rosseau, MuskokaWhite Lake, Lanark CountyLake Wolsey, Manitoulin DistrictLake Bernard, Parry Sound DistrictSharbot Lake, Frontenac CountyGloucester Pool, Simcoe CountyBright Lake, Algoma DistrictRock Lake, Algoma DistrictBoshkung Lake, Haliburton CountyEugenia Lake, Grey CountyConestogo Lake, Wellington CountyOtter Lake, Leeds and GrenvilleMichipicoten River, Algoma DistrictPecors Lake, Algoma DistrictGlamor Lake, Haliburton CountyTrout L., Algoma DistrictMoore Lake, Haliburton CountyQuimby Lake, Algoma DistrictGrindstone Lake, Frontenac CountyMosque Lake, Frontenac CountyDiamond Lake, Hastings CountyRobertson Lake, Algoma DistrictKaministiquia River, Thunder Bay DistrictTown Line Lake, Algoma DistrictGooderham Lake, Haliburton CountyTricorn Lake, Thunder Bay DistrictGrand River section, Waterloo RegionColbourne Lake, Haliburton CountyJordan Lake, Haliburton CountyLittle Dudmon Lake, Haliburton CountySilver Lake, MuskokaArrow Lake (North East), Thunder Bay DistrictHeyden Lake, Algoma DistrictWest Lake, Haliburton CountyMair Lake, Frontenac CountyBushwolf Lake, Haliburton CountyClear Lake, Timiskaming DistrictSummit Lake, Frontenac CountyHorne Lake, Algoma DistrictFive Pines Lake, Cochrane DistrictBroder Lake 23, Sudbury DistrictWolfe Lake, Frontenac CountySprat Lake, Haliburton CountyLasswade Lake, Peterborough CountyBuckskin Lake, Haliburton CountyMenet Lake, Renfrew CountySmith Lake, Renfrew CountyDeer Lake, Algoma DistrictIrish Lake, Grey CountyLimestone Lake, Renfrew CountyLizard Lake, Cochrane DistrictHeart Lake, Peel RegionGaf Lake, Cochrane DistrictCedar Lake, Haliburton CountyClement Lake, Haliburton CountyBlue Lake, Haliburton CountyLong Lake, Nipissing DistrictBond Lake, York RegionFindlay Lake, Renfrew CountyPerch Lake, Lanark CountyOriole Lake, Renfrew CountyLoon Lake, Sudbury DistrictCamp Lake, Cochrane DistrictBlithfield Long Lake, Renfrew CountyClayton Lake, Haliburton CountyBottle Lake, Lanark CountyO'Connell Lake, Timiskaming DistrictRathwell Lake, Timiskaming DistrictMountain Lake, Peterborough CountyRonald Lake, Algoma DistrictGreen Lake, Lanark CountyWhitefish River, Sudbury DistrictMoon Lake, Algoma DistrictLower Twin Lake, Renfrew CountyShiner Lake, Renfrew CountyAlaska's Lake, Sudbury DistrictWhalen Lake 39, Sudbury DistrictMountain Lake, Peterborough CountyChallies Public Fishing Area Pond, Stormont, Dundas and GlengarryMinnow Lake, Renfrew County

Recorded here Other lakes with catch reports

How we know

  • 83lakes where an angler logged one in Fish ON-Line; on 37 of them a single trip, one angler’s report

Self-reported by anglers, not a Ministry survey. A lake that isn’t listed may still have them: a lake appears here only once an angler has logged this fish there.

Rainbow trout are one of the species raised in Ontario's fish culture stations and stocked into provincial waters.

Inland lakes on this list run from 4 to 221,497 acres (median 97) and from 10 to 292 ft deep (median 60 ft).

When and how anglers catch rainbow trout

From 382 trip reports naming rainbow trout on the lakes above, logged by anglers in Ontario’s Fish ON-Line app. These are self-reported trips, not a Ministry survey: they show when and how people fish for them, not how many fish a lake holds.

Trips by month

The busiest month is May (14% of trips); 27% were logged December–February (lighter bars).

How they were fishing

From a boat45%
From shore21%
Through the ice33%

Share of the 381 trips that recorded boat, shore or ice.

Fish reported

1,432 rainbow trout reported on these trips. Anglers kept 48% of the ones they reported and released the rest. The app records no sizes.

Lakes on this site with the most trips

  1. Grindstone Lake, Frontenac 55
  2. Challies Public Fishing Area Pond, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry 25
  3. Lower Twin Lake, Renfrew 22
  4. Shiner Lake, Renfrew 17
  5. Blithfield Long Lake, Renfrew 16
  6. Limestone Lake, Renfrew 15
  7. Mair Lake, Frontenac 15
  8. Mountain Lake, Peterborough 13
  9. Bottle Lake, Lanark 12
  10. Broder Lake 23, Sudbury District 12

Trips that logged this fish on each lake. A busy lake gets more trips; this is not a ranking of fishing quality. 37 of the 83 lakes are listed on a single trip, one angler’s report.

Often found with

Share of these lakes that also list each fish.

How to recognize it

A silvery trout covered in small dark spots, with rows of spots radiating across the tail and often a pink stripe along the side. The mouth and gums are often white; inland-lake fish tend to show a stronger pink stripe than Great Lakes fish.

Don’t confuse it with

Brown trout — Brown trout have only a few faint spots on the tail, dark spots often ringed in a lighter colour, and orange on the small adipose fin.
Brook trout — Brook trout have pale worm-like marks and red spots on a dark back rather than dark spots on a silver body.

Life in an Ontario lake

Rainbow trout are not native to Ontario; they come from western North America and were introduced to the Great Lakes. They are now widespread in the Great Lakes and their tributaries and in some inland lakes, and are stocked widely in southern and central Ontario. In lakes they hold in mid-water; in spring they come into warmer shallows near river mouths and harbours, then drop to cooler depths in summer.

Great Lakes rainbows live like sea-run fish, feeding in the big lakes and running up tributaries to spawn, though they spend their whole lives in fresh water; these lake-run fish are called steelhead. Most spawn in spring over gravel in streams, but some Georgian Bay tributaries have fall-spawning fish. They usually mature at two to five years old.

Source: the sources below.

Rules and eating

Before fishing, check the current Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary for your Fisheries Management Zone, any exceptions for the waterbody, and your licence type. Angler catch reports show what people logged, not what is legal to catch or keep. Fish ON-Line itself (how to use it) maps the zones and exceptions. Before eating fish from a particular lake, check the Guide to Eating Ontario Fish.

All 83 lakes with rainbow trout

Show every lake, by county

Algoma District 13

Bright Lake, Deer Lake, Heyden Lake, Horne Lake, Michipicoten River, Moon Lake, Pecors Lake, Quimby Lake, Robertson Lake, Rock Lake, Ronald Lake, Town Line Lake, Trout L.

Cochrane District 4

Camp Lake, Five Pines Lake, Gaf Lake, Lizard Lake

Frontenac County 6

Grindstone Lake, Mair Lake, Mosque Lake, Sharbot Lake, Summit Lake, Wolfe Lake

Grey County 2

Eugenia Lake, Irish Lake

Haliburton County 15

Blue Lake, Boshkung Lake, Buckskin Lake, Bushwolf Lake, Cedar Lake, Clayton Lake, Clement Lake, Colbourne Lake, Glamor Lake, Gooderham Lake, Jordan Lake, Little Dudmon Lake, Moore Lake, Sprat Lake, West Lake

Hastings County 1

Diamond Lake

Lanark County 4

Bottle Lake, Green Lake, Perch Lake, White Lake

Leeds and Grenville 1

Otter Lake

Manitoulin District 2

Lake Wolsey, Manitou Lake

Muskoka 2

Lake Rosseau, Silver Lake

Nipissing District 2

Lake Nipissing, Long Lake

Parry Sound District 1

Lake Bernard

Peel Region 1

Heart Lake

Peterborough County 3

Lasswade Lake, Mountain Lake, Mountain Lake

Renfrew County 9

Blithfield Long Lake, Findlay Lake, Limestone Lake, Lower Twin Lake, Menet Lake, Minnow Lake, Oriole Lake, Shiner Lake, Smith Lake

Simcoe County 1

Gloucester Pool

Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry 1

Challies Public Fishing Area Pond

Sudbury District 5

Alaska's Lake, Broder Lake 23, Loon Lake, Whalen Lake 39, Whitefish River

Thunder Bay District 3

Arrow Lake (North East), Kaministiquia River, Tricorn Lake

Timiskaming District 3

Clear Lake, O'Connell Lake, Rathwell Lake

Waterloo Region 1

Grand River section

Wellington County 1

Conestogo Lake

York Region 2

Bond Lake, Lake Simcoe

Sources

← All fish of Ontario