Ontario Lake Depths

Stocked hybrid · trout and salmon family

Splake

Salvelinus namaycush × Salvelinus fontinalis · also called wendigo

Recorded in 125 Ontario lakes

Splake are a hatchery cross of two native fish, lake trout and brook trout, and occur in Ontario because they are stocked.

Illustration of a splake in side view
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph and not to scale.
Typical adult
25–46 cm (10–18 in), about 0.5–1.4 kg (1–3 lb)
Lives
Commonly 7–9 years
Spawns
October to November, in lakes
Eats
Minnows and other small fish
Needs
Cold, clear water; prefers 10–16 °C (50–61 °F)

Where splake have been recorded

125 of the 1,347 Ontario lakes on this site with angler catch reports list splake, across 21 counties and districts. Tap a dot to open that lake’s depth map.

Lake Abitibi, Cochrane DistrictLake Simcoe, York RegionWinnange Lake, Kenora DistrictLake Bernard, Parry Sound DistrictChiblow Lake, Algoma DistrictChandos Lake, Peterborough CountyManitou Lake, Nipissing DistrictVermilion Lake, Sudbury DistrictDog Lake, Frontenac CountyEagle Lake, Frontenac CountyOtter Lake, Leeds and GrenvilleLukinto Lake, Thunder Bay DistrictHungry Lake, Frontenac CountySteenburg Lake, Hastings CountyIndian Lake, Leeds and GrenvilleGibson Lake, MuskokaShabomeka Lake, Frontenac CountyOxtongue Lake, Haliburton CountyGullbeak Lake, Algoma DistrictFanshawe Lake, LondonCross Lake, Nipissing DistrictLower Mace Lake, Algoma DistrictUpper Mace Lake, Algoma DistrictElla Lake, Sudbury DistrictHalfway Lake, Renfrew CountyWindigo Lake, Renfrew CountyStewart Lake, MuskokaMamainse Lake, Algoma DistrictSesabic Lake, Algoma DistrictRobertson Lake, Algoma DistrictTeasdale Lake, Algoma DistrictMcCauley Lake, Nipissing DistrictNepahwin Lake, Sudbury DistrictTimber Lake, Nipissing DistrictMcMaster Lake, Renfrew CountyClear Lake, Parry Sound DistrictMathers L., Algoma DistrictLittle McDougal Lake, Nipissing DistrictBells Lake, Grey CountyDiamond Lake, Renfrew CountyPencil Lake, Peterborough CountyVixen Lake, Algoma DistrictGrandview Lake, MuskokaTricorn Lake, Thunder Bay DistrictCrystal Lake, Timiskaming DistrictSlipper Lake, Algoma DistrictWhitney Lake, Timiskaming DistrictOmpa Lake, Algoma DistrictWylie Lake, Renfrew CountySmudge Lake, Kawartha LakesNorth Pigeon Lake, Haliburton CountyTwin Lakes, Algoma DistrictBasshaunt Lake, Haliburton CountySpring Lake, Lennox and Addington CountyBat Lake, Haliburton CountyGuilford Lake, Haliburton CountySunday Lake, Nipissing DistrictLower Raven Lake, Parry Sound DistrictCinder Lake, Algoma DistrictSquare Lake, Algoma DistrictSpot Lake, Algoma DistrictBroder Lake 23, Sudbury DistrictDamn Lake, Algoma DistrictLittle Lake, Nipissing DistrictGenricks Lake, Renfrew CountyShark Lake, Peterborough CountyClear Lake, Haliburton CountyGrindstone Lake, MuskokaEeyore Lake, Renfrew CountyBobtail Lake, Timiskaming DistrictPipe Lake, Algoma DistrictNorth Rathbun Lake, Peterborough CountyClara Lake, Algoma DistrictMenet Lake, Renfrew CountyGun Lake, Renfrew CountyHeron Lake, Nipissing DistrictFlat Iron Lake, Renfrew CountyHart Lake, Algoma DistrictSmith Lake, Renfrew CountyGranite Lake, Frontenac CountyMousseau Lake, Renfrew CountyRoss Lake, Haliburton CountyGourlay Lake, Cochrane DistrictGander Lake, Algoma DistrictBlue Lake, Haliburton CountyMontrose Lake 2, Timiskaming DistrictRaccoon Lake, Nipissing DistrictBoot Lake, Kenora DistrictPaquette Lake, Algoma DistrictRabbit Blanket Lake, Algoma DistrictTory Lake, Timiskaming DistrictBig Mair Lake, Frontenac CountyDan Lake, MuskokaLallan Lake, Cochrane DistrictFeeny Lake, Lennox and Addington CountyPerch Lake, Lanark CountyEu Lake, Nipissing DistrictOriole Lake, Renfrew CountyGuilfoyle No. 43, Cochrane DistrictDoc Greig Lake, Algoma DistrictLoon Lake, Sudbury DistrictEast Trump Lake, Cochrane DistrictChimney Lake, Thunder Bay DistrictBillys Lake, Renfrew CountyBlithfield Long Lake, Renfrew CountyTarrison Lake B, Thunder Bay DistrictBoundary Lake, Algoma DistrictKervin Lake, Nipissing DistrictWhigham Lake 41, Sudbury DistrictBattery Lake, Renfrew CountySophia Lake, Peterborough CountyRathwell Lake, Timiskaming DistrictWanamaker Lake, Algoma DistrictLake Twentythree, Algoma DistrictAvery Lake, Haliburton CountyCanyon Lake, Sudbury DistrictTetsmine Lake, Frontenac CountyOrley Lake, Haliburton CountyTooeys Lake, Renfrew CountyJohnson Lake, Sudbury DistrictPerch Lake, Renfrew CountyNo-Name Lake, Haliburton CountyAlaska's Lake, Sudbury DistrictLizard L., Thunder Bay DistrictTower Lake, Algoma District

Recorded here Other lakes with catch reports

How we know

  • 125lakes where an angler logged one in Fish ON-Line; on 56 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.

Splake 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 234,979 acres (median 89) and from 20 to 360 ft deep (median 66 ft).

When and how anglers catch splake

From 486 trip reports naming splake 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 January (19% of trips); 45% were logged December–February (lighter bars).

How they were fishing

From a boat32%
From shore4%
Through the ice63%

Share of the 481 trips that recorded boat, shore or ice.

Fish reported

1,906 splake reported on these trips. Anglers kept 56% of the ones they reported and released the rest. The app records no sizes.

Lakes on this site with the most trips

  1. Whitney Lake, Timiskaming District 23
  2. Battery Lake, Renfrew 21
  3. Wylie Lake, Renfrew 20
  4. Little Lake, Nipissing District 18
  5. Alaska's Lake, Sudbury District 17
  6. Steenburg Lake, Hastings 17
  7. Granite Lake, Frontenac 16
  8. Menet Lake, Renfrew 13
  9. Hart Lake, Algoma District 12
  10. Indian Lake, Leeds and Grenville 11

Trips that logged this fish on each lake. A busy lake gets more trips; this is not a ranking of fishing quality. 56 of the 125 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 slightly deep-bodied trout, in size between its two parents, with pale spots on a dark background, some red spots without the brook trout's blue halos, three-coloured fins and a slightly forked tail. The only certain test is an internal count of the finger-like pyloric caeca, which falls between the counts for brook trout and lake trout.

Don’t confuse it with

Brook trout — Brook trout have a square tail and red spots ringed in blue.
Lake trout — Lake trout have a deeply forked tail and no red spots.

Life in an Ontario lake

Splake are a hybrid of brook trout and lake trout produced in hatcheries, and Ontario has run a splake breeding and stocking program for many years. They have been stocked into Lake Superior, Lake Huron and many inland lakes, mostly in northeastern and south-central Ontario, with a few in the northwest.

They need typical cold, clear trout water but can cope with more marginal conditions, such as lakes with low pH. Right after ice-out they cruise the shallows; as the water warms they go deeper, often to mid-depths near the thermocline, where they feed on minnows and other fish. They are shy and easily spooked, and are a good catch through the ice.

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 125 lakes with splake

Show every lake, by county

Algoma District 28

Boundary Lake, Chiblow Lake, Cinder Lake, Clara Lake, Damn Lake, Doc Greig Lake, Gander Lake, Gullbeak Lake, Hart Lake, Lake Twentythree, Lower Mace Lake, Mamainse Lake, Mathers L., Ompa Lake, Paquette Lake, Pipe Lake, Rabbit Blanket Lake, Robertson Lake, Sesabic Lake, Slipper Lake, Spot Lake, Square Lake, Teasdale Lake, Tower Lake, Twin Lakes, Upper Mace Lake, Vixen Lake, Wanamaker Lake

Cochrane District 5

East Trump Lake, Gourlay Lake, Guilfoyle No. 43, Lake Abitibi, Lallan Lake

Frontenac County 7

Big Mair Lake, Dog Lake, Eagle Lake, Granite Lake, Hungry Lake, Shabomeka Lake, Tetsmine Lake

Grey County 1

Bells Lake

Haliburton County 11

Avery Lake, Basshaunt Lake, Bat Lake, Blue Lake, Clear Lake, Guilford Lake, No-Name Lake, North Pigeon Lake, Orley Lake, Oxtongue Lake, Ross Lake

Hastings County 1

Steenburg Lake

Kawartha Lakes 1

Smudge Lake

Kenora District 2

Boot Lake, Winnange Lake

Lanark County 1

Perch Lake

Leeds and Grenville 2

Indian Lake, Otter Lake

Lennox and Addington County 2

Feeny Lake, Spring Lake

London 1

Fanshawe Lake

Muskoka 5

Dan Lake, Gibson Lake, Grandview Lake, Grindstone Lake, Stewart Lake

Nipissing District 11

Cross Lake, Eu Lake, Heron Lake, Kervin Lake, Little Lake, Little McDougal Lake, Manitou Lake, McCauley Lake, Raccoon Lake, Sunday Lake, Timber Lake

Parry Sound District 3

Clear Lake, Lake Bernard, Lower Raven Lake

Peterborough County 5

Chandos Lake, North Rathbun Lake, Pencil Lake, Shark Lake, Sophia Lake

Renfrew County 18

Battery Lake, Billys Lake, Blithfield Long Lake, Diamond Lake, Eeyore Lake, Flat Iron Lake, Genricks Lake, Gun Lake, Halfway Lake, McMaster Lake, Menet Lake, Mousseau Lake, Oriole Lake, Perch Lake, Smith Lake, Tooeys Lake, Windigo Lake, Wylie Lake

Sudbury District 9

Alaska's Lake, Broder Lake 23, Canyon Lake, Ella Lake, Johnson Lake, Loon Lake, Nepahwin Lake, Vermilion Lake, Whigham Lake 41

Thunder Bay District 5

Chimney Lake, Lizard L., Lukinto Lake, Tarrison Lake B, Tricorn Lake

Timiskaming District 6

Bobtail Lake, Crystal Lake, Montrose Lake 2, Rathwell Lake, Tory Lake, Whitney Lake

York Region 1

Lake Simcoe

Sources

← All fish of Ontario