Zone 11 Fishing Regulations
Zone-wide open seasons for Fisheries Management Zone 11, from the 2026 Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary.
Zone 11 takes in Lake Nipissing, Lake Temagami, Trout Lake and the French River — nine waters and areas inside the zone carry their own regulations on top of the zone-wide seasons below. It sits in the Northeast Bait Management Zone, so the bait rules there are not the same as the ones further south.
These are the zone-wide seasons. Individual lakes and rivers in Zone 11 can carry their own rules on top of them, and this page does not list size limits or catch limits — those are on the official Zone 11 page, which is where you should check before you fish.
Zone 11 open seasons
Season dates only. Where the regulation is written as a rule (“third Saturday in June”), this year’s actual dates are worked out from it rather than typed in, so they cannot go stale.
| Species | Open season |
|---|---|
| Atlantic salmon | Closed all year |
| Brook trout | February 15 to September 30 |
| Brown trout | fourth Saturday in April to September 302026 season: April 25 to September 30 |
| Channel catfish | Open all year |
| Crappie | Open all year |
| Lake sturgeon | Closed all year |
| Lake trout | February 15 to third Sunday in March and third Saturday in May to Labour Day |
| Lake whitefish | Open all year |
| Largemouth and smallmouth bass combined | January 1 to third Sunday in March and third Saturday in May to December 31 |
| Muskellunge | third Saturday in June to December 152026 season: June 20 to December 15 |
| Northern pike | January 1 to third Sunday in March and third Saturday in May to December 31 |
| Pacific salmon | Open all year |
| Rainbow trout | Open all year |
| Splake | Open all year |
| Sunfish | Open all year |
| Walleye and sauger combined | January 1 to third Sunday in March and third Saturday in May to December 31 |
| Yellow perch | Open all year |
Worth knowing about Zone 11
Some brook trout additional fishing opportunities in Zone 11 also have bait restrictions.
As of January 1, 2025 all waters where angling is permitted in Zone 11 are included in the dip netting season (October 1 to December 15) for lake herring (cisco) and lake whitefish.
Waters with their own rules
9 waters or areas in Zone 11 carry regulations that differ from the zone-wide seasons above. If you are fishing one of these, the zone table is not the whole story:
- Cut Lake
- French River Provincial Park
- Green Lake
- Lake Nipissing
- Lake Temagami
- McConnell Lake
- Shanty Lake
- Surecatch Lake
- Trout Lake
See the waterbody exceptions for Zone 11 →
What this page does not cover
Size limits, catch and possession limits, and the waterbody-specific exceptions are deliberately left off. They change from year to year and from lake to lake, and a number copied onto a personal website is exactly the kind of thing that goes out of date quietly and costs somebody a fine. The seasons above are the zone-wide rules; everything else belongs on the official page.
Always check the official summary before you fish. This page is a starting point, not a substitute for it — and you need a valid Ontario fishing licence.
Seasons transcribed from the 2026 Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary — Fisheries Management Zone 11. Rules last checked against the official page on September 14, 2026. Opening dates are calculated from the regulation, not typed in, so they stay correct as the years roll over.
