Ice fishing in Zone 9 (FMZ 9), 2026–27

Fisheries Management Zone 9, with 162 lakes and rivers on our map. Through the 2026–27 ice season (December 1 to March 31), 12 of 17 species groups are open the whole time, 3 for part of it and 2 are closed. Walleye and sauger are open all ice season. Lake trout are open Jan 1 – Mar 31. Pike are open all ice season and perch open all ice season.

Ice huts

Registration required

Off the ice by March 31

Bait

See the bait rules

Live or dead baitfish and leeches cannot be moved into or out of a Bait Management Zone (dead and preserved bait excepted).

Waters with their own rules

5 listed waters, 0 sanctuaries

3 of them carry a rule that matters in winter (listed below).

Open the full Ontario Crown land map

What you can fish through the ice in Zone 9

Zone-wide seasons and limits from the 2026 Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary, with the dates worked out for 2026–27. They apply to every lake in the zone except the waters listed further down.

Species	2026–27 ice season	Zone-wide season (as written)	Limits
Aggregate limits for trout and salmon (including splake)	—	Limit only	S-5 and C-2; total daily catch and possession limit for all trout and salmon species combined
Atlantic salmon	Open all season	open all year	S-1 and C-0
Brook trout	Closed	fourth Saturday in April to Labour Day	S-1; must be greater than 56 centimetres, and C-0
Brown trout	Open all season	open all year	S-5 and C-2
Channel catfish	Open all season	open all year	S-12 and C-6
Crappie	Open all season	open all year	S-30 and C-10
Lake sturgeon	Closed	closed all year
Lake trout	Part of the season Jan 1 – Mar 31	January 1 to September 30	S-3 and C-1
Lake whitefish	Open all season	open all year	S-12 and C-6
Largemouth and smallmouth bass combined	Open all season	open all year	S-6 and C-2
Muskellunge	Part of the season Dec 1 – Dec 15	third Saturday in June to December 15	S-1; New must be greater than 137 centimetres, and C-0
Northern pike	Open all season	open all year	S-4 and C-2; none between 70–90 centimetres, not more than 1 greater than 90 centimetres
Pacific salmon	Open all season	open all year	S-5 and C-2
Rainbow trout	Open all season	open all year	S-1 and C-0
Splake	Part of the season Jan 1 – Mar 31	January 1 to September 30	S-3 and C-1
Sunfish	Open all season	open all year	S-50 and C-25
Walleye and sauger combined	Open all season	January 1 to April 14 and third Saturday in May to December 31	S-2 and C-1
Yellow perch	Open all season	open all year	S-25 and C-12

S = sport fishing licence, C = conservation fishing licence. A season "open all ice season" runs December 1 to March 31 without a break. The 2027 summary takes effect January 1, 2027 and can change dates for the rest of the winter; we refresh this page when it is published.

Ice huts and lines in Zone 9

Ice huts must be registered in this zone if they are made of anything other than fabric, or are fabric tents covering 7 m² or more. Registration is free, done once through the Fish and Wildlife Licensing Service or ServiceOntario, and the number goes on the outside of the hut in characters at least 6.3 cm high.
Huts must be off the ice by March 31. Removing your hut does not end the fishing season; it is a safety deadline.
In every zone, huts must come off before the ice breaks up, whatever the date.
You can fish with two lines through the ice in most waters, as long as you stay within 60 m of each line or tip-up and can see them all.

Surveyed lakes in Zone 9

Lakes in this zone with the most government fish survey records, the game fish recorded and the deepest contour on the provincial depth chart. Each page shows its own winter rules.

Current River Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Walleye, Northern Pike, Yellow Perch

McIntyre River Rainbow Trout, Brook Trout, Yellow Perch, Coho Salmon, Northern Pike

Wolf River Brook Trout

Waters in Zone 9 with their own winter rules

These waters are listed in the zone's exceptions with a rule that mentions the ice or the winter months, or that opens or closes them all year. The zone-wide table above does not apply to them where the rules overlap. Waters linked below have their own page on this site.

Walleye and sauger

Season: closed all year

Nipigon River and Nipigon Bay — The Nipigon River from the Alexander Falls Dam in Zone 6 to Nipigon Bay in Zone 9, and the waters of Nipigon Bay in Zone 9 north of a line drawn from Simpson Island

Walleye and sauger

Season: open from January 1 to March 31 and July 1 to December 31

Montreal River — from the first Great Lakes Power Dam to Lake Superior

Waterbody exceptions

Lake Superior — Black Bay to the southern tip of the Black Bay Peninsula: Northern pike — open all year; Walleye and sauger — open July 1 to December 31

Other zone notes

New As of Jan 1, 2026, the zone-wide minimum size limit for Muskellunge is 137 centimetres.
New Waterbody exception for walleye and sauger combined, and northern pike in Lake Superior, Black Bay
FMZ 9 is part of the Great Lakes. Baitfish and leeches that are both dead and preserved can be transported into and out of BMZs and the Great Lakes.
Baitfish and leeches that are not both dead and preserved may be transported out of:Refer to bait for more details. an adjacent bait management zone and used in the Great Lakes; the Great Lakes only to be disposed of immediately more than 30 metres from the water

Zone 8 Zone 10 All 20 zones Ice fishing in Ontario guide

Source: Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary 2026, Fisheries Management Zone 9 and ontario.ca ice fishing rules, read October 25, 2026; zone boundary: Land Information Ontario (Open Government Licence – Ontario). The summary is a guide to the regulations, not the law itself, and this page is a reading of the summary. Check the official text, and test the ice yourself: no regulation makes ice safe.