Fishing

Fishing at Island Lake — Orangeville

The best fishing near Orangeville is five minutes from Broadway. Pike over 10 pounds and largemouth over 6 are caught here, there are ten accessible piers, and you don't need a boat.

By Graham Bristow — Professional fishing guide, 26 years in the industry

Just show up

673067 Hurontario St S, Orangeville·~5 min from Orangeville·Park admission $8.50 adult · Ontario fishing licence required

A northern pike and a yellow perch on the snow beside an ice fishing hole at Island Lake, with minnows and a tip-up rig alongside. — Photo: Dufferin Local

Before you go — checked July 27, 2026

A valid Ontario fishing licence is required year-round. One licence covers the whole province — there is no per-lake permit.
Island Lake sits in Fisheries Management Zone 16. Seasons and limits change — check the current Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary at ontario.ca/fishing before you go.
Electric motors only. Gas motors are not permitted anywhere on this lake.

Hours

Mon–Fri 7 a.m.–9 p.m.; weekends and holidays 6 a.m.–9 p.m.

Ask where to go fishing near Orangeville and half the answers will send you an hour away. The best water is five minutes from Broadway.

Island Lake is a 182-hectare reservoir — around 400 acres — sitting on the headwaters of the Credit and the Nottawasaga. It’s shallow, weedy in the right places, and it grows fish that surprise people who’ve written it off as a walking lake.

What’s in there

Northern pike — the headline fish, and the reason the ice derby exists. Fish over 10 pounds are caught here.
Largemouth bass — the summer draw. Six-pounders are possible, and the annual bass derby is built around them.
Black crappie
Yellow perch
Panfish — pumpkinseed and bluegill, and the reason this is a good place to take a kid who needs to catch something

You don’t need a boat

There are ten accessible fishing piers along the south shore, plus fishable shoreline and boardwalk. That makes this one of the few genuinely good fishing spots in the region you can reach with a mobility aid, a stroller, or no gear beyond a rod.

If you’d rather get out on the water, canoes, kayaks and small boats rent from the park in season. Electric motors only — no gas engines are permitted, which is a large part of why the lake stays as quiet as it does.

Ice fishing

The lake freezes hard enough most winters to bring out a village of huts. Ice fishing is a genuine season here, not a novelty — pike through the ice is what most people are after, with perch to keep things busy between runs.

Conditions permitting, and always at your own risk. The park does not guarantee ice safety.

The two derbies

Both are run by the Credit Valley Conservation Foundation, and both are fundraisers as much as tournaments.

The Island Lake Ice Fishing Derby runs across roughly ten days each February — the 2026 edition was its 14th. Adult prizes (13+) have included $1,000 cash and a plaque for northern pike; youth prizes (12 and under) go to the top three longest fish of any species in season, with plaques and gift bags. It lands over the Family Day weekend, which is also Ontario Family Fishing Weekend — a licence-free window when anyone can fish without buying a licence.

The Island Lake Bass Derby is the summer counterpart. 2026 was the 16th annual, held 11–12 July.

2027 dates aren’t published yet. Watch cvcfoundation.ca or ask at the park store.

Before you go

You need an Ontario fishing licence. That means an Outdoors Card plus a valid sport or conservation licence — one licence covers the entire province, so there’s no separate permit for this lake. The exception is Family Fishing Weekend in February and the summer equivalent, when licence requirements are waived.

Island Lake is in Fisheries Management Zone 16. Open seasons, size limits and possession limits are set by zone and they change. Check the current Ontario Fishing Regulations Summary before you fish — a bass caught a week before the season opens is still a fine.

Park admission is $8.50 for adults and applies whether you’re fishing or walking. Full hours, trail detail and everything else the park offers is on our Island Lake guide.

Once you’ve fished it out

Island Lake is the easy one — warmwater, open water, no permission to ask for. The rest of the county is a completely different fishery: brook trout in the cold headwater streams of the Pine, Boyne and Noisy, and wild Chinook and steelhead running an extraordinary distance inland every autumn to spawn in Mulmur and Melancthon gravel.

That’s covered properly in Fishing Dufferin County — including the part nobody tells you, which is where the legal access actually is.

Official website →

Fishing at Island Lake — Orangeville in pictures

An angler holding a large largemouth bass in front of the Credit Valley Conservation tent at the Island Lake Bass Derby, with the sponsor board visible behind him. — A derby largemouth at the CVC weigh-in tent. Fish this size come out of Island Lake every summer.

A smiling angler holding a largemouth bass under the Credit Valley Conservation tent at the Island Lake Bass Derby. — The weigh-in tent is where the derby actually happens — bring the fish in, get it measured, get it back in the water.

An angler in a boat holding a large northern pike over lily pads. — Northern pike are the headline fish here, and the reason the February derby pays out $1,000 for the biggest one.

An angler holding a large largemouth bass at Island Lake, rod in hand, over a bay covered in lily pads, with an electric trolling motor on the boat. — Largemouth hold tight to the weed and lily beds. Six-pounders are the ones people talk about — and an electric trolling motor is all you need to work them.

Blue ice huts and anglers spread across the frozen surface of Island Lake on a bright winter day. — Come January the lake fills with huts. The ice derby is the busiest week of the year out here.

Two northern pike lying on the snow beside a freshly drilled ice fishing hole, with ice huts scattered across the frozen lake behind. — Pike through the ice is what most people are out there for.

A man fishing from the railing of the wooden boardwalk crossing Island Lake, with a family walking past behind him. — You don't need a boat. Much of the shoreline and boardwalk is fishable.

Aerial view of Island Lake Conservation Area showing the full reservoir, its causeways and boardwalks, the surrounding forest, and the edge of Orangeville. — The whole reservoir from above — 182 hectares of it, with the causeways and boardwalks that give you shore access most of the way round.

Photos: Dufferin Local

Frequently asked questions

Where can you go fishing in Orangeville?

Island Lake Conservation Area, five minutes from Broadway, is the main fishing water in Orangeville. It holds northern pike, largemouth bass, black crappie, yellow perch and panfish, with ten accessible fishing piers along the south shore plus fishable shoreline and boardwalk. Park admission is $8.50 for adults and no reservation is needed.

Do you need a licence to fish at Island Lake?

Yes. A valid Ontario fishing licence — an Outdoors Card plus a sport or conservation licence — is required year round. One licence covers the whole province, so there is no separate permit for Island Lake. The exception is Ontario Family Fishing Weekend in February and its summer equivalent, when licence requirements are waived.

What fish are in Island Lake, Orangeville?

Northern pike, largemouth bass, black crappie, yellow perch, and panfish including pumpkinseed and bluegill. Pike over 10 pounds and largemouth over 6 pounds are caught here.

Can you fish from shore at Island Lake?

Yes. There are ten accessible fishing piers along the south shore, plus fishable shoreline and boardwalk, so a boat is not needed. If you do want to get on the water, canoes, kayaks and small boats rent from the park in season — electric motors only, no gas engines.

When is the Island Lake fishing derby?

There are two, both run by the Credit Valley Conservation Foundation. The Ice Fishing Derby runs about ten days each February, with $1,000 cash for the largest northern pike. The Bass Derby runs in July — 2026 was its 16th year, held on 11 and 12 July.

Details checked July 27, 2026. Fees, hours and closures change — phone ahead for anything that would ruin the trip if it were wrong.

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