Trout Lake is a multi basin lake that runs East to West. The North side of the lake comes under the jurisdiction of the City of North Bay, while the South side of the lake is managed by the Township of East Ferris. Trout Lake boasts clear, cold and clean water. It is the water supply for the City of North Bay (population 55,000). A further thousand local shoreline residents also draw its waters for domestic consumption. Trout Lake is one of the few lakes in Ontario that does not need any filtration prior to chlorination and distribution to City dwellers. This excellent water quality is slowly being threatened by unabated shoreline development, and both the City and the Township have implemented environmentally sound planning bylaws in an attempt to minimize the impact of this development on water quality. The cost of building a filtration plant (if needed) is estimated to exceed CAN $20 million, so there is a very strong economic reason to protect this unique water supply. There are five major basins in Trout Lake. Delaney Bay, to the far West, is about 30 m deep at its deepest point and is the site of the water intake pipe for both the City of North Bay and Canadian Forces Base North Bay. The CFB water intake feeds the underground NORAD base at CFB North Bay. On the North side of Delaney is Lee's Creek, where both smelt and walleye come to spawn in the early spring. Dugas bay, on the South shore, is a shallow basin that is home to warmer water species of fish such as muskellunge, northern pike, perch and largemouth and smallmouth bass to name a few. The voyageurs, upon reaching Trout Lake from the Mattawa river, would head for the most southern edge of Dugas Bay, where the La Vase portages would eventually take them to Lake Nipissing and then on to the Great Lakes! The 68 Meter Basin, not surprisingly, has 68 m of water at its deepest point. It is home to a naturally reproducing population of lake trout that have been overharvested of late. The angling season for lake trout was closed on Trout Lake in 1991. The Ministry of Natural Resources is reviewing the closure now, with an eye to reopening it, (under strict management controls) within a few years. To the north lies a small basin called One Mile Bay. Not so long ago, One Mile Bay was connected to Four Mile Bay, and waters flowed East around a large island that has now become a Peninsula. Four Mile Bay is a very special basin. Historically native lake trout used to spawn here. Deteriorating water quality and overfishing are threatening the lake trout in this basin with extinction. Spawning (of lake trout) is no longer thought to occur in this basin and the remnant lake trout population may be heading for extinction. Meanwhile, Atlantic salmon (also called Ouananiche), are trying to make a come-back, after being wiped out by a zinc spill in Four Mile Creek in the early '70's.

Camp Island is at the far eastern end. This island is very important for a number of reasons. The sand beach on its southeast side was a camping area for First Nation people for thousands of years, and artifacts still routinely wash out of the sand. Today the same beach is a focal point of summer activity for local residents. A bass spawning fish sanctuary (red) is in effect from May 15 to Aug. 1st of every year. Finally, the areas in red and in yellow (south on opposite shore) are the only known lake trout spawning areas in Trout Lake.