Gravel River

The Gravel is a small north shore river that reaches Lake Superior between Nipigon and Rossport. The fishing is in its lower river, about 13 km of meanders from the falls down to a wide sand delta on Lake Superior. Lake-run rainbows come in from late April, peak in mid-May and hang on into June. Coaster brook trout work the delta and the nearby shoreline from mid-May, and the river is part of the stretch of shore where coasters have come back over the past 30 years.

Below the falls the river slows, meanders and cuts into its own sandy banks, so it fishes differently from the bedrock rivers to the east. Look for steelhead in the deeper bends and in the runs just below the falls, and drift a bead-head nymph and an egg pattern close to the bottom. In the clear, slow water at the mouth, a sculpin or smelt streamer on a sink tip finds coasters along the drop-offs. The gauge near Cavers sits just above the falls. The spring freshet colours the river, and it fishes best on the drop. It is a small river, so a few anglers fill it, and a cold, clear April day can find the fish still out in the lake.

The lower river and delta are in Gravel River Provincial Park, a nature reserve with no facilities where camping is not allowed. Below the falls a brook trout must be over 56 cm to keep, and rainbows are one a day on a sport licence and none on a conservation licence, so plan to release what you catch. Nipigon is 45 minutes west and Rossport is 15 minutes east, with motels and a provincial park campground at Rainbow Falls. If the Gravel is crowded, the Cypress and the Jackpine are just west along the highway, and the Steel is about an hour east.