Lake Simcoe
| Lake Simcoe | ||
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| Geographical location | Ontario (Canada) | |
| Tributaries | Talbot River | |
| Drain | Severn River → Lake Huron | |
| Islands | Georgina Island , Thorah Island | |
| Places on the shore | Barrie , Orillia | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 44 ° 27 ′ N , 79 ° 21 ′ W | |
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| Altitude above sea level | 219 m | |
| surface | 723 km² | |
| length | 30 km | |
| width | 25 km | |
| Maximum depth | 41 m | |
The Lake Simcoe (German Simcoesee ) is a lake in the southern part of the Canadian province of Ontario , about 70 kilometers north of the city of Toronto area. It is drained by the Severn River and is therefore part of the catchment area of the St. Lawrence River .
It is one of the largest lakes in the province, although it is much smaller than the Great Lakes and Lake Nipigo . At the time of the first European explorations in the 17th century , the lake was called Ouentironk ("beautiful water") by the Wyandot . It was also known as Lake Toronto . Early French traders called it Lac aux Claies , the "lake of weirs", because of the many fish weirs that were found there. The lake got its current name from John Graves Simcoe , the lieutenant governor of Upper Canada in the late 18th century.
The lake is about 30 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide. It extends over an area of 723 km² (with Lake Couchiching it has a total area of 773.96 km²) and is around 1.3 times the size of Lake Constance . The maximum water depth is 41 m. There are several smaller and larger islands in Lake Simcoe. The largest island is Georgina Island , smaller islands are Thorah Island , Strawberry Island , Snake Island, and Fox Island .
The lake is surrounded by Simcoe County , the Durham Region, and the York Region . Larger towns on the shore of the lake are Barrie and Orillia .
Lake Simcoe is part of a larger, prehistoric lake, the Algonquin , from which Lake Huron , Lake Michigan , Lake Upper and several smaller lakes were formed.
According to some cryptozoologists , a seal-like monster, the Igopogo , is said to live in the lake . When the animal is sighted in Kempenfelt Bay , in the northeastern part of the lake, it is called Kempenfelt Kelly .
Lake Simcoe following fish species are caught: walleye , largemouth bass , smallmouth bass , pike , yellow perch , crappie , sunfish , lake trout , lake whitefish and Getüpfelter catfish . Muscle lung , sea sturgeon and American whitefish ( Coregonus artedi ) are protected all year round .