Lake Muskoka Smallmouth Fishing
I was up at a friend's cottage for Canada day long weekend and luckily managed to sneak in an hour or two of fishing. Having never fished Lake Muskoka, I relied on some online fishing forums and friends' descriptions of the cottage to figure out what was in store for me. I quickly learned that the lake is very deep and rocky- a perfect place for me to practise my tube fishing.
I fished using huckleberry coloured whip em disc tubes, the ones I got in my April Mystery Tackle Box. I rigged them on tube jigs just like in the video below. Fishing from a canoe in the south-eastern part of the lake (around Ennis Bay- see map below), I focussed on docks and other structure in shallow water. Although it was difficult to tell how deep it was in certain places, since the lake can be 20' deep 10' from shore, the two fish I caught were definitely in under 20' of water- the bigger one quite shallow, probably in water around 5' deep and only a handful of feet from shore, near a concrete dock. The first, smaller fish hit at the end of a floating dock before the tube hit the bottom. The second, bigger fish hit after I popped the tube a few times after it hit the bottom, mimicking the action of a crayfish.
One of the things I really like about this tube set-up is that it's quite easy to skip your bait so that you can get it under docks, or even if you just want the tube to have a quieter entrance into the water. On the other hand, as with other soft plastics, setting the hook can be somewhat challenging for the angler who has little experience fishing these kinds of baits. It is important to watch your line for any abnormal movements that may signify a strike- I use braid with a fluorocarbon leader to make this a bit easier- or else you'll miss fish or, worse yet, the fish will swallow the hook. Having said that, tubes are a relatively good bait to use to learn how to fish soft plastics, since, unless you're fishing in weedy water, you can generally leave the hook point exposed, making the hook set easier compared to, say, a Texas rigged bait.
Stay tuned in the next little while for some new posts about lake trout fishing on Biggar Lake and smallmouth fishing on Lake Simcoe. And remember, knowledge is important, but it's no substitute for experience.
Greg Cholkan is a lawyer, fisherman, and Hemingway impersonator. He works in Huntsville and Haliburton with Barriston LLP and his practice focuses on real estate, wills and estates, and corporate matters.
One of the things I really like about this tube set-up is that it's quite easy to skip your bait so that you can get it under docks, or even if you just want the tube to have a quieter entrance into the water. On the other hand, as with other soft plastics, setting the hook can be somewhat challenging for the angler who has little experience fishing these kinds of baits. It is important to watch your line for any abnormal movements that may signify a strike- I use braid with a fluorocarbon leader to make this a bit easier- or else you'll miss fish or, worse yet, the fish will swallow the hook. Having said that, tubes are a relatively good bait to use to learn how to fish soft plastics, since, unless you're fishing in weedy water, you can generally leave the hook point exposed, making the hook set easier compared to, say, a Texas rigged bait.
Stay tuned in the next little while for some new posts about lake trout fishing on Biggar Lake and smallmouth fishing on Lake Simcoe. And remember, knowledge is important, but it's no substitute for experience.
Greg Cholkan is a lawyer, fisherman, and Hemingway impersonator. He works in Huntsville and Haliburton with Barriston LLP and his practice focuses on real estate, wills and estates, and corporate matters.
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| Gold star = Ennis Bay area |
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