Finding Smallmouth Bass in Ontario
I regularly skim through articles on the Bassmaster website. Once in awhile, I find some good ones. But often, I'm left disappointed: there's a real focus on largemouth and southern U.S. waters. The tips aren't always helpful, particularly for people who fish smaller northern lakes. And for the most part, the authors don't really want to give away their hard earned trade secrets: they may tell you how to work a tube, but they won't tell you exactly where you should use one.
So how do you find these acrobatic footballs? Generally, smallmouth prefer "large, clear lakes and reservoirs with an average depth greater than 9 m with rock shoals." This is obvious even to the recreational angler. On some lakes, these spots are easy to find. Take this screen shot of a depth chart of Lake Manitou on Manitoulin Island. The lake is full of great offshore structure. Habitat is the determinative factor here.
But other lakes aren't as easy to fish. There are a number of these in Muskoka. Look at this image of Lake of Bays. The spots aren't as evident. And the forage is different. These lakes need to be fished differently. This blog does a masterful job of showing some of the techniques you need to master to find success in this area. Importantly, the author points out that smallmouth often look up to find their food. And so sometimes finding baitfish is more important than finding physical structure.
Remember, there are three main factors that determine a fish's location: temperature, food, and physical structure. Finding the proper temperature helps, but fish will move into warmer water to find food. If their food is close to physical structure, that's where they'll locate. Otherwise, they'll move around.
The interplay between these three factors explains why there are always exceptions to rules. In some lakes, it may be that "adult [smallmouth] most often use cooler areas, such as drop-offs, that are away from vegetation and in water [greater than] 12 m deep." But one of my biggest catches this year was on a lake no deeper than about 30 feet in a spot full of vegetation.
The interplay between these three factors explains why there are always exceptions to rules. In some lakes, it may be that "adult [smallmouth] most often use cooler areas, such as drop-offs, that are away from vegetation and in water [greater than] 12 m deep." But one of my biggest catches this year was on a lake no deeper than about 30 feet in a spot full of vegetation.
This isn't to say that these "rules" are useless: they will give you a place to start on a new body of water. But you should always be ready and able to adapt to the peculiarities of a particular lake. After all, knowledge is important, but it's no substitute for experience!
Greg Cholkan is a lawyer and fisherman. He works in Muskoka with Barriston LLP and his practice focuses on real estate, wills and estates, and business matters. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter.
0 Response to "Finding Smallmouth Bass in Ontario"
Post a Comment