Muskoka Outdoors Network

Finding smallmouth bass this summer may be easier than you think!

I was fortunate enough, last summer, to have been invited to a small lake north of Huntsville by, Kevin Swinscoe. The lake, which can only be accessed by surrounding land owners, shimmered enticingly as I approached Kevin’s dock and waiting motor boat.

Before we left in the boat, Kevin introduced me to the equipment we were going to use:

1. A six weight fly rod and reel rigged with a Messinger Frog (photo top)

2. A ‘standard issue’ spincasting rod with a Berkley Sabertail Grub (green)

I took a quick look up to the driveway where my car was parked. My own equipment was there occupying the entire back seat. If you listened carefully enough, you could have heard my favorite blue Rapala cringe, as Kevin said,

“You won’t need your equipment.”

When Kevin started the boat and we drove away from the dock, I hoped he was right about his assessment of my equipment.

Kevin’s plan was simple and effective. We would start at one end of the small lake and allow the wind to drift us down one side of the contoured shore. The motor was only used to make minor course corrections.

As we started our silent drifting, Kevin, reminded me to cast into the ‘pockets’ of weeds and shore structures that were prevalent along the lake’s banks. This proved key to our success as bass began to annihilate the top-water Messinger frog on Kevin’s fly rod. The smallmouth bass were also hungry for my sub-surface offering of the frog-like Berkley grub.

One of my favorite times to fish for smallmouth bass is during the golden moment after a supper BBQ and the sun begins to set. Usually retreating with the sun is the wind. A small wind factor can help the angler to make some pinpoint casts while casting for pocket smallmouth.

At this time of the evening (at least in my experience – and Kevin’s) bass move into shallow water and occupy weed, dock and structure pockets along the shore.

Pockets are formed when any portion of weed beds and shore structures collide and create open ambush points for bass to sit, and wait, for incoming prey. I realize that what I am saying should be obvious to most, but I have included some photos in this post to help illustrate what I mean. I have put red fish icons in some of the places I would call pockets for bass. The splash seen in the middle photo (photo right) is from one of the bass that hammered Kevin’s frog fly.

Pay attention special attention where rocks, boulders, and trees interface with the water from the shoreline. These create fantastic ambush points – especially when in close proximity to docks. You don’t need a boat to capitalize on bass pockets. Find the nearest dock that has weeds on either side of it. Fish the pocket where the weeds meet the dock in deeper water.

After the smell of the BBQ is whisked away by the light evening breeze into the setting sun, look for smallmouth pockets along the shore of your favorite lake. Turn off your fish finder and forget fancy presentations. As Kevin says,

“You won’t need it…”

It would seem today's wet weather positively impacted the pike fishing on Lake Muskoka. For Gord, and his father-in-law, it meant landing a 6.1 lb and 5.1 lb pike respectively. The good news is that the bite was still on after these photos were submitted to Muskoka Outdoors. Great work guys and thanks for the photos!

I can’t put my finger on it yet, but the sunsets on Lake Kipawa, Quebec are different then any I have ever seen. The sky seems more brilliant blue at that magical, glowing moment before the sun hits the horizon.

The fishing is also fantastic because the lake lets you target (what are in my mind) the big 3 fish species: pickerel (walleye), lake trout and pike. For more information on Quebec’s Lake Kipawa (because I want to get to my story) visit this site.

For 2 - 3 years, the guys of our Triple L Fishing Club ventured to an island fishing lodge in Lake Kipawa. This lake is so big, that it took us a couple of years to fine-tune a short list on where we should fish. Fortunately, some of the best fishing spots for us were 30 second boat rides from the cabins.

This was the case on the night of the caper.

Dad and I anchored in rocky bay right across from the lodge. I think we picked it because the fish finder showed great rock structure and a steep drop-off just a few feet from shore. We had visions of lunker lake trout swarming our lures and bait.

For one of those rare moments, our plan worked out.

The lake trout started biting and I think we could have called it a frenzy. Our presentation consisted of hooked herring and Berkley Gulp jigs. Somewhere between our 4th landed trout and a lure change I noticed smoke coming from the back corner of one of our cabins. I pointed out the smoke plume to dad and he grabbed his binoculars to confirm what we were seeing. We both went through mental checklists in our heads to remember what we did with the stove when supper had finished.

Another trout hit my lure and I quickly brought it in as dad tried to reach the rest of the gang on the radio. We were hoping that they might still be on shore with a radio.

No answer.

At that point, we knew we had to go check it out. I have to admit – it was a tough decision to make. The right ones usually are. So, we raced over to the docks with imaginary sirens blazing. As we docked and ran to the site of the fire, we were relieved to find that the fire was just the lodge owner burning some leaves. From our fishing angle, it looked like the fire was coming from our cabins. After having a good laugh with the owner, we hurried back to our fishing frenzy location.

As you would expect – the fish were gone. The timing of the whole chain of events made me wonder if we should return back to the camp to make sure the lodge owner was not being held hostage by a school of ‘special-ops’ trout.

Fire missions aside, we had some great fishing moments on Lake Kipawa. We found a spinning rig (or chartreuse jig heads) with a minnow or Berkley Gulp bait worked for both Lake Trout and Pickerel. If you can bring some live leeches to the party – you will virtually guarantee yourself some fresh pickerel in the pan. Take one night to do some after dark pickerel fishing. Not only will you see a great sunset, but you may get lucky (as we did one night) and see the walleye school into the bay we were fishing in.

Don’t fall for the burning cabin trick…

There is a small rocky crag in Tim Lake. I call it my fishing sweet spot. It has earned this designation from the simple fact that I can anchor off the rocky anomaly and catch a mess of lake trout at 30 feet.

Always.

It’s the kind of place where you can take off your lifejacket and carefully slip into the depths of your canoe and watch the sun drift across the horizon. As you lie back against your seat (with your life jacket as a back rest) you quickly find that life’s issues and problems are held back by the gunwales, the fishing and an impending nap.

A spot where life is good and only I know about it.

I am sure you have your sweet spots for fishing. The spots that you keep to yourself. The spots where the fishing is great and consistent. I think they are sweet spots because of the way that life can stand still in them and not necessarily because the fishing is good. As much as it would be good for the sport of fishing to expand if we were less secretive about where these spots were – I understand why some things need to be kept secret.

I felt that way until recently. I found another sweet spot. It’s two, actually. These ones are less secret than my first.

When I hold my 6 month old daughter close, I have found a sweet spot on both cheeks (just ahead of her ears). If life’s problems and trials threaten to distort my hold on reality, I simply pick her up and hold her close. Then, I sit down and put my cheek against hers and watch the sun drift across the horizon through her bedroom window.

A spot where life is good and a lifejacket is not an issue.

Happy early Father's Day!