Category: largemouth bass

Hi Italo, hope all is well. Can you give me a few suggestions on good fishing spots within a 2 hour drive of Toronto and lodging?i am looking for large mouth bass, pike, walleye.Much appreciatedJoe

Posted on July 6th, 2021

One of my favorite areas to send people looking for Largemouth Bass, Walleye & Pike is Prince Edward County, ON. It’s within your 2 hr drive from the GTA and has excellent fishing all summer long. Here are some suggestions for lodging:

All three locations have excellent fishing…God bless you.

Make sure to check the fishing videos on our Italo Labignan YouTube channel and if you have any questions just email them to me at Ask Italo throughout our website.

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Hi Itallo. Hope you are well.We will be renting a couple of boats from Fenelon Falls Marina this Wednesday and were hoping you can provide some tips (ie lures, colours, jigs, fishing depths, specific spots) for mostly walleye but will also be targeting muskie and smallies.Thanks you

Posted on August 15th, 2020

Hi Domenic, if you plan on fishing Cameron Lake I would suggest you fish 1/4 oz black, bucktail hair jigs for walleye jigging the edge and nooks & crannies of the weeds/weedline. For bass you should do well fishing boat docks/boats that are not in use with 7″ Texas rigged plastic worms. You may also want to cast white 3/8 oz. single Colorado blade spinnerbaits to shorelines and around weedbeds and lastly you may want to fish a 1/4 oz black buzz-bait over and around the weeds, especially any lily pad beds…God bless you.

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Hey ItaloI have a question about large mouth bass fishing up north. It seems the more north i go in ontario alot of the lakes have less shoreline structure and alot less vegitation and mats than the areas im used to fishing for largemouth( rice, scugog and cooks bay). Where exactly should i be looking for the largemouth when this is the case? Are they just out cruising in deep open water? When i go out deep, i end up catching smallmouth mostly. I do have a fishfinder on my boat. An example would be north in the kawarthas or bass lake north of orillia. Alot of the docks are shallow and sandy with no weeds, then it drops off. Almost no vegitation or grass/ mats. Thank you for your anwser, it helps alot.

Posted on July 18th, 2020

Hi James, Largemouth will either relate to weeds or shorelines. If there are largemouth in a lake with few weeds you’ll find them in the shallows around structure and any trees, stumps. If you locate weedbeds anywhere in a largemouth bass lake where the weeds are off-shore i. shallows you will find largemouth bass. They will be in 2-12’ water.

Those types of lakes are best fished with slow moving soft-plastics and especially “wacky-work” rigs.

Fish with a Passion. God bless you,

Italo

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Hi ItaloDo you know what the current water levels are on lake scugog?I want to take a trip up there for some frog fishing under the mats but dont want to have it be to low and no fish be under the pads like i have experienced before. Thanks

Posted on June 30th, 2020

Hi Alex, water levels on Scugog are good. Should be excellent for you to fish frogs under mats, in-between reeds and through lily pads…God bless you.

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Hi ItaloI am wondering if you can give me a breif description of a typical pattern largemouth bass would follow in southern ontario in lakes such as lake scugog from season opener in late june to early fall. What depths do they like and what type of structure as the months progress and based on time of day?I have allways struggled to locate them and to know whether to go shallow or go deep and would like this to be a good season for me. I fish from a small boat. Thank you for your time Italo.

Posted on June 9th, 2020

Hi Ryan, I grew up learning to Bass fish on Lake Scugog, ON. Scugog is a relatively shallow lake that can grow heavy weed growth if we have a hot summer. Also, water levels can vary and if the water levels are low, that can also add a challenge. From opening day to late fall largemouth bass in Lake Scugog will live in the same area. They will feed in water from 2-7′ deep in and around weeds, on weedlines, along shorelines that have some depth and they will take cover under floating weed-mats. I have caught them fishing a Johnson Silver Minnow weedless spoon all season long fishing the massive lily pad beds on the south-east side of the lake, in the Scugog River, Mariposa Brook, East Cross Creed and the Nonquon River. Bass move around and all of the above can produce fish and also non of them. Other times I have done well “flipping” the suspended cattails at the mouth of the Scugog River and also on the west side of Scugog Island north of Goreski’s Beach. My top presentation thought the season are:

-weedless spoon over and through thick weed mats, lily pads and arrowhead along the shorelines

-Rapala J11 fished in any of the open pockets in between heavier weeds and on the weed-edges.

-spinnerbaits over weeds

-(when there is enough water) flipping flippin’jigs and 6″ Texas rigged plastic worms in growing cattails, along suspended cattails, through bullrushes (buggy-wips), along docks and shorelines trees in the water

-lastly topwater lures just before dark.

God bless you.

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I notice on TV that when they reel in a bass, the hook is in the fish’s mouth while the plastic worm is sometimes 4 feet up the line. Is this due to a strong hook set or the way the worm is rigged?

Posted on April 29th, 2020

Hi Steven, it’s normally due to the fishing line going through the sinker which in many cases is “screwed” into soft-plastic with a built in light wire on the bullet sinker. When a fish is hooked the hook goes through the soft-plastic and usually runs up the line still attached to the weight.,,God bless you.

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Hey Italo! I was wondering what your favourite senko color is for wacky rigging?

Posted on February 27th, 2020

Hi Kai, actually my favourite soft-plastic for wacky-rigging is the Case Wacky Jack in bubblegum colour. Bass can’t resist it. https://fishingcompleteinc.com/products/case-wacky-jack .

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Hi Italo. Hope you are doing well. We plan on fishing Little Lake (Port Severn) this Friday and would appreciate any tips for catching musky, bass and pike ie location, water depth, lure size, type and colour. Weather forecast shows sunny and 19 degrees…Thank you in advance.

Posted on October 9th, 2019

Hi Domenic, It’s been a while since I fished Little Lake, Severn, ON. For Largemouth you should continue to fish a shoreline and weedline pattern using slower moving soft-plastics that include Texas rigged 6-7″ plastic worms, wacky-worms or a 3″ paddle-tail swim-bait on a 1/4 oz jig. For pike I would cast a Vibrax #4 spinner along the weeds and over them. Musky should be on “contact-points” and around islands where there’s a rock/weed mix in 10-20′ water. Best to cast a Musky Bucktail for them. I usually go with bright chartreuse blade/body for the fall musky. Hope you have a good trip and that the weather holds…God bless you.

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Hi Italo. Hope you and your family are doing well. We’re taking my young nephew to Little Lake, Port Severn, next week end, Sunnylea Resort..which will be his first time on a boat (14 footer). We were curious on what you would suggest we use for pike, bass and walleye also lure colours.. also, since this is our first time on this lake, would appreciate if you can suggest any specific spots to target these species?Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Posted on September 2nd, 2019

Hi Domenic, I have never fished for walleye there but I did fish bass tournaments that included fishing Little Lake. I had good luck catching nice largemouth bass pitching 6 & 7” purple Texas-rigged plastic worms close to the docks and beside the moored boats in the trailer park just west of the Severn dam. I also did well for pike casting white 3/8oz single blade spinnerbaits to rocky points and any isolated weedbeds that were in 4-10’ water (you could visually see them).

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Hi ItaloJust to follow upI took my kayak out to the scugog river today by east cross creek, only place i could find bass was rowing about 5km south into the deeper weeds where the it opens into the lake and throwing crank baits and swim baits over the weeds. All the lily pad beds and shallow vegetation had very thick weed beds growing almost to the surface and coming right up to the bottom of the lily pads, so thick, almost looked like an under water carpet. Seems most of the shallow weed areas in scugog have this, is that normal?, seems like the bass dont like it as they are all in deeper water than i would normally target bass. Also i was wondering if you can suggest another spot i i could try and have good luck with shallow bass fishing, ie frog and flipping jig, preferablely on a new lake?What lakes are best known for their largemouth fishing in ontario other than scugog?Im open to any info you can give!Sorry for all the questions, im new to ontario from out west. Thank you Italo, my last question, just wanted abit more info as i didnt find what i was expecting at the scugog river.

Posted on August 7th, 2019

Hi Alex, yes, weeds can get pretty thick during hot sunny summers in Lake Scugog, the Scugog River and the adjoining rivers. The Omemee Pond above the Omemee, ON dam can produce some really big bass and also Goose Bay at the south end of Sturgeon Lake.

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