Category: largemouth bass

Hello sir,I have a question regarding kayak fishing for largemouth regarding where to target them. I know some times bass can be quite productive in shallow cover, other times the pads and emergent vegetation seems to not produce and I have to go out deeper 6-12 ish feet submerged weeds, my question is are there any indicators of which technique is more likely to produce bass based on like conditions or lake features, assuming it’s a new lake or one you haven’t fished in a few weeks. I ask because being a kayak fisherman, it takes more time than a boat to have to row from the pads areas out to weed beds or vice versa if I get it wrong initially. Is there any way to make an educated guess so I don’t have to do as much rowing or is trial and error the only way?Thanks Italo

Posted on August 12th, 2023

Hi George,  great question. My strategy whether I’m fishing Largemouth Bass either from a kayak or a boat is based much on the time of day. Largemouth bass tend to do most of their cruising early and late in the da searching for prey. If I fish early I fish areas just off weeds and fish quickly either casting a spinnerbait, a crankbait, or a twitch-bait. If I am fishing later in the day I know that largemouth’s like to sit under cover to ambush prey. That cover could be “slop” (up-rooted aquatic vegetation), that has been dislodged by the wind/waves and stacked up to form a “matt”, “blow-down” (shoreline trees that have fallen in the water), or dense areas of lily pads, or dense areas of weeds like coontail or milfoil where they are sitting in pockets inside the thick weeds. In that case my go-to presentation is fishing a Texas-rigged plastic worm or a flippin’jig. I fish slower and try and hit any sport where I think a largemouth might be holding under….God bless you.

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Hello Italo,Hope you are doing well.I am looking for some help to locate fish, you’ve always been helpful and I appreciate all the help you’ve given me over the years. I am going to Upper buckhorn in the next work or so.Where are some good location for bass in around Fox Island?.Thanking you in advance.

Posted on August 1st, 2023

Hi Susan, Upper Buckhorn has some excellent bass fishing. I have only done well fishing Musky around Fox Island. My best bass success has been fishing the docks and shorelines north of Scottsman’s Point on both shorelines. There are several rock shoals that are marked on the eastern shoreline near McIllmoy Point and I have also done well fihsing around docks and concrete wall just south of there at the RV park. I would simply fish a 3″ black twister-tail grub on a 1/4 oz jighead and cast it to open pockets on the rocks in-between the weeds and around docks…God bless you.

Italo

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Hello ItaloI am wondering if you have any reports on the north east tip of scugog, for kayak bass fishing. By east cross creek and mariposa brook on the scugog river. I was there a few years ago twice, water was low and didn’t get any bites, put in a good 8 hours, frog, flipping, wacky etc. Another canoe was there and they also had no luck. I remember you mentioning the spot before, and am wondering if its no longer viable or if that was just a bad year. Do you have any first hand reports there this season? If not can you suggest me another spot that you more recently know is holding largemouth an equal distance or so from toronto. Thanks Italo.

Posted on July 6th, 2023

Hi Alex,

East Cross Creek, the main Scugog River and Mariposa Brook hold good size largemouth (and musky), but they are scattered. In years when water levels are low they will not use those areas and will be in the main lake. I can suggest you drive about 20min further north of Lindsay, ON and fish McClaren’s Creek and Goose Bay in the southern part of Sturgeon Lake. Hopefully water level is better in Sturgeon Lake. You can put-in right in Lindsay at the public boat launch and work your way out to Goose Bay. The submerged trees in the river can hold largemouth bass also and when you get out to Goose Bay there are lots of stumps and cover used both for largemouth, smallmouth bass and even walleye. Once in Goose Bay keep left (west side) and work your way to McClaren’s Creek.

God bless you,

Italo

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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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