Smallmouth bass hot in early spring

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/04/2004 (7924 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THERE was a time when anglers in this part of the world would forget about smallmouth bass — the bronzeback battler — as an angling option once the ice was gone in the spring.

Not so any more. Bass fishing popularity has grown tremendously. And because few places have a better population of smallmouth than the lakes and rivers of southeastern Manitoba and northwestern Ontario, it makes a lot of sense.

In Manitoba the season doesn’t open until May 15, but in most parts of northwestern Ontario the season doesn’t close, even though there are strict regulations that include only two fish in possession, with none over 35 centimetres, from Dec. 1 to June 20. (Complete Ontario regulations are available online at www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/fishing/gen.)

They’re waiting…

Bass have made their way into just about ever lake, river and stream in northwestern Ontario and into many of the waters in the eastern part of Manitoba. They were originally stocked out of milk canisters by railway workers.

The Canadian Shield has proved an ideal habitat for smallmouth bass. Many lakes are deep and clear, supporting populations of both lake trout and smallies.

While these oligotrophic lakes don’t hold huge populations of fish, they do grow large smallmouth, some in excess of two kilograms, with 1.5-kilogram fish fairly common throughout Lake of the Woods, Shoal Lake and the Winnipeg River. All have excellent populations of smallmouths.

The real sleepers, however, are the small lakes that dot the region. In Manitoba these include Falcon, Horseshoe, Star, Caddy, George, Shoe, Tooth, Echo, Black and Big Clearwater lakes.

Early spring open water is one of the best times to catch big smallmouth, when the fish are still relatively deep, waiting for the shallow water to warm.

A few years back I took my boat on the Minaki Highway to try one of the small lakes off the road that held some stocked lake trout. To my surprise, while jigging of one of the reefs, I discovered a large school of jumbo smallmouth, using a jigging spoon in about three metres of water. Some nice jumbos were caught.

These fish were just starting to move from their winter mud to hard bottom, and then up to shallower water. A warmer spring day with good chop had the fish up and active. Most of the smallmouth caught that day were about a metre up off the bottom.

When smallmouth are deep, they hold to a fairly small area; that’s when electronic fish finders come into play. A vertical presentation helps.

On bigger lakes, with scattered deep fish, don’t be afraid to drift until you make contact, using a variety of jigging spoons. In most cases, bait isn’t needed on these lures — just give them about a half-metre lift, drop and hang on.

If the weather is good in late April and into May, it won’t take long for the fish to move into shallow water. As soon as the water temperature in back bays and shorelines starts to reach 10º C, the smallmouth will be in full-fledged pre-spawn migration. Any shallow structure — rocks, reeds, docks, fallen trees — holds feed and the bass become very aggressive.

This is the time when the bass angler thinks he has died and gone to heaven as one bass after another slams your bait. It really doesn’t matter what you use during this time — a shallow running crank or small jig will get the job done.

A week of warm spring weather later, those bass I had been catching in deeper water had moved shallower. We slowly took the electric troll motor into a bay off the main lake, checking shoreline areas with polarized sunglasses.

The surface temperature gauge on my electronics indicated the water was in that 10º mid pre-spawn range. Once we started pitching into shallow water, it was a fishing day to remember.

With the ice expected to go off these smaller lakes soon, it’s time to get geared up for another great open water fishing season.

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Angler Notes — Look for a fantastic catfish opener on the Red River come May 15. Stu McKay, who runs Cats on the Red, just north of Lockport, says while the river is still running fast and a little high, conditions should be optimum for the opener in three weeks.

* The Manitoba International Catfish Classic is slated for July 23-24 in Selkirk. For more information go to www.xstreamproductions.com or call 204-275-9355.

* The Manitoba Recreational Fishing League is slated to start it’s fourth season May 17. The league introduces youth to fishing in a fun and friendly competitive format. For more information on this province-wide program visit www.mwf.mb.ca/league or call Rob Cann at Manitoba Fisheries, 945-7816.

dlamont@mts.net

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