Smallmouth Bass Fishing Tips

Tackle that you should have:

  • A good quality 6' to 7' medium to medium heavy rod or
  • A good quality spinning or bait cast reel.
  • A good quality 8 to 12lb test mono or braided line.
  • A variety of small to medium crank baits, rattle traps, led head jigs, tube baits, top water lures & Mepps spinners.

    Spring fishing tips for small mouth bass.
    Small mouth like to run in schools in early to late spring on the English River (May to late June). They feed very aggressively during this time. So once you find them you will have the time of your life catching them. These feisty fish will test your tackle to it's limits. Pound for pound they are the strongest fighting fish in Ontario.

    Where to find them in spring:

  • Near the mouth of rivers in rocky areas.
  • Just outside of moving water that has good depth & some kind of structure.
  • Many anglers catch small mouth bass accidently in spring while fishing for walleye so this shows you how easy it can be in the spring of the year.

    Where to find them July through August:
    As the water temps start to warm, small mouth bass will move deeper in search of their comfortable water temps. Look for them to be off of sloping rocky points that have deep water near by or any deep water structure such as humps coming up from 50' or so & fish in 20' to 35'. The best rods are 6' to 7' medium to medium heavy spooled with 8 to 12lb test line. Braided line can give you a better feel for the bite. There is a wide variety of good lures for small mouth bass but remember to keep them small!! The old saying "big bait big fish" is not necessarily true. Try small tube baits, small rattle traps, small diving crank baits etc. Even small jigs tipped with small live bait until you find what they are feeding on. Letting your bait go to the bottom & bouncing off of the rocks or kicking up some silt can trigger a bite.

    Also they will move to submerged weed beds in five to fifteen feet of water. They move to the weed beds because the weeds offer more oxygen & better cover for ambushing bait fish.

    In these warmer temps you'll find yourself catching more fish & better quality fish, while fishing right in the weeds. This method is not popular among some anglers because of the nuisance of cleaning your bait of weeds several times an hour. Again use small weedless baits. Rig your jigs with a minnow so the hook stays inside the minnow. Small weed less spoons, tube baits etc. A perch color always produces well, blue & silver combo is good. Once you get the feel of this method you'll be the hero of camp that week.

    Where to find them in the fall:
    Fall (Sept. to October) can be a great time to fish small mouth bass. As the water temps cools they like to form in schools again & will be staging for the pre winter feeding frenzy. So depending on water temp, try various depths to see where they are staging. A depth finder is a must this time of year. Fall is when they like to feed on crayfish as well so keep that in mind when choosing lures & colors (Some orange & red) & bouncing them off of the rocks mimicking a crayfish. Just take a look at some of our small mouth photos to see what you could enjoy on your next fishing trip.

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