During the last half hour of our 4 ½ hour drive from the GTA to New York’s Lake Chautauqua my son Izaak and I were beginning to think we might not get out fishing as the constant rain, cold and wind did not look all that inviting. When we pulled into the gates at We Wan Chu Cottages, it had stopped raining and Peter, the owner was there to greet us. We would be staying in the same cottage as last year and our boat in the same slip. This would be our home away from home for the next five days and the familiarity and inviting atmosphere of this fish-friendly resort helped get us into vacation mode right away. As it was already close to suppertime, and the rain started again, we chose to just launch the bass boat, tie her up to our slip and get ready to fish the next day.

For many years ... actually decades now, I have been a big fan of jerkbaits. From the start of bass season until it closes, I will always have at least one tied on and ready to go. Without doubt, my favorite is the Rapala X-Rap as it casts like a bullet and can suspend a couple of meters below the surface if you so desire.  It can be equally effective at catching a quick limit as it can at that kicker fish you need to cash a cheque. The X-Rap is the perfect search bait because even when most bass are shut down, there’s often one ornery one, perturbed enough to not let that uber tempting, injured minnow get away! And fortunately for you, bass often hang out together- so the one that gave himself away, can tell you others might be nearby and cacheable with a slower moving soft bait.

Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources doesn't produce too many extensive smallmouth bass reports, but thanks to one of our finest biologists, we are pleased to let you know about a new provincial bass report available on the MNR website at the link below - or see attached pdf: The Smallmouth Bass in Ontario.