If you\u2019re looking to learn how to catch more and bigger smallmouth, the following tips and techniques will help improve your angling success this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":18269,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[243,231],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bass-fishing","category-fishing"],"acf":{"post_flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text_content","content_anchor":false,"anchor_link_text":"","text_content":"From remote lakes to the mighty St. Lawrence River, Ontario and Quebec offer some of the best smallmouth bass fishing in the world. If you\u2019re looking to learn how to catch more and bigger smallmouth, the following tips and techniques will help improve your angling success this season.<\/b>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content_anchors_list","anchors_section_title":"In this article, you'll learn more about fishing techniques for smallmouth bass:"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_content","content_anchor":false,"anchor_link_text":"","text_content":"
[stag_button url=\"<\/span>https:\/\/www.sail.ca\/en\/collections\/fishing\/bass<\/span>\" style=\"black\" size=\"medium\" type=\"normal\" target=\"_blank\" icon=\"\" icon_order=\"before\"]Shop bass fishing gear[\/stag_button]<\/span><\/p>"},{"acf_fc_layout":"nosto_products","content_anchor":false,"anchor_link_text":"","nosto_class_name":"blog_cp_bass-fishing"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_content","content_anchor":true,"anchor_link_text":"The best places to fish for smallmouth bass","text_content":"The best places to fish for smallmouth bass<\/h2>\r\nAnglers will find smallmouth around a range of structures, from shallow shoreline areas to lake basin structures with depths of 30 feet or greater. Points, sand bars, rocky reefs, boulders, ledges, contour bends, islands and offshore humps are just a few reliable smallmouth fishing locations.\r\n\r\nShallow to deep flats are other places to find smallmouth. The most appealing areas often contain a mix of habitat features, such as patches of vegetation, rock piles and sand patches.\r\n\r\nMany Ontario and Quebec rivers<\/a> also have excellent smallmouth bass fishing. Look for fish around current breaks created by wing dams, islands, humps, reefs, boulders and other obstacles diverting water flow.\r\n\r\nRegardless of the waterbody you\u2019re fishing, an area must contain ample food to attract smallmouth bass. Baitfish often factor heavily in their diet. Crayfish, gobies, frogs and various aquatic invertebrates are other common prey. If a spot looks good but isn\u2019t producing fish, there\u2019s a good chance there just isn\u2019t enough forage, or the right type of food, to draw smallmouth."},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_content","content_anchor":true,"anchor_link_text":"The ideal time to fish for smallmouth bass","text_content":"
The ideal time to fish for smallmouth bass<\/h2>\r\n
What is the ideal time of the year to fish for smallmouth bass?<\/h3>\r\nOntario and Quebec smallmouth bass fishing is excellent from late June to August and again in October and November. Sandwiched between these two time frames is the summer-to-fall transition. During this period, smallmouth tend to be more transient and often scattered, a behaviour some anglers find challenging. That said, smallmouth are a fairly active breed, and with the right fishing technique<\/a> in the right location, you can often catch at least a few and enjoy a fun day on the water.\r\n
What is the ideal time of the day to fish for smallmouth bass?<\/h3>\r\nCertain periods of the day can be better than others to fish for smallmouth. Generally speaking, though, if a bass has an opportunity to eat an easy meal, it will most likely bite. To help stack the odds in your favour, it is a good idea to fish early in the morning and during the evening, as smallmouth are often active at these times.\r\nOn calm, sunny days, it is common to find smallmouth feeding and sunbathing on shallow flats. When the conditions are right, flats can be great places to catch smallmouth during the day.\r\nWind can stimulate smallmouth activity. Anglers are wise to focus on windblown rocky shorelines as well as mid-lake structures (e.g., islands, humps and reefs)."},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_content","content_anchor":true,"anchor_link_text":"The best fishing techniques to catch smallmouth bass","text_content":"
The best fishing techniques to catch smallmouth bass<\/h2>\r\nPart of the fun of fishing for smallmouth bass is being able to catch them using various techniques. There are too many to review in just one blog post, but here are three high-level angling concepts guaranteed to help you catch more and bigger smallmouth.\r\n
Target aggressive smallmouth with fast-moving baits<\/h3>\r\nFishing a horizontal-moving lure quickly is a reliable bass fishing technique. Smallmouth are especially susceptible to swift retrieves with spinnerbaits, inline spinners, jerkbaits, crankbaits, bladed swim jigs, swimbaits and topwaters. Any of these lures<\/a> zipping past a group of bass can stimulate their competitive nature, prompting them to give chase and attack. Even better is the fact it\u2019s common to catch multiple fish in short order from an area with this approach because smallmouth frequently hold in groups.\r\nFishing fast works for shallow smallmouth. This technique is also effective for bass holding over deeper water feeding on suspending smelt, shad, alewife and other baitfish.\r\nBaits to consider: 13 Fishing<\/a> Jabber Jaw, Berkley Choppo, Blue Fox Classic Vibrax, Keitech Fat Swing Impact, Megabass Vision 110, Rapala X-Rap, Strike King Red Eye Spinnerbait, Z-Man Project Z ChatterBait with Razor ShadZ soft bait as a trailer.\r\n
Tactics to catch bottom-oriented smallmouth<\/h3>\r\nSmallmouth regularly eat crayfish, gobies and other floor-dwellers, so presenting a lure along bottom, as well as just above it, are important fishing techniques to master. Following the rationale explained in the previous section, any bait you can work quickly along the floor is a good place to start to appeal to aggressive fish and cover a greater amount of water in short order.\r\nFootball jigs rigged with plastic crayfish or creature baits are good picks. Either of these lures dragged along bottom or worked using a lift-fall retrieve will catch smallmouth. A soft-plastic craw or swimbait on a Carolina rig is another excellent option for pulling along the floor. Smallmouth can rarely resist a swimbait retrieved near bottom. Jigging spoons, bladebaits and underspins are other good options for fishing a lakebed.\r\nBaits to consider: Berkley PowerBait Power Tube on Fusion19 Tube Jig, Freedom Tackle Football Jig with plastic craw trailer, Jackall Deracoup, Johnson Thinfisher, Megabass Dark Sleeper.\r\n
Finesse bites with downsized or slow-moving baits<\/h3>\r\nNo discussion about smallmouth bass fishing is complete without mention of finesse presentations. Although they can be aggressive, smallmouth can also be very selective. Finesse fishing tactics involving small, natural-looking baits are often the secret for getting inactive smallmouth to strike. Here are a few worth trying.\r\nA drop-shot rig is easy to fish and its configuration keeps a soft plastic constantly off bottom and in the strike zone of bottom-oriented smallies. Berkley\u2019s MaxScent FlatNose Minnow, X-Zone Slammer and Z-Man Trick ShotZ are good baits for this rig.\r\nA Ned rig is a phenomenal finesse presentation. It can be dragged and hopped along the bottom, or worked through the water column using a swim-glide retrieve. It\u2019s hard to go wrong with a Z-Man<\/a> TRD and Finesse ShroomZ combination.\r\n\r\nA 4\u201d wacky-rigged Berkley PowerBait General, Yamamoto<\/a> Senko or other stickbait will also catch plenty of smallmouth bass. Let it fall on a semi-slack line to maximize its tantalizing quivering action.\r\n\r\nSlowly swimming a 3\u201d to 4\u201d swimbait can tease strikes from suspending smallmouth as well as fish near bottom. The Berkley Power Swimmer, Keitech Swing Impact, Megabass Hazendong Shad, Strike King<\/a> Rage Tail Swimmer are a few reliable plastics to pair with a jig head for this technique.\r\n\r\nDownsized hard baits are also potent offerings. A size 3 Mepps inline spinner can outproduce a big, 3\/4-ounce spinnerbait in tough conditions. Short twitches mixed with pauses using a 3\u201d Rapala<\/a> X-Rap or other compact jerkbait can make even reluctant, clear-water smallmouth come unglued."},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_content","content_anchor":true,"anchor_link_text":"The best rods, reels and other fishing equipment for smallmouth bass","text_content":"
The best rods, reels and other fishing equipment for smallmouth bass<\/h2>\r\nIf you\u2019re new to smallmouth bass fishing, consider starting with a 6\u20196\u201d to 7\u2019 medium power, fast action spinning rod<\/a> and a spinning reel<\/a> filled with 15- or 20-pound braided line tied to a 10- to 15-pound fluorocarbon leader. With this set-up you can fish jerkbaits, Ned rigs, tube jigs, swimbaits, wacky-rigged stickbaits and small topwaters.\r\nIf owning multiple rods is of interest, a medium-light or light spinning rod is going to give you better sensitivity and performance when finesse fishing. Having a medium-heavy spinning or casting rod<\/a> and reel<\/a> is the way to go when power fishing with heavy lures (e.g., spinnerbaits, football jigs, etc.).\r\n\r\nOther important pieces of smallmouth bass fishing equipment include:\r\nPolarized glasses to help see structure and smallmouth in shallow water.\r\nTackle trays and a soft tackle bag<\/a> for organizing baits and gear.\r\nFishing tools<\/a>, such as pliers for removing hooks, scissors for cutting line and a hook file for sharpening hooks.\r\nA sonar\/chartplotter<\/a> unit for the boat to locate good fishing spots and navigate safely."},{"acf_fc_layout":"faq_zone","content_anchor":true,"anchor_link_text":"FAQ","faq_title":"FAQ","faq_text_content":"","post_faq":[{"post_faq_question":"What\u2019s the difference between smallmouth versus largemouth bass?","post_faq_response":"Smallmouth are more mobile than their homebody cousin, the largemouth bass. Unlike a largemouth\u2019s tendency to bury within heavy vegetation, a smallmouth is more apt to position along the edges of the greenery. Ontario and Quebec anglers are also more likely to catch smallmouth from open-water areas associated with key structural features, such as sand bars, rocky points and mid-lake humps. <\/span>\r\n<\/span>\r\n<\/span>Smallmouth have green, olive and brown colouration, and their jaw does not extend past their eye. <\/span>Largemouth<\/span><\/a> have a green to olive back and sides. Their upper jaw continues past their eye.<\/span>","post_faq_is_response_open":true},{"post_faq_question":"What do you catch smallmouth bass with?","post_faq_response":"Smallmouth bass can be caught on many different types of fishing lures. Jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits, bladebaits, topwaters and various soft plastics ranging anywhere from 2.5\u201d to 5\u201d all have their time and place throughout the smallmouth bass fishing season in Ontario and Quebec.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nWhen <\/span>choosing lures<\/span><\/a>, keep smallmouth forage in mind. You should have lures in baitfish colours as well as some natural patterns, like green pumpkin. Have bright baits, too, as smallmouth can be triggered by hot colours, like chartreuse or bubblegum.<\/span>","post_faq_is_response_open":true},{"post_faq_question":"Are smallmouth bass easy to catch?","post_faq_response":"Smallmouth are curious by nature, and this trait can work to an angler\u2019s advantage when trying to make these fish bite. The fact smallmouth can be competitive and have an aggressive streak also makes them relatively easy to catch when they\u2019re in groups and actively feeding.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nOn the other side of the coin, big smallmouth in clear water can be extremely tough to catch, especially on lakes and rivers receiving heavy angling pressure. Yet, this challenge is also why so many anglers are hooked on smallmouth bass fishing.<\/span>","post_faq_is_response_open":true}]}],"author_type":"wordpress","partnership_options":{"partnership_label":"","partner_logo":null,"partner_link":"","partnership_text":""},"override_related_posts":false,"related_posts":null,"right_cta_visibility":false,"sidebar_cta_content_override":false,"sidebar_cta_title":"","sidebar_cta_description":"","sidebar_cta_button":null},"yoast_head":"\n