Lake Simcoe has some of the best smallmouth bass fishing anywhere. While it may not always be easy to put up huge numbers of fish, there are a lot of smallmouth bass in the lake and some absolute giants live here too.
Clear Water Fishing
The water here is very clear, which may make the fishing here difficult for anglers who like to use heavier gear. Most anglers that do well with smallmouth bass will usually use 6 to 8 pound test line. In some areas, you will get some bite-offs from pike, but with pike feeding mostly on all the fish in the lake, you can usually limit the bite-offs by fishing with finesse worms and crayfish-style baits. If you are running into too many bite-offs, try using 20 to 30 pound test line with a 40 pound fluorocarbon leader.
Fish the Bays
Cook’s Bay
Cook’s Bay is a good place to fish for smallmouth bass, especially early in the year. There is a lot of good shoreline cover to fish with weeds, rocks, docks and more. The northern part of the bay has a lot of points with some nice structure off of them. Smallmouth bass relate to these spots more than the southern part of the bay. In the summer and fall, there is plenty of deeper water here too to hold plenty of bass all season long.
Kempenfelt Bay
This bay doesn’t get as much recognition as Cook’s Bay, but there is a lot of good water to fish here too. Early in the year, you can find a lot of bass along the shorelines with all the docks and rocky cover. As bass move towards deeper water, there are a lot of nice drop-offs that hold some fish all summer and fall.
Fish the Points
There are some major points on Lake Simcoe and these structures will hold just about everything that swims in the lake at some point throughout the fishing season. Smallmouth bass can be found here too.
Fish the Main Lake Basin
Smallmouth bass like to roam the deeper, main lake basins on deep, clear lakes and it is no different on Lake Simcoe. Most anglers will never target these offshore fish, but smallmouth bass love to school up in open water as they suspend 20 to 30 feet down near cooler water and schools of bait fish. This is usually a summer and fall pattern.
Fish Lake Couchiching
Lake Couchiching provides some good fishing for smallmouth bass. You won’t find the bigger numbers here like you will on Lake Simcoe, but there are plenty of bass here and lots of big fish too. Fish the weed edges, drop-offs, rocky bottoms and offshore structure.
Fish the Offshore Structure
There are several islands, plenty of shoals and enough drop-offs to provide lots of great fishing spots for smallmouth bass offshore. Once the summer patterns set in, you can find a lot of nice bass on all the offshore structure here.
Best Baits for Smallmouth Bass
Smallmouth bass will eat a variety of different baits. Minnows, nightcrawlers and leeches are definitely the best live baits for smallmouth bass.
When it comes to artificial lures, you have lots of options. Soft plastic crayfish, twin tail grubs, worms and minnow baits are very effective. Hard baits such as crankbaits, jerkbaits and spinners also work great.
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Live Baits for Smallmouth Bass
Best Rigs for Smallmouth Bass
With so many different soft plastics to use, you have so many different rigs that work great for smallmouth bass. The drop shot rig, a simple jighead, standup jigheads and scrounger jigheads are some of the best rigs for smallmouth bass. To see our full list, take a look at our best rigs for smallmouth bass page.
Best Techniques for Smallmouth Bass
There are so many different techniques you can use for smallmouth bass since they can be found shallow, deep and anywhere in between. Anglers usually cast for them, but jigging, drop shotting and drifting are also some great techniques for smallmouth bass.
To learn more, take a look at our best techniques for smallmouth bass page.
Learn More About Smallmouth Bass
Our smallmouth bass fishing section has tons of tips on the best lures, live baits, where to catch them and how to catch them.
Visit our smallmouth bass fishing website to learn more.
