Smallmouth Bass fishing is very good in the Sioux narrows area on lake of the woods. The area islands, points, bays and channels have plenty of places for bass to call home and there are plenty of rocky bottoms that will hold schools of smallmouth bass. The spring and early summer is the time to come here if you want to catch them in the shallows. During the summer and fall, try fishing deeper drop-offs near the points, islands and along the reefs and you should be able to catch good numbers of bass.
Catch Lots of Smallmouth Bass
This might be one of the best parts of Lake of the Woods for catching a lot of smallmouth bass without having to make long runs. There are plenty of spots on the lake where you can drive miles away from the main areas where you will see boats and you can catch a ton of smallmouth bass in less pressured areas. In the Sioux Narrows area, you will see plenty of other boats, but you can still come here and put together a 50 to 100 fish day in the spring, summer or fall. It’s just an unbelievable area for catching tons of bass.
Catch Big Smallmouth Bass
While you are definitely going to catch a lot of smaller bass here, there are some very nice smallmouth bass here too. You may have to upsize your lures a bit if you want to target bigger bass without having to deal with all the smaller bass. For many anglers, they will just use the normal-sized lures for smallmouth bass and they will have 50 plus fish days with some 3 to 4 pound bass mixed in.
Fishing the Bays
Some of the best bays for smallmouth bass are in this part of Lake of the Woods. Lots of anglers will come down here from Kenora to fish the bays for smallmouth bass. You will find some smallmouth bass around the weeds, but for the most part, fish the rocks along these shorelines and on the offshore structures and you’ll catch a lot of smallmouth bass here.
Fishing the Drop-offs
This area has so much deep water, so it’s not hard to find a nice drop-off to fish. The problem you’re going to have is figuring out which spots are more productive because there are so many good drop-offs throughout this area. The nice thing is that most of these nice spots will hold fish, so even if you don’t find the best spots, you’ll still catch plenty of smallmouth bass by fishing the drop-offs along the shorelines.
Fishing the Points
You have some nice points to fish on this part of the lake, so you can easily run from point to point to fish this pattern. The problem is that you’re going to pass over a lot of fish doing this, so most anglers will fish the points, but there are so many bass here, that it pays to fish the rocky shorelines and islands in between the better points.
Fishing the Islands
You have a lot of islands to fish here and most of them are going to hold smallmouth bass. The offshore structure tends to be better in the summer and fall, but don’t rule them out completely early in the year because many smallmouth bass will use these offshore structures as they get ready to move in to spawn.
Fishing the Reefs
You have some reefs here to fish too. You can easily catch tons of smallmouth bass in this part of the lake without ever leaving a shoreline. Whether it is the main lake shoreline or an island, you will have so much water to fish for bass. If you want to target the reefs, you will catch some smallmouth bass there as well. The summer and fall are the best times to target smallmouth bass on the reefs.
Fishing the Rocks
You are going to have so much rocks to fish that you won’t know where to start, so you won’t have to look hard for excellent fishing spots. Smallmouth bass will be all over most of these spots, so find some rocks and start casting.
Fishing the Weeds
The weeds are great in this area for largemouth bass and northern pike. Some of the areas with vegetation and rocks will hold some nice smallmouth bass, so don’t rule out the vegetation when fishing for smallies here. The rocks will be the better pattern, but don’t be shocked if you find some nice smallmouth bass using the deeper weed lines too.