The Kenora part of lake of the woods is an awesome smallmouth bass fishery. Anglers that target them can catch a lot of bass. This area’s many bays, points and islands combined with all of the rocky bottoms will give anglers so many places to fish for smallmouth bass. Good numbers of 2 to 3 pounders are common and big bass in the 4 to 5 pound range are possible.

Fishing Kenora in the Spring

Month	Avg. Temps °F (Hi/Lo)

March	31° / 8°
April	48° / 26°
May	63° / 40°

In the spring, Lake of the Woods is home to some fantastic smallmouth bass fishing once the water warms up towards the end of May. During the pre-spawn, target the rocky points and shorelines that lead into the bays. Once the spawn is occurring, you can fish the shorelines throughout many of the bays and catch very good numbers of smallmouth bass with quality fish mixed in too.

Fishing Kenora in the Summer

Month	Avg. Temps °F (Hi/Lo)

June	72° / 49°
July	78° / 56°
August	74° / 53°

In the summer, there are good numbers of smallmouth bass that can be caught along the rocky shorelines and off the rocky points throughout the lake. While good numbers of smallmouth bass will go deeper in the summer, there are still a lot of smallmouth bass that can be caught in shallower water along the shorelines around rocks, wood and docks. The main lake structure will usually hold better numbers of quality smallmouth bass once mid-summer rolls around.

Fishing Kenora in the Fall

Month	Avg. Temps °F (Hi/Lo)

September	62° / 43°
October	49° / 34°
November	30° / 17°

In the fall, anglers can catch a lot of smallmouth bass in shallow and deep water, so you may want to spend some time searching for smallmouth bass around rocky points and islands that lead into deeper water. Main lake structure is always a good spot to look for schools of smallmouth bass in the fall, especially when water temperatures start to drop towards the end of September and into the later parts of fall.

More Fishing Tips

Catch Good Numbers of Smallmouth Bass

Kenora is home to miles and miles of productive smallmouth bass waters. Whether you want to fish islands, points, reefs or just a rocky shoreline, you can find plenty of awesome spots in this part of Lake of the Woods. If you choose to use baits that are not too big for the smaller bass, you will have a good chance to catch a lot of smallmouth bass. There are a lot of smallmouth bass in the 10 to 14 inch, so if you want to target them, you can catch a lot of fish.

Catch a Big Smallmouth Bass

This is definitely a numbers destination for smallmouth bass, but there are plenty of bigger smallmouth bass available as well. In tournaments, you will see plenty of anglers weighing in bass over 4 pounds, however, bass over 3 pounds are a quality fish in these waters. If you put in the time and upsize some of your baits, you will have a good chance to catch some smallmouth bass in the 3 to 4 pound range and larger fish are possible too.

Fishing the Bays

There are so many bays to fish. While the bays won’t always be the better bite, there will be plenty of smallmouth bass you can target in the bays especially in the spring time. The bays that have more rocks will be more productive than the ones that have more weeds.

Some of the flats in the bays will hold a lot of smallmouth bass in the spring as water temperatures warm. For the most part, the flats aren’t going to be where the better bite is from mid-summer through fall, however, these areas are worth fishing in the spring through early summer and possibly again in the fall as water temperatures cool.

Fishing the Drop-offs

There are so many good drop-offs along the shorelines, points and islands that you have so much water to fish if you want to fish drop-offs. From summer through fall, these spots will hold a lot of smallmouth bass. Find the spots that drop off fairly quickly from 4 to 6 feet of water down to 15 to 20 feet of water and if you have some rocks there, you have a pretty good chance to find some smallmouth bass here too.

Fishing the Islands

There are so many islands that this is another pattern you could fish and never run out of new spots to fish. Most of the islands will have plenty of rocks and they will hold smallmouth bass. The islands with some nicer drop-offs will almost always be the better islands for finding quality fish.

Fishing the Points

You have so many points to fish that you could literally just fish this pattern and you would never run out of spots to fish on any given day. Target the points off the islands or off the main land and you will find smallmouth bass. The rocky points are definitely more productive for smallmouth bass and if you can find a nice drop-off as well, you’re more likely to find some better fishing.

Fishing the Reefs

The reefs are a great summer through fall pattern and there are plenty of reefs to fish in the Kenora area. Many of these spots will also have walleye on them as well, so don’t be shocked if you’re catching smallmouth bass and walleye here.

Fishing the Rocks

There are rocks everywhere and smallmouth bass love the rocks. You won’t have a hard time finding the rocks. You will have a hard time figuring out which area to start fishing on your first visit here. It all looks good and most of it will hold smallmouth bass. Target smallmouth bass on the points, islands, along the shorelines and on main lake structure as well. You will find rocks everywhere.

Fishing the Weeds

The weeds are definitely not the best pattern for smallmouth bass here, however, if you are fishing the weeds, don’t be shocked if you run into some smallmouth bass here too. It’s a secondary pattern for most anglers in this area. There are some spots that have some rocks with smaller pockets of weeds too and some nice smallmouth bass can be found in these areas.