Lake of the Woods is known as a world class smallmouth bass fishing destination. You may not always catch a bunch of huge smallmouth bass, but the numbers of smallmouth bass can be ridiculous at times and there are enough big fish in the system to keep you happy. You just may have to sort through a good number of 12 to 15 inch smallmouth bass as you search for those 18 to 20 inch fish. There are many sections on Lake of the Woods that offer fantastic smallmouth bass fishing.
We have set up different websites for all the popular regions on Lake of the Woods. Take a look below to learn more about the fishing in the different parts of Lake of the Woods.
Lake of the Woods Kenora, Ontario – Smallmouth Bass Fishing
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.
Lake of the Woods Morson, Ontario – Smallmouth Bass Fishing
Smallmouth Bass fishing is excellent in this area with all of the points, islands, bays and reefs that you can fish. This part of Canada has plenty of rocky bottoms, which is great for smallmouth bass. Anglers that target smallies will usually do very well for them, especially in the spring and early summer when they can be found along the rocky shorelines. In summer and fall, fish deeper for them on the drop-offs near points, islands and along the reefs and you should be able to catch a lot of bass in the 2 to 3 pound range with some fish up to 5 pounds.
Lake of the Woods Nestor Falls, Ontario – Smallmouth Bass Fishing
This area has a lot of smallmouth bass in the 2 to 3 pound range with big fish up to 5 pounds. Time it right in the spring and you can catch smallmouth bass all over the shorelines. In summer and fall, fish the deeper drop-offs and make sure to check out some of the reefs in deeper water. You should be able to find plenty of areas to fish and catch a lot of smallmouth bass if you know what you’re doing.
Lake of the Woods Sioux Narrows, Ontario – Smallmouth Bass Fishing
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.
Lake of the Woods Northwest Angle Fishing – Smallmouth Bass Fishing
Smallmouth Bass Fishing is very good in the northwest angle, although, most anglers typically come up to this area to target walleye, muskie and northern pike. There are plenty of areas to target smallmouth bass and you have access to Minnesota and Canadian waters from the northwest angle. 2 to 3 pound bass are common in this area, but bass in the 4 to 5 pound range are possible.
Smallmouth Bass Fishing Lake of the Woods South Shore
Smallmouth Bass Fishing can be good along the shorelines on the south shore early in the season, but once the summer patterns set in, these fish will usually be found offshore along the reefs anywhere from 15 to 30 feet of water. Some nice smallmouth bass are reported every year on the south shore, but the better smallmouth bass fishing occurs in the Northwest Angle and on the Canadian side of this lake in Kenora, Sioux Narrows, Nestor Falls and Morson
If you’re looking to stay in this area and want to target smallmouth bass along the south shore, your best bet is to fish the Rainy River or the smaller rock reefs out on the main basin. This part of Lake of the Woods has a mud bottom, but there are some rock reefs scattered around with some near shore and others farther offshore. These spots are usually targeted by walleye anglers, but if you are in this part of the lake and you run into some of these spots, you may want to fish the tops of these reefs to see if any smallies are hanging out. The smallmouth bass that are caught out here usually run fairly large, so don’t be surprised if you end up running into some 3 to 5 pound fish offshore.
