# Ontario Smallmouth Help



## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

I'm going to be in the Marten River area (1hr north of Nippising) from Aug 15-22. The lakes we will be fishing have good smallmouth populations, but I have very little smallmouth experience. The lakes we usually fish in Canada do not have smallmouth, so we mainly fish for walleye and pike.

I would like to get opinions on how to catch these smallies at that time of year, I'm assuming that they'll be deep. Any suggestions on tackle and tactics would be appreciated. I have a lot of cranks and walleye jigs that I probably could use, but I think that I should get some stuff specifically for smallies (tubes maybe).

Thanks for the help.
Brian


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## Wolfhook120 (Oct 17, 2007)

Best I can suggest would be the old reliable Drop Shot! Use either 8 or 10 lb test Seaguar Invisex Flourocarbon matched with a Gamakatsu Split Shot/Drop Shot hook, and either 1/4oz or 3/8oz drop shot weight (depending on how deep you're fishing) Try to match bait with the forage.


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## mao10 (Apr 23, 2009)

granted ive never been to where youre headed but we used to go up to nippissing every other year. im nowhere near a professional but we just always found rockpiles and threw anything that looked like a crayfish and 5lbers were not all that rare.


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## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

they will be deep more than likely. Wacky rigged senko with split shot 1-1.5 feet above or texas rigged senko. (feel free to try other soft plastics too). Focus on shade. In the afternoon find the shoreline water that is deep (next to cliffs/steep dropoffs) and where there is shade. You would be surprised sometimes if there is even a sliver of only 10 feet of shade they will be densly packed in there. Also I've found them in open deeper water 30-38 feet. They will hit often times on the fall. Once you find them the action can be fast. I also like a countdown rapala. I'd get a couple #11's in perch color. Also while I haven't used the drop shot in ontario, it would seem ideal.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

Don't river fish up there much but on the Ontario lakes I've found them in 10-15 feet of water... The best spots to try in new waters are points, rocky shoals, Gull rocks, sheer rock faces , fallen logs, beaver lodges/dams. Basically any structure different than the prevailing....


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## JamesT (Jul 22, 2005)

BTW when I was catching them in 30-38 feet of water they were hitting on the fall. Not sure what depth they were hitting at but I'd guess 15-25 feet +/-. I was not catching them at the bottom that I know of (but maybe, not sure)


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## triton175 (Feb 21, 2006)

Thanks for the good advice guys.
Brian


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