Manitoba spring smallmouth!
Smallmouth location spring to early summer
When you first get on the water this open season, the most important tool on your boat might be your electronics. Why is that? Smallmouth like to find warm water early in the year right up until they spawn around the 60 degrees Fahrenheit range. This could mean just a slight difference of two degrees. Most good electronics have a surface water temperature feature that let you know what you are dealing with.
Look for wind protected, shallower bays early. It helps if they have some soft, dark bottom as well. It also helps if you find warmer water flowing in. A bonus are shallow rocks and boulders in the shallow mud bays. I also like to look for pencil reeds which usually hold a few fish.
WHAT TO USE
There are a few key baits to use at this time of the year but when the smallmouths are scattered a bit, suspending jerkbaits are tough to beat. There are a wide variety on the market, but I like the Rapala X Rap. It is a versatile lure that can be cast or trolled. If the bass are a little lethargic, switching over to rubber can be the ticket. This can include a small tube jig or swimbait rigged on a jig. The main thing is not to complicate things.
HAIR JIGS ARE THE REAL THING
One other lure you might want to have in your tackle box is a hair jig. My first experience with them happened by accident. A few years back I was in the parking lot of a local Winnipeg tackle store when someone hollered my name. This does happen on occasion, but I remember this conversation like it happened yesterday. The fellows name was Joe Kostecki and he hailed from Thunder Bay, Ontario. He recognized me from my days of doing The Complete Angler television show and wanted to show me some lures he and his son were making. Soon he was loading me up with custom tied jig flies from the back of his pickup truck.
A couple weeks later I was out on Lake of the Woods when I decided to give them a shot. I tied on one of his jig flies, a little purple, white, yellow, and brown combination. Only a 1/8 ounce in weight this little beauty never hit the bottom on my first cast of the day, a smallmouth bass had engulfed it on the drop. This was to be repeated all morning long as I caught and released close to forty fish.
Now, I am not into numbers but on this day, we were having a little friendly competition with friend Jim Price who was fishing in another boat. Hair jigs have become extremely popular for a variety of fish, but few are made better than these. You can check them out at www.mmjjjflies.com.
WHERE TO GO TO FIND SOME LARGE SMALLMOUTH?
We have many lakes with a large number of smallmouths. Not all lakes have big fish though. As Craig McDougall mentioned in his three-part series on fish growth and population density, too many fish in a smaller body of water, will restrict trophy size.
I like catching lots of fish, but I will forgo that if I can get trophy sized fish on a regular basis. One of my favourite bodies of water is the Winnipeg River. It stretches from Kenora to Lake Winnipeg and has big smallmouth along the whole length. Lac Du Bonnet and area has been good for big fish in recent years. There are many lakes in the eastern region of Manitoba that have big smallmouth including the Quesnel, Caribou, Happy Lake trio. Rice Lake nearby, also has some jumbos.
A little closer to home, you have Falcon, Caddy and Barren lakes which are all drive to. I love Big Echo Lake for walleye and smallmouth, but access is limited. You can portage or fly in. Jacksons has an outpost on the lake and is well worth a visit.
There are some gems in the northern half of the province, including Rocky Lake and Bradley Lake near The Pas.
If you are willing to do a bit of research, there are a few hidden lakes that hold big smallies. Check out the Manitoba Master Angler website for clues!