Freeway 60 runs by way of Algonquin Park, and connects the cities of Huntsville and Renfrew, the place it intersects the Trans-Canada. For greater than 20 years, I’ve logged hundreds of kilometres on route 60 with boat in tow on fishing journeys. The Ottawa Valley is certainly a multispecies fishing playground — however the smallmouth bass fishing is really spectacular and, maybe, solely bested by the area’s placing surroundings. Three of my favorite Freeway 60 bronzeback lakes are Golden, Spherical, and Bark. Regardless of the place you’re coming from, it’s well worth the journey to focus on smallies on any of those waterbodies.
Off Freeway 60 on Golden Lake
Simply off Freeway 60 on Kranz Highway is a public boat launch on the Bonnechere River, which leads into Golden Lake. This ramp is about an hour and 45-minute drive from Ottawa, lower than an hour from Petawawa.
Nearly all of Golden Lake is wide-open, though it hooks to the northeast simply earlier than Large Island. Prime smallmouth haunts are the factors and sand bars discovered alongside the northern shore round The Sands on Golden Lake Resort, and related buildings on the lake’s southern and south-eastern shores.
Ruby and Mundts bays are two giant bays the place you’ll be able to stumble upon bass. Resident small-jaws are equally inclined to hangout in small coves containing rocky reefs and shoals price exploring.
I’ve had some nice days fishing these shallow zones with good pal, Rick Klatt. He and I first fished collectively in 2004 for an Ottawa River story I used to be writing for the journal, and we’ve fished collectively often ever since. He’s a little bit of a neighborhood angling legend and, whereas he’s largely stepped again from the match scene, he stays a pressure to be reckoned with when he indicators up for an Ottawa Valley fishing derby.
“Ten- to 15-kilometre winds and it’s a spinnerbait for me on Golden, particularly in the event that they’re shallow,” Klatt mentioned.
It is a chuck-and-wind, cover-water deal finest finished with heavy, meal-sized baits you’ll be able to retrieve quick, he defined. A jerkbait can also be good when there’s a chop. Fish it round wind-blown factors, rocky shoreline, and shallow reefs. Use an aggressive, erratic retrieve, and maintain on tight to the rod.
Golden Lake’s weedbeds and cabbage clumps often maintain bass.
Vegetation close to shore is the place you’re prone to catch largemouth, however huge bronzebacks choose greenery close to deep water.
“A weed flat in 10 to 12 ft of water is an effective place to fish a fluke or a topwater, like a Whopper Plopper or Chug Bug,” Klatt mentioned. “Typically, I prefer it pretty calm and heat for a fluke. I’m comfortable with gentle winds for a topwater.”
Snapping tubes and hair jigs is a potent tactic for working weed-sand-rock transitions. Come to think about it, my daughter Maeve’s first time in a ship was once I caught a giant bronzeback on a hair jig on Golden Lake.
As one may count on, Golden’s offshore humps maintain high quality fish as soon as deep-water patterns get established in mid-summer, and solely will get higher as water temps drop in autumn. Smallmouth regularly place across the numerous mid to deep construction complexes round Centre Island. Dropshotting, dragging plastics, gradual rolling swimbaits, and dealing deep-diving jerkbaits are all dependable offshore ways.
Spherical Lake
Driving about quarter-hour past Deacon brings you to the Lake Avenue boat launch on Spherical Lake in Killaloe-Hagarty-Richards Township. True to its title, the lake is round. Just like Golden, the Bonnechere River enters Spherical’s northwest shore and exits on the southeastern finish.
Spherical has tons of sweet-looking smallmouth water. You may catch bronzebacks from shallow bays and shorelines, off of mid-depth flats blended with sand, vegetation and rock, in addition to deep offshore construction and flats.
Protecting water with spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and topwaters is a summer time technique my spouse and I did properly with throughout a keep in 2012 at Spherical Lake Resort. These ways proceed to place high quality bass within the web. Sue and I caught smallmouth alongside the southwestern shoreline extending from the boat ramp to Sherwood River, and from Dunne’s Bay to Smiths Bay within the lake’s northern finish. I nonetheless vividly recall Sue’s giggle when a smallmouth would all of a sudden materialize behind her bait as she labored it over sand-rock backside transitions.
The part of water round Victoria, Edwards, and Idylwild islands is a well-liked smallmouth-producing space. That is to be anticipated because it’s a significant structural complicated beside the lake basin. I fished right here final September with Ryan Weatherall, a daily high finisher in Valley Bass Path occasions.
An early adopter of Garmin’s LiveScope forward-facing sonar, Ryan is an offshore smallmouth specialist, with extra tips up his sleeve for triggering bass to chew than a used automotive salesman has for closing offers on hesitant clients. Nonetheless, we needed to work for each fish we caught.
“Spherical Lake smallmouth might be very onerous to catch, and have a repute of being fussy,” he mentioned. “They’re not like Rideau Lakes smallmouth that swim round in huge teams.
Spherical’s smallies transfer in smaller packs or are loners. This could make it powerful to get their aggressive juices flowing typically.”
Nearly all of bass Weatherall and I caught ate finesse jigs of varied configurations. When working suspending smallmouth offshore, he did properly swimming a jig rigged with both a pearl Berkley PowerBait Professional Twitchtail Minnow or a Z-Man Finesse ShadZ.
We additionally fished factors, rocky reefs, sand bars, and weedbeds. Inexperienced pumpkin and different dark-coloured Ned rigs and tubes fooled smallmouth, together with a number of bonus largemouth.
Weatherall gave the umbrella rig the proverbial school strive. I did the identical with a jerkbait. Neither of us had any luck. The bass had been in a traditional summer-to-fall transitional funk and unin- terested in chasing shifting baits. Extraordinarily calm situations didn’t assist our trigger both, it appeared.
“Response baits weren’t the deal right now, however this lake isn’t at all times about finesse displays,” Weatherall mentioned at Lined Bridge Park’s as we unloaded gear after placing the boat again on the trailer. “A-rigs and large topwaters are superior out right here when situations are proper. Crashing a heavy, tube or creature bait on backside also can work properly.”
Bark Lake
Bark Lake’s Tom and Mick Murray Millennium Park boat launch is a couple of 30-minute, westward drive past Barry’s Bay, and simply south of Madawaska. A extra stretched-out waterbody compared to Golden or Spherical, Bark has elongated bays extending off of the principle lake, and is one in every of a number of techniques the Madawaska River flows by way of earlier than ultimately emptying into the Ottawa River on the city of Arnprior.
Klatt, pal Blair Gable, and I loved a late-autumn outing on Bark a pair years in the past. We caught smallmouth from mid-depth flats dotted with boulder piles, rocky factors plunging into deep water, and offshore humps.
Gable kicked off the day with a smallmouth simply shy of 5 kilos drop-shotting a Z-Man Trick ShotZ. Dragging backside with tubes, creature baits on soccer jigs, and finesse worms additionally produced.
Contrasting this deep-water expertise, was the shoreline-dominated smallmouth sample my household and I loved the primary week of bass opener final yr. We had been staying in a cottage at Sunny Hill Resort and had an absolute blast. Once we weren’t out catching fish, my youngsters loved themselves exploring the well-kept grounds, swimming off the dock and within the indoor pool (it rained), and having fun with recreation room actions. It’s an important spot for households.
Sunny Hill sits on Bark Lake’s jap shore, a brief experience to a number of respectable smallmouth spots. We fished from Beavertail Island in the direction of Littlebark Bay, together with the shorelines, important lake factors, and coves on Bells Bay, plus from Hay Bay previous Large Level in the direction of Sand Bay. We didn’t make it previous The Narrows and into and Chapleau Island or Harris Bay, which is one other good stretch of water.
It didn’t take lengthy for my household to have a Toto we’re-not-in-Kansas-anymore second our first day on Bark. On Lanark County lakes, my youngsters are reasonably proficient at placing bass within the boat utilizing Ned rigs, tubes, and jig-worms, however a lot of Bark’s rocky shorelines ate these displays with an insatiable starvation. Re-rigging rods with horizontal displays obtained us out of Frown City and again into fish.
Maeve and Grady did properly retrieving three-inch swimbaits. Hopping and shake-swimming a four-inch Z-Man Jerk ShadZ on a 1⁄8 – to 1⁄4 -ounce jig was additionally productive.
Sue, nonetheless, obtained the most important fish of our journey on one in every of her favorite baits, a 31⁄8 -inch Rapala X-Rap. She solid in the direction of shore, then used a pull-pause retrieve to bop the jerkbait enticingly. This was a carbon copy presentation of the method she used when the 2 of us had been staying at Spherical Lake Resort greater than a decade in the past.
The truth that this particular bait and retrieve stays potent in any case these years struck me as fascinating. What actually hit residence, although, was this time Sue wasn’t pregnant with our daughter, however as a substitute fishing aspect by aspect with Maeve.
Watching the 2 of them collectively on the again deck, with Grady bombing casts beside me, I caught myself reflecting on how briskly time passes. I ended fishing to soak-up the scene and replicate.
Choose your presentation
Should you’ve obtained a favorite tactic for catching smallmouth, odds are it’ll work in one in every of these lakes. Prefer to Ned rig? No downside. Want to power-fish jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, and different response lures? Higher carry Bandaids for bass thumb.
I don’t need to be deceptive, although. Large, Ottawa Valley smallmouth should not pushovers. Golden, Spherical, and Bark see angling stress from tournaments, cottagers, and weekend warriors, like yours actually. As such, cautious bronzebacks encounters are frequent.
Extra, smallmouth inhabiting these lakes should not wanting for meals. These water techniques comprise an abundance of baitfish, crayfish, and different for- age, giving bass the posh of being picky about when and what they determine to eat.
Unsure what to do? Goal factors
Fishing factors is my go-to troubleshooting technique when smallmouth journeys should not going as deliberate. It’s a fundamental strategy, but in addition very efficient. Flog sufficient water round factors and, in the end, you’ll stumble throughout biting smallmouth.
A number of important lake factors are straightforward to seek out on these three lakes. Rock slides, boulder strips, sand bars, and some other function pushing into deeper water additionally deserve consideration.
Carry your clear-water A-game
When Ottawa Valley smallmouth are aggressive, they’re not shy about smashing a lure near the boat. That is extra the exception than the norm, although. Clear-water methods essential for constant success. Lengthy casts, utilizing fluorocarbon line, and staying stealthy are simply three guidelines to comply with.
Fishing a naturally colored bait might be useful however don’t go all-in on this one. We’re speaking smallmouth in any case. Lures with loud, brilliant paint patterns have put huge bronzeback in my boat from every of those lakes.
Goal transition areas
Whether or not shallow, deep, or someplace in between, smallmouth usually orient round transitions and edges. Fish drop-offs, backside composition modifications, weed edges, ledges, and remoted items of construction. This tip isn’t revolutionary, however I assure it can show you how to catch better-quality bass.
Spending time on the water with household and good associates is a particular factor and, in the intervening time, I’m lucky to do that often. The proverbial icing on the cake is many of those journeys carry me to wonderful smallmouth lakes inside the picturesque Ottawa Valley. Expertise your self what the area and its many lakes have to supply.
Unbelievable fall fishing, however…
Water ranges drop in these lakes in autumn. Spherical specifically might be tough to get on after September. It’s not nearly not with the ability to launch, both. Take care to keep away from the shallow reefs and different hazards.
Hold shifting
You’ll be confronted with a lot of wonderful smallmouth water when fishing Golden, Spherical, and Bark lakes. Bass are as prone to be stacked on spots as they’re to be transient and cruising round. Don’t lallygag if an space isn’t producing. Transfer on.
Watch the wind
These lakes get tough in breezy situations. As Klatt put it: “Regardless that these lakes are small, most good areas are not sheltered.”
I realized this years in the past after catching giantmouth in Sand Bay on Spherical Lake. I hadn’t given the growing wind depth the respect it deserved. As I left the bay, the lake was stuffed with whitecaps. It was a white-knuckled experience in my 16-footer and the impetus to improve to an 18-foot Lund a number of years later.
…And experiment
In case you are round fish however can’t get them to chew, begin experimenting. Cycle by way of presentations till you crack the code.
Different fish
Largemouth bass, northern pike, walleye, whitefish, lake trout, yellow perch
Extra data
Ottawa Valley Vacationer Affiliation
www.ottawavalley.journey
1-800-757-6580
The place to remain
Initially revealed in Ontario OUT of DOORS’ Fishing Annual 2024
For extra on journey, click on right here
Click on right here for extra outdoor information
