Algonquin Adventures / Small mouth fishing

**Posted by bassmaster1212** 7/24/2016 11:30 pm

Hi this is my first post.
I am going to algonquin park this august to do some fishing and hiking while camping there. I plan to stay at one of the campgrounds on the highway 60 corridor. Which campround lake would you say i would have the best chance of catching small mouth bass at from shore and from my canoe? I would also be willing to paddle/ hike to a near by lake? Also any lure recommendations?. Thanks!!

**Posted by frozentripper** 7/25/2016 9:39 am

Camping at Canisbay, you'll be able to catch smallmouth on that lake and on Cache, a short distance away on the other side of the highway. For a more remote fishing experience for smallmouth there's also Polly lake after a 2000m port north from Canisbay.

I've used earthworms fished near bottom off of rocky points, but plastic baits should also work. Flyrodding with surface poppers has also been great during evening hours and very enjoyable with the topwater action... good luck.

**Posted by DanPM** 7/27/2016 9:40 pm

I haven't done much smallmouth fishing on the frontcountry lakes so I don't have a super well-informed opinion, but my gut reaction on reading this question was the same as frozentripper. Polly Lake has a wicked reputation for smallmouth, so it's probably worth camping at Canisbay and grunting out the long portage for a day trip or two. While most of the Highway 60 campgrounds are on lakes that have smallies, Canisbay is one of the only ones of those that doesn't allow motorboats, so probably not a bad base if you're fishing from a canoe anyway. Across the highway on Cache Lake, you could shore fish along the old railway berm that cuts across the lake east from the access point.

Depth maps of Canisbay Lake are provided in the Lake Depths of Algonquin PP booklet which you can buy at the park gate.

**Posted by kellycamps** 7/27/2016 11:34 pm

LOTR portage into Provoking Lk. Camp sites there are only open to hikers so if you do the portage you probably won't see any other canoes. I visited there last Aug and caught lots of bass particularly down the channel.

Good luck and let us know how your trip went.
K

**Posted by frozentripper** 7/28/2016 8:23 am

Kellycamps, when you fished Provoking, did you catch any large SMB? I tried there years ago and all I got were dozens of small, stunted bass. There was even a scientific report on why, and IIRC the reason was a lack of food items to support large bass. The situation may have changed since.

Yeah, Dan, Polly.... nuff said. LOL

Since SMB are an exotic introduced species I suppose it won't do any harm to ID hotspots... I just wish I could be there there flyrodding. Maybe there will be a TR, staying tuned.

Last edited by frozentripper (7/28/2016 8:26 am)

**Posted by Algonquintripper** 7/28/2016 9:22 am

I've caught a few good size bass out of Tea Lake. The nice thing about that lake is that it is connected to both Canoe and Smoke Lakes.

**Posted by kellycamps** 7/28/2016 5:24 pm

Down the channel I caught one about 12 in. which was the largest one I've ever caught. Most were small - really small. Fun part was, many times when I cast, they would hit the bait as soon as it hit the water. It was fun. Interesting about that report. I knew nothing about it but that explains all the little fellas I caught. There were lots of the really small guys all along the rocks at the portage. The better ones were down the channel for sure.

K

**Posted by bassmaster1212** 7/29/2016 11:57 pm

Thanks all for the replys, i will certainly let you know how it was and what i catch when i return. One more question, what do you guys use for the smaller smallmouth lure wise?