Wil Wegman

Question:

I talked to a Tourney angler. He suggests I fish smallies on 8-15 fow on Oct, and from late Oct to Nov, I start to fish 20~30 fow. The productive spots should have rocky ground with weeds.

I was on Simcoe and fished around Georgia Island. Temperature was 60F. I believe a lot of Smallies are still in shallow water like 10-20 fow, right? I tried to find spots along shoreline and points, but I got frustrated. I couldn’t find these “hard” ground with weeds, which is general smallmouth bass zone. Instead, most spots are muddy (with little weed). It’s so clear, too. I believe smallies are very sporadic in such environment.

Seems it’s tough to find a lot of traditional smallie zones in Simcoe. Simcoe is so special. What is your suggestion?

Answer:

I won our small club tournament yesterday with 18 lbs for 5 bass in 24 feet of water dragging a tube... Not a huge weight for Simcoe by any means but ok for this transition time from early fall (pre turnover) to later (post turnover).  My theory is that there is no hard and fast depth guideline like the one below for the lakes’ smallmouth ... especially during transition periods.   A week or two after fall turnover ... then sure the vast majority of the smallmouth are deep-over 15 feet  - up to 50 or so. Weeds are important in some areas of the lake ... sporadic better than heavy ... but are by no means a pre-requisite for holding these fish.   There are just too many vast areas (including the ones you described) that don’t have good aquatic plant growth ... yet still hold good smallmouth.   Simcoe bass are ‘where you find them’ ... If you’re fishing shallow (ie less than 15’) ... then access to deep water is important – and conversely if you’re fishing deep, then you need that shallow water zone nearby as well ... those are two key elements to success ... in my opinion ... that just might help you find some of those elusive big water smallmouth. Remember though ... you can be fishing for hours before you find them and covering a lot of water with your eyes on a good sonar (I love the new Lowrance HD Units for this) is critical ... Where there’s one smallie there’s usually more though and at this time of year they can be very BIG!

 Hope that helps,

 Wil