Am heading to Toronto end of July beginning of August for 2 weeks with wife and kids. We're renting a cottage on the Lake of Bays in Muskoka, Ontario. Apparently I can fish for lake trout and smallmouth and largemouth bass. Anyone on the forum have any experience of this sort of thing in Muskoka? Am taking a spinning rod and a 9ft 6" 7/8 # fly rod. Was wondering whether I should buy a fast sinking line and if so any recommendations on this and suitable flies?
Thanks in advance
Alex.

My girlfriends mother owns a cottage on the Lake of Bays and have fly fished there for the last couple of years. I am going back in August this year as well.

I have mostly fished the Baysville end, from a canoe with the fly. I have had some excellent sport, however this is all with relatively small or medium sized bass albeit in terrific numbers. The small mouth fight like trout and are great on my 5# travel rod and floating line. Note that this end of the lake is quite shallow.

The large main body of the lake is very deep and this is where the larger fish and lake trout would reside at this time of year. From memory it is several hundred feet deep in places and therefore would lend itself to trawling deep rigging spinning gear and this is the pursuit of the locals. I personally haven’t fished this area yet but would defiantly suggest a fast sinking line to get anywhere near lake trout if indeed this is even possible in August on fly gear. I will be trying this this year. Around the margins and islands though you will get action on a floating line though.

For bass hunting in the shallow warmer water woolly buggers are a must and black is by far the best in my experience. I have caught on other flies just to prove my crazy tiny English creations can cut the mustard, but honestly the ****** is a can't fail pattern. This goes for all the lakes and rivers in the region at this time of year.

Be prepared for some strange looks and comments if you are fly fishing as most people default to spinners etc. Last year I had a round of applause from the bank on hooking a small mouth by the dam. I have also had comments like "you wont get anything here with that gear sonny" only to hook up on the first cast

I can also recommend the beer from the Lake of Bays brewery and the ice cream shack in Baysville village.

I hope you have a wonderful time - Muskoka is a great place.

Regards

Pop

Don't know the lake but from my experience on Lake Champlain by August the chances of finding a Laker above the 75 to 100 foot mark is going to be slim to none since they're very sensitive to temperature as are the bait fish they hunt. Fishing for Lakers at that time of the year is normally like hunting for submarines with sonar and heavy duty trolling gear to get you down deep, very deep. Basically one guy steers and checks the sonar for shoals of bait fish while the others get a tan and drink beer until a hit is registered. Not the most exciting of fishing as Lakers at that time of the year also tend to come up like a log after the initial rush.

Small mouth on the other hand are some of the hardest fighting fish there are and if no one is running flies by them then you will think you've died and gone to heaven as they will be hitting hot and heavy. In my opinion they fight a lot better and a lot longer than a comparably sized large mouth. In any case I think you're in for a lot of fun this summer!

Take care

Terry

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I would echo the comments of the others re Lake Trout. They are a fantastic fish and very beautiful, but they are in general deep dwellers and are usually not in the range of fly rods. I am aware of certain situations where it is possible, but these are rare and overall it would be spectacularly unproductive to try to fish them on the fly.

On the other side of the coin, the smallmouth bass was tailor-made for the fly rod. Hard takes and even harder fighting.

Others haven't mentioned it, so I'll just say to stock up on some surface lures like the Blockhead Popper and various Chuggers and try surface action every day. Smallmouth aren't always in the mood, but when they are, it's the most fun that isn't either illegal, immoral, or both.

Otherwise, as others have mentioned, use big bu55ers, Dahlbergs, etc. IME, smallmouth bass aren't excessively fussy as far as pattern, but present ion and depth can often be EVERYTHING. When you catch one, recall exactly where you were fishing and what you did. For example was the fish right in by the bank or right off a drop. Were you fishing a strip/stop/strip or a steady swim retrieve, how long did you let the fly sink when it landed, etc. Try to replicate what you were doing to zero in on the presentation the fish were looking for, especially with bigger fish.

Forget the sinking line. If you can't get 'em on the floater, switch to the spinning rod. No use beating the water to a froth, the fly rod has its time and place. It's no less fun on the spinning rod.

For the spinning rod, stop in at a local place and stock up by buying a few shallow-running crankbaits like the "Fat Boy" style Bombers that run in the 2-4 foot depth range. Buy 1-2 additional crankbaits that run 5-9 feet. Take local advice for the color choices. Don't go nuts as far as price, I personally don't think it's worth spending $7 or more a throw for Rapala and other high-end brands. I do just fine at the $4-5 range. Also pick up some surface poppers or chuggers and a few quarter ounce spinner baits. I VASTLY prefer natural colors in the spinner baits. Greens, browns, tans, etc and NOT pink, hot yellow, purple, and junk like this. Also, pick up a few bare jigheads and some "twister tail" or Mr. Twister plastics in various colors usually white, yellow, and green. These are great searching patterns and not very expensive. 1/4 oz is usually fine.

It is vastly preferable to have some kind boat or canoe to fish out of because you can cover so much more water. If your cottage doesn't come with one, enquire about hiring one for the week. Don't wait half the week before you get one, you WILL have better fishing out of some kind of boat.

All the usual safety precautions apply, life jackets, etc. You must have a life jacket (properly rated) for every person in the watercraft. Also pay attention to the weather. Don't forget, you are still on the Great Lakes.

You'll be in for some great fun. It might take a couple of sessions to dial it in, but once you figure it out, you'll have some hard fighting fun on smallmouth and largemouth bass.

Obviously make sure you buy the required license. You'll have a blast.

Grouse

Than you all so much. Really useful advice. I'll let you know how I get on.
Alex

Not to discourage you from fishing Lake Trout, but the best way to do that is by a charter boat. Lake Trout fishing is very gear and technique intensive, so it's not really a DIY thing for the traveling angler.

They are, however, a fantastically beautiful fish and a worthy fighter as well. If you get a good one on in 100+ feet of water, you'll know you've been in a fight, that's for sure. It would make for an excellent half or full day of fun to get a charter and go out the main lake and hopefully connect with a few.

Grouse

+1 on what Grouse has posted above and add one small bit:

"I would echo the comments of the others re Lake Trout. They are a fantastic fish and very beautiful, but they are in general deep dwellers and are usually not in the range of fly rods. I am aware of certain situations where it is possible, but these are rare and overall it would be spectacularly unproductive to try to fish them on the fly.

On the other side of the coin, the smallmouth bass was tailor-made for the fly rod. Hard takes and even harder fighting."

Boy 'O Boy is that an understatement! A total Hoot and I usually use a 3-4 weight fly rod. Even a 'half pounder' gives you a run for your money.

One other place to posit you question would be the 'Murican version' of this Fora. A wealth of info at your fingertips.

fae

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I nearly always fish from a canoe but speed boats are easily rented, however they get snapped up in August so book in advance.

I love coming home to my southern england chalk streams but those small mouth make the traveling and jet lag well worth it. Its almost impossible to blank and a 2lb small mouth can tow a canoe

Right. I have a Frequent Flyer 9ft 6#. Do you chaps think that would be more suitable for the bass? Is a 7/8# too heavy?
I'll still take the spinning rod though and buy the spoons and lures when I get to Ontario.

Take the 6# I dont think there is any need to go heavier unless you want to hunt the pike or muskie. I bought a six piece 5# for flying to Canada with and its perfect for the Ontario rivers and lakes.

You are right to buy your spinners out there. Canadian Tyre (a cross between B&Q Halfords and Homebase) is fully loaded. Rapalas are half the price than in the UK.