Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: jettabambino on August 07, 2014, 01:10:31 PM
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Well... I leave next week.. CANT WAIT TO GET AWAY...
I have never fished for small mouth. I watched a few of Rod's videos but am wondering the following...
1. What do I use for Small Mouth... I have seen people say tube baits.. but I cant get any at tackle stores out here... Am I fine using a spinner or a small apex...?
2. Do I simply go fishing early in the morning and late at night... I know St Marys has boats.. but I have been told they are pretty rickety... so I will most likely fish from shore.. I am thinking the shore lines have kids playng in the lake during the days...
3. Does anyone know if I can buy worms over there..?
4 Any other fishing spots on Saltspring..?
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I used to do a lot of fishing for smallmouth when I lived close to the Snake river in Washington. I did well with a small selection of tackle - 1/4 to 1/8 ounce jigs with clear or orange curly grub tails bounced along the bottom, tiny tube-baits on jigheads designed for panfish (perch and bluegill) - in clear or black, and worms fished under a bobber. I have hooked the occasional fish with spinnerbaits or floating rapala plugs, but that was usually when fishing was slow and I was going through everything I had. Smallmouth like large boulders and other structure, so be prepared to lose lots of tackle.
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Back in the day I used to do a yearly smallmouth trip to St Mary’s. My go to lures were spinner baits and crank baits like Rattlin Raps or Shad Raps. You can cover lots of water and wont snag up too much. Soft plastics and jigs also work well but the technique is a little trickier to pick up.
If you flyfish, rabbit leeches in black or purples on a full float or slow sink tip were always reliable producers.
Take out a boat and work all the shorelines, lilypads, bays and shallows. The shoreline has limited access and you will run out of areas to try pretty fast.
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I will going to the St. Mary's Lake as well in 2 weeks ! I heard the small mouth basses don't bite as much in August, is that true ? I read they tend go deeper, you have to do deep weed line fishing ?? I don't even know what that means... Can some experts give some insights ? also, will there be any salt water shore/beach fishing there on the island without a boat ? I am going to bring a tandem fishing kayak without trolling motor with me.
thanks
Alexi
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We stayed at Lakeside Gardens.
I used their aluminum boat - it was fine. You can rent them by the day... Without a boat, you're going to be pretty limited, pretty quickly. fish EARLY morning... Sunrise... as the day(water) heats up the fish will go deep.
I had good action just to the LEFT (looking out from lakeside gardens) toward the water intake. There were kids playing in the water about 20 feet away.. Bass and Trout didn't seem to care.
I used mostly just an egg sucking leech that had a bit of aluminum sparkle...
If you have an anchor... bring one. Easier than drifting away from your fishing location ;)
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Any flat fish work too, a buddy had an eagle steal his trout when I was there last.
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First or last light using dew worms off the bottom work best. Biggest problem is the perch. They'll go after your bait as soon as it hits the water. You can get worms at the Home Hardware in Ganges but be prepared to pay a small fortune. Best bet is to bring your own over.
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I don't mean to hijack your thread but I'm sorta thinking about planning a trip there for Sept 7-12, are the fish still active at that time? I've only fished for bass at deer lake, so I will uses the tip mentioned.
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No hijack at all. That is what is so good about this forum.
I will also give a report when I am back
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Most of the resorts offer camping, check them out.
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I was there last year at that time and it was a lot slower than early season. We found last light produced better than first light for some reason.
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I spent about 10 years fishing there once per year.
1. What do I use for Small Mouth... I have seen people say tube baits.. but I cant get any at tackle stores out here... Am I fine using a spinner or a small apex...?
For smallies, rubber stuff works great. If you can't find anything locally, PM me. I will send you away with some tricks. I am a self confessed bass-guy with more stuff than I will ever use.
2. Do I simply go fishing early in the morning and late at night... I know St Marys has boats.. but I have been told they are pretty rickety... so I will most likely fish from shore.. I am thinking the shore lines have kids playng in the lake during the days...
If it floats and you can row. You're good to go here.
3. Does anyone know if I can buy worms over there..?
Don't know. Good to bring a carton if you find them enroute. A nice back up to have. There is good trout fishing there and the smaillies with take a float/nightcrawler readily. Vary your depth, and find drop offs. And most people know, tipping your wedding band, flatfish etc with a piece of worm is a failsafe for virtually all lake swimmers
4 Any other fishing spots on Saltspring..?
TONS! PM is your friend.
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full report to follow but I am still here.. all I can say is...
used plastic worms and caught a few... switched to a rapala and caught a few more... but man o man.. Bring worms.. The town is sold out of them but another fisherman gave me one and I was hitting fish after fish... Like one every 3-5 minutes
being that I couldn't find worms I went to get shrimp and they work just as well! going out for the final day
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Awesome bambino, can't wait till I go in September but I'm sure the fishing is pretty slow in Sept.
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Were you hitting bass or perch? That lake is filled with perch that can get pretty large and can be confused as bass. Also try the Home Hardware in Ganges for dew worms.
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Caught some perch. But mostly bass
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Gotta find steep drop offs into 20ft+ of water to find some smallies active in this heat. Drop down plastic worms, troll a carolina rig or jig some tube baits. If you have a deep diving crank bait, give that a go along drop offs.
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drop shop rig up a tube jig green with black flakes or pumpkin with black flakes
always produced for me in ontario if the lake is 70+ farhenheit the fish will be deep once the sun wakes up
lake simcoe message board will have tons of tips as the key species in lake simcoe are smallies and lakers
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Would anyone recommend a tackle shop that has a decent selection of bass lures?
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Hi, JettaB, we are heading there today, have been checking your "full report" everyday :), any advice will be appreciated.
Alexi
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Sorry. I tell ya. Life gets in the way of fishing
Quick point form here and I will do a report
- use mr twisters. (Plastic tail with a jig head)
Use the boat and get in 30 feet or so of water in the day. You can jig or cast. Just get real low.
At night try the shallows.
Also a slip float with shrimp works. You will get perch but if you do just move deeper
I got 3 trout on the fly trolling a spratley
Rapalla also works.
The bigger the sight the better
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Get yourself some 1/8 oz tube jigs and a few bags of 3 1/2 inch tubes in green with black flecks and also brown with black flecks. A small assortment of spinnerbaits in 1/8 oz to 1/4 oz. Don't forget topwater baits. They love to bust top water baits like the Pop R and chug bug. Also some 4 inch Senkos rigged wacky style. Google wacky rigged baits and you will see what I mean. Throw them weightless with just a hook.
Tubes are by far the best producer most of the time, followed by spinnerbaits. A 6 to 7 ft light to medium action spinning rod and reel with 6 lb mono and your good to go. If you decide to fish largies you will need a heavy action rod with at least 20 ld test mono. I use 50 lb braid but our largies here in eastern ont are probably a lot bigger. You need the heavy rod and line to horse them out of the slop. If you cant find any of these items send me your address and I will send you some. I have shoe boxes full of this chit because that's what I fish here. Have been a tournament fisherman for 25 yrs.
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Sure wish I had all your advice and help the last couple times I tried fishing here. Sadly, the weather was stormy and they weren't taking my offerings so I switched to fishing sea-run Cutties and wasn't disappointed. Great advice! I'll know for next time. I hear there's some large bass here.
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When you guys use rapala and other bass lures do you generally use 2 single barbless hooks on the lure or one? Never used these types of lure before. Also any suggestions on a tackle store with good bass soft plastics? I was at army and navy in new west and all they had were a few colors of Berkley ghost shrimp and small curly tails. Or anyone willing to part with some bass gear shoot me an email shawn.sepia@gmail.com
thanks
Shawn
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I buy Yum senkos at wholesale sports smallies love that stuff.But make sure to buy a few packs because 1 worm=4 fish
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Thanks metal and feathers
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I lived on saltspring for a number of years and the fishing is usually great just about any time of the year.The trout fishing can be really good as well as I have caught and released many trout in the18 to 24 inch range[2 to 4 lbs].Not alot of big sized bass but the odd one hits the 4 lb or larger range, but most are quite small now as there are too many of them competing for the food. Cusheon lake has cutties and a few BIG bass, and weston has good catch and release fly fishing for rainbows and cutties.All lakes there have trout in them and the fly fishing in the fulford bay can be good for small coho, pinks and sea cutties at certain times.
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This is one that I got in June. Lost another around this size. There are some good size fish in there.
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f156/Drewhill81/bass_zps1294d094.jpg)
(It was hooked in the mouth. Came out when we boated it.)
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I have a question about what type of rod I should use? Is an ultra light 1-4lb daiwa too lite or should I use something like a 4-10lb rod? I've never fished the for bass so have no idea.
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4-10
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Thanks drewhill