Fishing for Largemouth Bass on Crotch Lake

When people are looking for a good place to catch Largemouth Bass they don't generally think about fishing in Ontario. Largemouth Bass are more associated with southern waters. Surprisingly Ontario does have a few locations with super-hot Largemouth Bass action and Crotch Lake is one of them.

Crotch Lake is a big lake and there are many narrow waterways and streams leading to small shallow satellite lakes and remote bays, which are full of Lily Pads, Bulrushes, Musky Cabbage and other weeds the bass like. Traditionally the Largemouth Bass held up in these small lakes and never seemed to venture very far into the main lake. In the last ten years something extraordinary has happened to the bass populations. It has absolutely exploded and now the Largemouth Bass are everywhere. On the main lake, the back weedy bays used to be the private domain of small to medium size Northern Pike but now they share that habitat with big Largemouth Bass. The small satellite lakes are now acting as nurseries and when a bass gets big enough not fear Pike they move out into the main lake.

The bass seems to be most common in the fifteen to eighteen-inch range. When targeting bass, you should catch many that are in the eighteen to twenty-inch range. Bigger Largemouth up to twenty-three inches have been caught recently. A twenty-three-inch bass is usually between six and seven pounds depending on the girth. It does not matter where you are; that is a nice size Largemouth Bass in anybody's book. As time goes by the average size bass seems to be getting bigger. Even fisherpersons fishing for Smallmouth and Northern Pike hook into a big Largemouth on a regular basis.

The Largemouth Bass fishing is not as good as the Smallmouth fishing but it gets better every year. If you target Largemouth you should be able to catch ten to twenty nice size bass in a day. There will always be slow days and then some days you can't keep them on the line. The techniques and tactics you use can also affect your success. Largemouth Bass fishing in clear lakes like we have here in the Frontenac Highlands is different than fishing in southern lakes and reservoirs where the water is clouded by algae. Down south the bass hunt by sound while in the north they hunt visually with sound being an attention getter. Large and loud rattle baits and spinnerbaits scare Largemouth Bass away more then they attract when fishing clear water. This is a subject we discuss on our bass tips page.

One explanation why the Largemouth Bass population is growing and the bass are getting bigger is because very few people eat them. Largemouth Bass caught on the big lake are usually free of any parasites that you would find down south so they are outstanding to eat. The bass in our lake taste just like Walleye. You never want to eat a bass over two pounds so all of our guests release the big ones to get even bigger.

Walleye, Smallmouth Bass and Northern Pike are more sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure than Largemouth Bass so on days when the weather is not helping you catch other fish you have the alternative to hunt down a big old bucket mouth. Largemouth Bass fishing is the most popular type of fishing in North America because it's a lot of fun. We want our guests to have a lot of fun.