When Peter read about our trip to Lake of Bays in Ontario he had a few things to say about how to fish there…
Lake of Bays is a clear, cold body of water. It’s deepest part is 230 feet. Fish species that inhabit the lake are lake trout, smallmouth bass, whitefish, lake herring, rainbow smelt as well as many minnow species. Historically there have been some big trout caught – 20 lbs and over. Ice fishing deep with Williams spoons and big tube jigs in winter is a good bet. In spring when the ice is just off the lake, try lively shiners suspended under slip floats in 6-10 feet of water along rocky shorelines and points.
When the water warms up lake trout will start moving to deeper water. Deep water trolling large spoons and minnowbaits like rapala’s in natural colours works best. Be patient. It will take some work.
When bass season opens in June, working topwater plugs is very exciting around rocky shorelines and back bays. They will also take spinners and plastic tubes, grubs and worms. As summer progresses try shoals, points and drop offs. In fall, vertical jig in the 15-30 foot range. Have fun, stay safe and happy fishing.
If you’re a fisherman and you have a story to tell, please leave a comment for us below. Also see our post at https://roadstories.ca/muskoka-near-algonquin-park-ontario/
Peter, we gave your Blog a shout out on our own, Bondi Resort Blog, http://bondi-resort-algonquin.blogspot.com/
We’re a small family oriented cottage resort on Haystack Bay, Lake of Bays, and a lot of fishermen enjoy trying their luck at this end of the lake!
Cheers
Nancy
hey there I was wondering if you could help me out. I was wanting to come up to go ice fishing mostly for aggresive lake trout and was wondering if you could help me with picking a good spot up there any help would be appreciated as i makeing the trip from toronto and would love to know a good spot before i make the long trip
Thank you for your time
Steve. Be careful at this time of year where you go out on the ice. It has been a very mild season. Lake of Bays is not really THAT far north after all! Consult the locals. My buddy Peter Wasag says they are starting to take the fishing huts off of some lakes already. Here is a link to some ice fishing spots from Ontario Out Of Doors magazine… http://www.ontariooutofdoors.com/icefishing/articles/?ID=327&a=read. Lots of phone numbers and web links here. Also, you might want to contact the good folks at Foxwood Resort on Lake of Bays. I don’t know if they are open yet, but if you catch someone at home I’m sure they’d be willing to give you some pointers. http://www.foxwoodresort.ca/
I fish lakes bays most winters and always get at least two Lakers a week end when I can make it up.We fish out front of the big yellow house off main street and not far from the docks. Enjoy Dan
ive fished lake of bays for 45 of my 47 years as i have a family cottage on it. this april 30th i finally caught my trophy. 25 lbs in ten feet of water!
rather an embarrassment to admit, but i was fishing off my kayak off Bigwin island and hooked a rather large small mouth bass; over 5-6lbs. after grappling with it for a bit and getting a bit of a tow i did manage to get it into the kayak. i was in the process of unhooking it and securing it. i had put my rod down to do this, well the thing jumped into my face and stupidly i tried to catch it; uhm, together the bass and i managed to turn the kayak over. i quickly righted ship but rod and reel it seemed were being towed by the bass to parts unknown. i hope the thing managed to get free. If anyone does see a trophy bass towing around a Shimano reel, well there is an explanation. the story has many other aspects to it, but i will spare u the details.
Not to worry Thomas… Several years ago I was fishing a mountain lake in Alberta when my buddy caught a lake trout. I was helping him land the fish and my rod was still jigging a smelt. Next thing I know, my rod starts bending and suddenly it was pulled right into the lake before I could grab it. Like you, I wonder if is still connected to that lake trout.
Then, not to be outdone, just last week, I was fishing a prairie lake in Alberta and caught a relatively small Northern. I was holding it’s mouth with a lip gripper in my left hand and removing the hook with pliers in my right hand. I got the hook out and suddenly the fish started to flip and shook itself so violently that it pulled the lip gripper out of my hand. I watched him swim away with my lip gripper in his mouth…..sheesh!!!
Hi there, my name is Michael McLean, n my parents n I used to own n run a private campground up there on Haystack Bay called Pleasure Bay Park. I did alot of ice fishing out in front of our place n got many of fish, lots of big Lakers, my biggest was 20# caught lots of big smallmouth bass, ling,n white fish also. Sure miss those days.Say hello to Nancy Taply for me. I went to high school with her back in the day. And yes I’m still kicking 64 now.