Targeting Smallmouth from Taggart Bay Lodge? (seeking advice)

[paul sr.]

Hi all? a group of us are staying at Taggart bay lodge in a few weeks? aug 4-12. We will be targeting smallmouth almost exclusively (catch and release). We stayed at TBL in 2014, though our memories of the fishing details are a bit foggy and looking for some tips.

We typically use senkos, topwater poppers, keitech-type swimbaits, tube jigs and drop shot soft plastics when fishing on other lakes in the past. We find these techniques have worked great and hope it translates well to Lake Kipawa. Is there any other lure or technique that we should be incorporating?

Can anyone recommend depth ranges, general locations, or structure that may produce well this time time of year?

If we were to target walleye, which we have very little experience with, is a 1/8 oz jig head and a leech the go-to method on lake kipawa? Is anchoring recommended? Any other techniques popular for that time of year (slip bobbers?) Any particular depth range recommended for early august?

We greatly appreciate any insight from those willing to share some knowledge with us. Feel free to PM me if preferred.

[fishtildark]

paul sr.
I see you arent getting alot of responses on the smallmouth question. I fish a neighboring lake so cant help much except to suggest you use the search function in the top right of the home page here. "smallmouth" will get you several pages of references.. Good luck and have a great trip.

[T-Bone]

What you use on any other lake will work on Kipawa for smallies. Or, in our experience, any lure in your box. As for depth, etc. just experiment. Kipawa is a very diverse lake with a lot of different structure and depth changes, but 'typical' smallie structure will serve you well. Fishing walleyes in that area of the lake can be pretty hit-n-miss...if you're not an experienced you may have a bit of a struggle. I haven't fished for walleyes up in that area for almost 20-years...so I wouldn't be a good source of information for what works and what doesn't up in that area.

[T]

Paul sr.

  I do not target smallmouths, but catch many by accident for the most part.  I will keep an eye out for schools that may be chasing bait on top and throw a number of top water baits.  Most islands will hold some population of bass.  But from what I have seen they are roaming the lake searching for bait.  Good Luck

[ziggy6]

Paul sr., My group would target smallies after trying for walleye in the mornings. The classic shallow rocky bays , points were hot spots. We did also use many of the same lures you mentioned. We had a great deal of success with lures that mimic crayfish (fat ikas for instance).  the Keitech worked well for me and would also produce some responses from walleye and pike at times.
   The go to lure for us when it comes to walleye was a 1/8 jig with leeches. This was very successful for smallies as well as walleye and some pike as a matter of fact. Be prepared to lose more then a few though. Slip boppers were also an option that some of our party used.
   Good Luck. Ziggy

[paul sr.]

Thanks for the responses everyone. We will employ our normal lures and techniques and target islands, points, and shoals probably in the 8-15ft depth range plus or minus which is our standard operating procedure. I?ll include a trip report afterwards if anyone is curious about targeting smallies in that section of the lake.

If anyone else has any additional tips or insight please post it or send me a PM. Thanks again everyone.

[JJAY]

Went to Taggart Bay at the end of May and were targeting pike but the smallies were in the bays in the shallows .  The smallies were not nesting yet and were traveling in packs and were not spooked.  This was especially the case in Wolf Bay where  we caught a 38 inch pike.  The crew from the outpost caught a 43 inch pike in Wolf that week.  The weather was very hot and as the week progressed all the fish seemed to move to deeper water.  As temperatures have increased all summer I assume the pike and the smallies will be fairly deep.  We were impressed with the uniform size of the smallies  we were able to see. We saw more fish in Kipawa than on our trips to Ottawa River or French Rivers.  Good luck.