Smallmouth Report Aug 5-11th Taggart Bay Lodge

[paul sr.]

A group of 7 of us from New Jersey stayed at Taggart bay lodge the week of august 6th. Overall the weather was great- low 80s for highs and 60s at night. Only one day of rain prevented our evening fishing session.

We targeted smallmouth bass exclusively. We struggled at times to say the least in terms of quantity, though the average sizes were impressive. Typically we would catch between 2-6 bass per person per 3-5 hour fishing session, if that gives you any idea of the quantity. The quality of the fish was excellent with very few fish under say 14 inches and the average being 16-17 inches. Each of us caught numerous 3.5-4.4 pound bass for the week. My personal best for the week was 21 inches, 4.4 pounds and numerous fish over  3.5 pounds.


It was our second time to TBL (the first being about a decade ago in early July). We couldn?t help but compare this recent trip to our first trip. Our first trip in 2014 saw much better numbers of fish despite being less experienced fishermen then. We couldn?t help but chalk it up as a different time of year caused the fish to be more finicky. We could not establish a ?pattern? to regularly catch fish regarding depth, location, structure etc. We caught just as many in the middle of the lake as we did in 4-12 feet with rocks creating appealing looking smallie habitat. Go figure. Almost all bass caught were on topwater lures (poppers, whopper ploppers, walking baits I.E spooks), with some fish caught on senkos or drop shotting soft plastics. Occasionally if there was minimal or no wind, we would see bass chasing minnows and breaking the surface. Casting topwater in their vicinity usually worked, but it was never fast and furious.

We caught a few stray walleyes, several pike and oddly enough two lake trout (one on a drop shot and one on a senko believe it or not).

The cabins and boats were great and the lake is beautiful with endless appealing fishing spots. Every cast was made with confidence based on seemingly great smallmouth haunts, despite the lack of fish caught. Yves said that most people targeting walleye were really struggling as well, which we appreciated his honesty.

Our group agreed that despite the ?poor? fishing, we would return to Lake Kipawa, however we would be sure to visit in early July instead of early/mid august.

This forum helped our group and hopefully my post can help someone else in return.

A special shout out to Oarin who took time out of his night to give us his own detailed trip report via a phone call a few days before our trip.

[Hodgey1]

Great report @paul sr.  we had very similar issues the week before. Slow fishing for sure. It still sounds like a successful trip. Glad the forum was of assistance, @Oarin always willing to help. 

[BH]

Happy for your group that the experience was great.  Nothing fights like the Smallies.  Next year we are going to keep a rod ready to cast a top water lure while fishing for walleye because we saw quite a few surfacing this year the second week of July.