Gear We Recommend for Your Smallmouth Bass Fishing Trip
One of the pleasures of anticipating your fishing trip to Canada is assembling the kit of gear that will allow you to successfully catch the fish you want. Here is the basic gear list for smallmouth bass. For those new to this fishing, the Andy Myers Lodge website has an overall primer under Fishing, entitled Planning Your Trip: A Year on Eagle Lake, and separate pages for each of the target gamefish species in the lake.
Smallmouth Bass
Eagle Lake is famous for fantastic walleye fishing and its world-class muskies, but one of the best-kept secrets among serious smallmouth bass anglers is the exploding population of large bass. Fish of 16 to 20” weighing 3 to 5 pounds are average, and bigger ones are common enough to expect them.
The early season, from the end of May through June, provides exciting topwater and artificial opportunities in the shallows. In the fall, rigging plastic or live bait can produce fantastic fishing on deep humps.
- Spinning rod/reel/line combinations – 6’8” medium light, extra fast St. Croix Mojo Bass, Legend Tournament, or Legend Extreme rod, with a Shimano 1500 Stradic or Sustain reel, spooled with 6-8 pound monofilament line; OR
- 7′ medium action St. Croix Mojo Bass, Legend Tournament, or Legend Elite rod, with a Shimano 2000-2500 Stradic or Sustain reel, spooled with 8-10 pound monofilament line; OR
- Level-wind casting rod/reel/line combination – 7’ medium, extra fast taper St. Croix Mojo Bass, Legend Tournament Bass, or Legend Elite Bass casting rod, Shimano Curado reel, spooled with 20-pound braid tipped with a 3’ leader of 10-pound fluorocarbon.
Lures
- Plastics and Tubes – 4-5” Kalin’s Jerk Minnows, Yamamoto Senkos, craws, and 4″ worms.
- Topwater – Rebel Pop-r, Livingston Walking Boss and Walking Boss II, Heddon Tiny Torpedo, and Heddon spook.
- Jerkbaits – Livingston Jerkmaster, Rapala X Rap, and Rapala Husky Jerk.
- Spinnerbaits – Mepps #2, Strike King KVD Finesse, Single Colorado Booyah Blade, and buzzbaits.
- Rigging – Drop shot rig with plastic or livebait, #2-3 round shot, and #6 hook with a leech or minnow; Carolina Rig or a Lindy Rig with a sucker minnow and a 1/8-1/4 oz sinker and #4 hook.
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