Lake Windermere is a classic Canadian Shield Lake and rocky. There are over 120 islands along with rocky shoals, rocky points and other habitat, which is perfect for Smallmouth Bass to grow big and proliferate in great numbers.

Along the shore you have sandy areas that are good for the bass to spawn in. There are patches of weeds full of minnows, Leeches and bugs, which are all on the menu. For any lake to sustain a high population of giant Smallmouth Bass, there must be lots of rocks and lots of Crayfish, which is what we call Crawdads in Ontario. Crayfish is the preferred food of the Smallmouth Bass and where there are crayfish, there will be bass. The lake is 20 miles long with 133 miles of rocky shoreline with uncountable amounts of crayfish. As a result there is low competition for food. Combine this with extremely low fishing pressure and you can see why our Smallmouth Bass get to be massive.

Our guests have stood on the shore and watched schools of Smallmouth Bass swim by. They can travel in hunting packs. Generally these hunting packs are smaller bass in the 1/4 to 2-pound range. The bigger 3, 4, 5-pound Smallmouth Bass usually travel in mating pairs and will stake out a territory so if you find a spot where you are catching bass after bass, odds are you will not get into the big ones. You have to find prime rocky points where you are not catching lots of bass. This is where the big ones are.

Smallmouth Bass in Lake Windermere are very common in the 17 to 19-inch range. Guests commonly catch Smallmouth Bass, which are much bigger. On the right day you can easily catch bass and some guests have told us they have hit the magic 50 fish per day mark. This would be concentrating on areas with small bass. Guests do occasional catch bass in the 6 and 7-pound range but they are not as common. Guests can expect to catch multiple bass in the 3 to 5-pound range. Since our average size bass is so much larger than normal, we are hoping for a record bass to be produced some day.

Promoted Smallmouth Bass Regulations: