Dominique Campeau

The BASS Elite Series takes a turn into smallmouth bass heaven over the next month with stops at the St. Lawrence River and Lake St. Clair. We thought it would be great to take a sneak peek at bronzeback action on the St. Lawrence.

The Saint Lawrence River or St. Lawrence River is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage conveyor of the Great Lakes Basin originating at Lake Ontario and ending in the Atlantic Ocean. The river traverses the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and forms part of the international boundary between Ontario and New York in the United States.  Source

The St. Lawrence provides great fishing opportunities for many species such as bass, northern pike, muskies, walleye as well as catfish and panfish. Now, let’s talk about bass!

Although largemouth bass are taken on the St. Lawrence, smallmouth bass is the most commonly caught species. Good catches of smallmouths are taken around islands (such as Carleton, Round and Linda); off points (Bartlett, Chippewa and Grass), in bays (Goose, Chippewa and bays of Grindstone and Wellesley Islands) below the Moses-Saunders Power Dam and off shoals. Small spinners, jigs, and rubber worms work well in the late summer, while live bait including minnows, worms and crayfish are good early season baits.

Largemouth bass can be found in shallow weedy bays and along edges of shoals. Lake of the Isles on Wellesley Island is known as the largemouth hot spot for the St. Lawrence River. Rubber worms, spinnerbaits, surface lures, plugs and worms are common baits.  Check this for more information as well as boat launch locations: Source

St. Lawrence Smallmouth Gold

httpv://youtu.be/bHy2qpeQPEU

Charlie Hartley recently headed to Waddinton, NY for a little vacation and pre-fishing for the August BASS Elite Series Evan Williams Bourbon Showdown on the St. Lawrence River, August 8-11, 2013. He had this to say about the tournament and is fired up to fish here:

I’ve fished a lot of places but I’ve never seen a place quite like this. The water is clear to the point that, in places, it doesn’t look like it’s there. You can see down farther than anywhere I’ve ever been. It’s actually kind of spooky. That doesn’t seem to affect the smallmouth, though.

I saw a big rock sitting out in the middle of nowhere. It was maybe the size of a refrigerator. Half of it was out of the water. I could see all the way around it, and all the way to the bottom. I’d swear that there wasn’t a fish anywhere near that rock. I looked, too. Nevertheless, I fired off a small topwater bait. I wanted to be sure.

My lure landed with a soft splash. Within a second or two, the water under my bait exploded. I don’t think I ever saw the fish hit. I might have seen a quick flash but I’m not even sure about that. When I got her to the boat she weighed right at 5 pounds. Tracey duplicated my catch a couple of minutes later, near the same rock.

In case you’re thinking I’m just excited after catching a few good fish let me point something out to you. Last weekend there was a local tournament up here. It was a one day deal. The final weight busted the scales at 27 pounds, 8 ounces. Read the entire article here: Source

Again the tournament is August 8th-11th of 2013. Be sure to tune into Bassmaster.com for updates and pictures of some amazing smallmouth action.

Any comments? Sound off below!