Quick jaunt to Woods Bay.

[BillM]

Fun day on the water, the smallies were on the feedbag.    Countless doubles, lost a few nice fish, finished the day in the slop.   Water levels destroying all my largemouth spots, lol.   Raised a big 'ski as well.   I'll come back for her in a few weeks.

[Reef Runner]

Well done Bill. Love the Moon. Spend lots of time here and have the smallies dialed in (more so in Iron City Bay up to Sharpe Island and into Moon Bay). Good job on raising the ski, they are a rare sight on the Moon but when you do see one they are big! My PB for the area is a 47 but easily the fattest I’ve ever had. Didn’t get a girth measurement as I usually just get a quick length and put ‘em back asap. Good luck hunting it down when you go back. 
Reef

[CrowMan]

Nice...thanks for the report.

Yeah...that area is a Smallmouth factory.  I had a cottage on Wahsoune Island for 12 years. Kept my boat with Chris at Moon River Marina.

There was an offshore reef that I had waypointed on my GPS...maybe half an acre across and topping out at 10 ft (during the low water years). Most people would just fly by it.  I once made a bet with my buddy that was visting for the weekend that I could catch 10 Smallies on 10 casts...I ended up at 17 before I finally made a cast without a fish. 

Musky were a tough bite in summer, but come November they would set up in some of the outer passes chowing on spawning Whitefish...still few and far between but yeah some of the thickest fish I've ever seen...

Edited August 29, 2022 by CrowMan

[BillM]

Thanks for the words fellas.   Muskie definitely are a tough go in Woods.   I raised probably the biggest muskie I've ever seen in Blackstone last year, one of those fish that just stuns you.  I completely stopped reeling and just stared at it.   It didn't come in super hot, so who knows if I could have figured 8'd her but man, there are some great genetics swimming out there that's for sure.   

Crowman, she was close to Wahsoune I'm sure you've probably tossed a cast at this spot once or twice in those 12 years   you no longer up there?  

[CrowMan]

No...sold that place 10 years ago and bought a place on Crow/Bobs Lake in Eastern Ontario.

My wife would spend the summers on the island...she can drive a boat, but was always worried that if there was an emergency and it was stormy or at night she wouldn't make it to back to the marina. As you know, lots of boating hazards in that area. So...we bought a "drive to" cottage on the same lake as my family had a cottage on back in the 80's.

Yeah, the world record Ken Bailey fish was caught at Blackstone. In my time there, I saw some that were probably almost as big....always got my knees shaking when you see one of those monsters...getting them to bite is a different story. My best success was with silver Bulldawgs in the deeper channels around the outer islands in late fall. Whitefish would stack up with big hooks on the sonar mixed in.

[BillM]

Gbay muskie are a tough nut to crack, appreciate the tip    Dropped you a PM! 

[FishyFishy]

Thanks for the report, good to hear the smallies are biting. 

I'm heading up to that area for a week after Labor Day, a group of us from Ohio. We usually fish anywhere from Blackstone/Woods Bay up to Sans Souci. Bass/pike are our target since we can get nice walleye on Lake Erie at home. Caught a few small musky and have seen some monsters but no giants taken yet. One attacked my 7-year old son's top water lure last summer and scared the bejesus out of us. 

Has the top water bite started yet? Such a fun way to catch them.

Also, I've never gone out to some of the far outer banks but have been tempted to...do you think it's worth the run? I know there are plenty of fish in between but something about the open water gets me curious. 

[CrowMan]

As you can see from a chart there are literally 100's of offshore reefs out there.  Some are absolutely loaded with Smallies, some are barren of fish. The best reefs top out in 10 to 15 fow, have broken rock (not smooth) and ideally have  some sparse weed growth on top. If you find one with boulders from softball to basketball size, you've hit the jackpot. 

Best approach is to map out a bunch of them, pick a flat day, and then run 'n' gun. You'll know within 5 minutes if it's a productive reef. Once you develop a milk run...it's easy pickn's. 

Top water bite usually peaks with the "frog migration" later in September when the water cools a bit...and the SM come back into the shallows for awhile. That being said, there always seems to be a few eager ones willing to slurp something off the surface in the morning or at dusk, regardless of the calendar.

Sometimes, in the middle of summer right at sunset I've caught them on topwaters in over 70+ fow. Packs of Smallies will drive Cisco/Shiners/Shad to the surface. It's almost like saltwater fishing...you'll often see a bunch of Seagulls and Terns swooping down as the baitfish boil, jump and scatter on the surface...with the Bass underneath. 

[BillM]

Yup,. too early for the topwater bite, all these fish are schooling shad right now off the drops.   Dropshot, jig, spoons, whatever.   They weren't picky.  Make sure you've got a follow up bait if you're tossing jerkbaits, I can't count the number of fish that would follow hardware in, I'd quickly switch rigs and hook up when I tossed some soft plastic their way.  

[FishyFishy]

Thanks Bill/CrowMan for the tips, much appreciated. 

We were up the same time last year and the topwater bite was great, but might have just been lucky. Seems pretty warm this year and the weather next week looks set to stay that way. 

Fishing banks and reefs is a great time, sometimes we just drift over them like we drift fish on Erie. In the past I've found the bass to be on top/sides of the reefs and would get them on a drop shot, but in the deeper pockets 40+ feet dropping a jigging spoon would pick up pike. 

Another question: do you know why Woods Bay and some of the other areas aren't charted on things like Navionics? 

[BillM]

It's all charted on Navionics, which maps are you using and how old are they?  

[FishyFishy]

I just meant the depths of Woods Bay and part of the river aren't charted on things like Navionics or iBoating. Not a big deal, I was just wondering if I was missing something.

[BillM]

It's all charted.  What specific maps are you using?   Do you have sonarcharts enabled?  

 

 

 

 

[AKRISONER]

Good to see the smallmouth eating again, she was a little lean a few weeks back. I’ve been out of province for a few weeks so I’m geared up to get football season fired up when I return!

[BillM]

Only going to get better! 

[Cast-Away]

I was there last month and had plenty of SM Bass in the outer islands. My friend wanted to fish for LB Bass so I took him to a place that produces them. I caught and released a nice Muskie just when it was getting dark. We just trolled past a shoal and shut off the motor to reel in the lures and boom!

We go up there every year and camp so I am including a few nice pics from other years. You can't beat the sunsets out on the bay!

 

 

 

 

 

[BillM]

Sunsets are awesome out there!   A little tip for next time, don't hold a muskie vertical like that, not good for the fish.   Try and keep that belly supported     That's a rare bird you caught!  

[FishyFishy]

Bill - I'll have to confirm the settings on my boat when I get up (it's still in Canada), might just need to update the card. Odd though, even the Navionics Web App chart viewer doesn't seem to have those areas charted w/depths. I don't imagine we'll fish too much in Woods Bay but those images will come in handy if we do. Thanks.

Cast-Away - we usually camp as well, but this time we're renting a cabin. Can't beat the sunset.

Anybody fish the area around Copperhead Island? Never tried it but think we'll give it a shot.  

 

[Cast-Away]

Hey FishyFishy, anywhere along the outer islands will produce Smallies so I am sure Copperhead will be the same.

[BillM]

On 9/2/2022 at 9:02 AM, FishyFishy said:

Bill - I'll have to confirm the settings on my boat when I get up (it's still in Canada), might just need to update the card. Odd though, even the Navionics Web App chart viewer doesn't seem to have those areas charted w/depths. I don't imagine we'll fish too much in Woods Bay but those images will come in handy if we do. Thanks.

Cast-Away - we usually camp as well, but this time we're renting a cabin. Can't beat the sunset.

Anybody fish the area around Copperhead Island? Never tried it but think we'll give it a shot.  

 

In the Navionics app, you need to go to the layers option (The icon that looks like 3 sheets on the bottom left) and click 'SonarChart'.   Right now you have Nautical Chat selected which won't give you the 1 foot contours.   The screenshots I posted above are from the app.