Where should my buddies and I go for a week?

[Bandersnatch]

My buddies and I go to a fishing tournament ever second week of August on a small lake outside of Kingston Ontario. It's a four day tournament with about ten boats, 3 to a boat. It's fun, it's a blast and we all hang out and pre fish a few days before. It's a lake that has a shallow side mostly full of largemouth and a deeper side with smallmouth. We really enjoy the largemouth part of it. Unfortunately, it looks like Covid-19 is going to spoil our fun. The rumor as of today is that the border will continue to stay closed until the end of July and who knows after that. It's highly unlikely the tournament will remain if that's the case. So, because we already have the week scheduled off we've decided if not Canada, we will go somewhere else. By somewhere I'm considering anything within a 12 hour drive of me, Grand Rapids Michigan, my buddies are in Central PA. Now I know people are going to say that I have some of the best summer fishing nearby but I'm just not feeling it, maybe it's because I haven't fished for giant smallmouth in lake st clair or up north. I grew up fishing the Susquehanna river in central pa, I have caught lots of big small-mouth and while i greatly appreciate them, they aren't what I find nearly as fun as slinging a hook set on a green bass under a stump, also I'm not confident in that style of fishing right now. So the question is where do I go? Is there northern lakes around here that have good largemouth fish and smallmouth? Should we had down to Guntersville or Chick in the second week of August? Will that be just a beat down of heat? We're just looking to go anywhere that we can have a good time and even though it may offend some, I'm just not super confident in my offshore smallmouth fishing right now. The last thing my buddies want is to sit next to me, driving around starting at my electronics all day. 

[clh121787]

Dont come to texas 

[Bandersnatch]

3 hours ago, clh121787 said:

Dont come to texas 

Cool

[TnRiver46]

Guntersville and chickamauga would definitely be hot but people still catch big uns. Maybe not limits of monsters like they do in winter but a large kicker is still possible. Granted I live 2-3 hours from those spots and rarely go, I’m not so good at the green bass game. I like chasing river smallmouth and big stripers with topwaters in mid august. It will be brutal hot and hard to breathe the thick air anywhere down this way in august, but I’ve been to Philadelphia in summer and it felt just the same haha

[Smalliefan2]

I live on Chick. Chick and big "G" are great green fish lakes. August will be hot, so most folks fish till 11 AM -noon, or night. Daytime has all the recreational boater, i.e. jet skis, pontoons, skiers, wake boarders etc.

The grass will be up by then, that is an alternative to ledge fishing. They are about the limit of the driving range you are looking at. I go to Kalamazoo from here, about 11 hrs. 

[Bandersnatch]

58 minutes ago, Smalliefan2 said:

I live on Chick. Chick and big "G" are great green fish lakes. August will be hot, so most folks fish till 11 AM -noon, or night. Daytime has all the recreational boater, i.e. jet skis, pontoons, skiers, wake boarders etc.

The grass will be up by then, that is an alternative to ledge fishing. They are about the limit of the driving range you are looking at. I go to Kalamazoo from here, about 11 hrs. 

You go to Kalamazoo to fish? 

[Jermination]

15 hours ago, Chief250 said:

My buddies and I go to a fishing tournament ever second week of August on a small lake outside of Kingston Ontario. It's a four day tournament with about ten boats, 3 to a boat. It's fun, it's a blast and we all hang out and pre fish a few days before. It's a lake that has a shallow side mostly full of largemouth and a deeper side with smallmouth. We really enjoy the largemouth part of it. Unfortunately, it looks like Covid-19 is going to spoil our fun. The rumor as of today is that the border will continue to stay closed until the end of July and who knows after that. It's highly unlikely the tournament will remain if that's the case. So, because we already have the week scheduled off we've decided if not Canada, we will go somewhere else. By somewhere I'm considering anything within a 12 hour drive of me, Grand Rapids Michigan, my buddies are in Central PA. Now I know people are going to say that I have some of the best summer fishing nearby but I'm just not feeling it, maybe it's because I haven't fished for giant smallmouth in lake st clair or up north. I grew up fishing the Susquehanna river in central pa, I have caught lots of big small-mouth and while i greatly appreciate them, they aren't what I find nearly as fun as slinging a hook set on a green bass under a stump, also I'm not confident in that style of fishing right now. So the question is where do I go? Is there northern lakes around here that have good largemouth fish and smallmouth? Should we had down to Guntersville or Chick in the second week of August? Will that be just a beat down of heat? We're just looking to go anywhere that we can have a good time and even though it may offend some, I'm just not super confident in my offshore smallmouth fishing right now. The last thing my buddies want is to sit next to me, driving around starting at my electronics all day. 

August is a very tough month on any of the Tennessee river lakes, you can still catch some good ones on chik punching mats but that's going to be a really hard bite to learn in 3 or 4 days. It's going to be hot and heavy anywhere you come down south man 

[crypt]

Vegas ?

[Jleebesaw]

Come to new york. Im right across the border from kingston near ogdensburg. If you want big smallmouth, its pretty hard to beat the st. Lawrence river. Also, lake ontario is right here too. Chatamount[spelling?] Bay has some great big fish. Lake ontario and the st lawrence has good largemouth fishing as well. Its known for smallies but the bays will all hold good largemouths.

     If you want to go after some largemouths there is black lake. Its pretty darn good for this area at least. It has good smallie as well.

      If you stay somewhere in the thousand islands area or near watertown, there are a ton of great fishing areas within an hr drive. Also, its very close to your normal week long getaway. The drive here from michigan will take a little longer by not taking the 401 through ontario, but coming here on I90 wont ad a ton of time to your trip.

[PourMyOwn]

If you do go to NY, get an EZ Pass for your vehicle. It could save you quite a bit of time around Buffalo. I've seen that line extend for over a mile in the cash lanes.

[jtharris3]

My vote would be St. Clair, Thousand Islands, or Lake Champlain.

[Bandersnatch]

This still hasn't been figured out. The ones above are all fantastic smallmouth lakes but I seem to suck at it lol. I'm not a tournament angler, I like Lilly pads, juice, weeds, docks, islands, stumps lol. Is there any place up north where you have a decent population of good size largemouth? Looking for a lake that has a good amount of options for 8 days. Again, we looked at going down south to chick or maybe Virginia, NC, SC? Just don't want to go south if it's so hot the fishing is rough. 

[TnRiver46]

19 hours ago, Chief250 said:

This still hasn't been figured out. The ones above are all fantastic smallmouth lakes but I seem to suck at it lol. I'm not a tournament angler, I like Lilly pads, juice, weeds, docks, islands, stumps lol. Is there any place up north where you have a decent population of good size largemouth? Looking for a lake that has a good amount of options for 8 days. Again, we looked at going down south to chick or maybe Virginia, NC, SC? Just don't want to go south if it's so hot the fishing is rough. 

From my understanding, almost all lakes up north have good largemouth fishing  

[MIbassyaker]

On 6/9/2020 at 8:31 PM, Chief250 said:

Is there northern lakes around here that have good largemouth fish and smallmouth?

When you say "around here", how close do you mean? This:

 

"....a lake that has a shallow side mostly full of largemouth and a deeper side with smallmouth."

 

would be a pretty good description of Gun Lake, just south of Grand Rapids. 

 

 

Also, like @Jleebesaw, I thought of upstate New York too, but the Finger Lakes region (Cayuga, Conesus, etc.), which I understand to have very good largemouth fishing in addition to smallmouth. Champlain also has lots of largemouth habitat, and in 8 days you would still barely scratch the surface of it.

[RoLo]

 

LAKE HURON, Ontario for Largemouth, smallouth, pike & musky (walleyes too, but we never target them)

ST LAWRENCE RIVER, Gananoque, Ontario for Smallmouth, largemouth, pike & musky   

 

Roger

[Logan S]

You could try some tidal water fishing...It generally stays decent thru the summertime and it's all shallow water and generally "power" fishing which sounds like what you're looking for.  If you went to MD you could fish the Upper Chesapeake and the Potomac, or you could do central VA and have the Potomac and the James/Chick rivers as options. If you like fishing heavy grass and other visible cover in shallow water, tidal fishing in the mid-Atlantic is for you .

 

Having said that, if I were you and had a week to take a fishing trip in the summer, I'd be heading north to Erie or Cayuga or St Lawrence, etc...Assuming the COVID restrictions didn't prevent it. 

[RichF]

Northern NY is where it's at.  I grew up near the St. Lawrence and Eastern Basin of Ontario.  I'm like you..I'd rather fish for the green ones with a flippin stick and 50lb braid.  All the NY suggestions are great but if you're going to want to fish on the same lake for 8 days, go to Champlain.  You can spend a couple days down at Ticonderoga power fishing tons of grass then head up north and fish the Carry Bay area all the way up to Mississquoi.  Champlain kinda has it all.  You can catch them pretty much anyway you want to.  

 

The Finger Lakes are great too but they're fairly one dimensional.  They all have the same layout.  In August, you're going to be cranking deep grass lines, flipping deep grass, or drop shotting deep grass.  There are always some on the docks but the owners are pretty notorious for being unfriendly.  

 

If you wanna get real crazy, go try some of the Adirondack lakes like Cranberry, Tupper, or Saranac.  Those are COMPLETELY different from all the other mentioned bodies of water.  The fishing isn't easy but those are some of the most beautiful lakes in the country.  Just be careful because they're full of structure that can mess you rig up. 

 

Good luck!

[Bandersnatch]

I really appreciate all of thought guys! Still trying to make a decision as they haven fully closed the canada border for August but I believe that inevitably going to happen 

[Jleebesaw]

6 hours ago, RichF said:

 

If you wanna get real crazy, go try some of the Adirondack lakes like Cranberry, Tupper, or Saranac.  Those are COMPLETELY different from all the other mentioned bodies of water.

Cranberry lake has very good largemouth fishing. A coworker of mine got a 6lb LM there last summer. My biggest from there was only around 4 but again, i target smallies there. And there is always a chance of wrestling in a 25lb pike out of it too!

   

[king fisher]

August is a great month to punch weed mats on lake Chapala Mexico.  With today's exchange rate you could get a flight to Guadalajara, stay a week at a nice hotel, and have guided fishing every day for the same price as you would pay anywhere in the states.  Most days there would only be one or two other boats fishing the same lake.  I know you weren't asking for a place far away, just a crazy outside the box suggestion. 

[Bandersnatch]

This topic has crept back up since canada is still closed with no end in sight... We're considering the burt/Mullet chain and Lake St Clair but are open to any options. I'm not much of a smallmouth fisherman and I've struggled in mullets clear waters before. Last year, black NY was a complete dud in mid August. The lake had an alge bloom and you couldn't get them to bit for anything. Open to any and all suggestions for a mid August week trip.

[TnRiver46]

7 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

This topic has crept back up since canada is still closed with no end in sight... We're considering the burt/Mullet chain and Lake St Clair but are open to any options. I'm not much of a smallmouth fisherman and I've struggled in mullets clear waters before. Last year, black NY was a complete dud in mid August. The lake had an alge bloom and you couldn't get them to bit for anything. Open to any and all suggestions for a mid August week trip.

Have we suggested Champlain yet? 

[Bandersnatch]

2 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Have we suggested Champlain yet? 

We have. It's definitely on the list but finding a place to stay has been difficult. Outside of Michigan Champlain is definitely an option 

[TheBasslayer]

On 6/10/2020 at 12:36 PM, Bandersnatch said:

You go to Kalamazoo to fish? 

I live in Kalamazoo, and Idk if there are any really good Bass lakes around me. I do have spots though, but I don't know if there are too many spots. And also, even though I haven't really fished for bass out-of state, some of the lakes in the Tennessee/Alabama/Georgia range might not be as hot as places like Florida or Texas. Burt/Mullet and St. Clair would also probably be good! 

[Deeare]

Go to Maine.  Lakeside lodge in Winthrop on Lake cobbosseecontee.   Lots of other great bodies of water to fish