Smallmouth Bass

These fish are common throughout the Finger Lakes region and typically run from about 12” to 17”, with occasional bigger fish mixed in. Pound for pound they are one of the best fighting fish in freshwater. 

New York State now allows year around "Catch and Release" fishing for smallmouth bass on ALL the Finger Lakes! This is a golden opportunity to catch smallmouths averaging 15" to 18" in shallow water!   Bigger fish are available too, especially on Owasco Lake.

Summertime fishing for smallmouth bass on Cayuga and Seneca Lakes can be hit or miss and in general is somewhat wind dependent. As of this writing the smallmouth population is down a bit on Cayuga Lake.    I expect Seneca Lake's bass to rebound quite a bit with the currently depressed pike population.    Skaneateles Lake offers some of the best smallmouth fishing in the region.  Other great lakes for smallies include Keuka and Canandaigua.     I like Skaneateles best for bass, since there are no alewives or smelt there, the bass behave more like bass and less like trout and salmon.   In lakes with large alewife populations, summer and early fall smallmouths will often be found around the baitfish - and this can mean bass in 100' of water!  I've seen a lot of suspended bass in Owasco, Keuka, Canandaigua and Cayuga Lakes.  They suspend in Seneca as well.  

Tactics that work well for Finger Lakes smallies include topwater, tube jigs, spinnerbaits, stickworms, lipless crankbaits, jig 'n pig, deep jigging and crankbaits - basically just about everything!     

I did a lot of fishing for smallmouths in Lake Ontario during the 1990s and up until a couple years ago.  The big lake is now loaded with gobies and the bass fishing has changed a bit.   I didn't fish LO much in 2008 or 2009, but when I went out the bass fishing was a lot more difficult.   Time will tell how things shape up.  Expect bass to get bigger!  I expect Lake Ontario bass fishing to improve over the next few years.

Greg caught this nice (19") smallmouth on Skaneateles Lake in October of 2009 with a tube jig.   Most bass are considerably smaller on Skinny, but the lake does hold its share of sizeable fish!