northern bass seasonal patterns

Hi Jimmy D. I love fishing in Canada. The seasonal patterns are about the same as the rest of the country, except the happen much faster. Almost as soon as the ice melts the fish start exhibiting per-spawn behavior. They will feed heavy on the bait that is grouped up this time of year depending on the waterway you are fishing. Once you see the water temps approach 50 degrees look for the smallmouth and largemouth begin pre-spawn behavior. May is generally when you'll see pre-spawn behavior, Late May into June will be the spawn. It will happen fast. Late June early July will be post spawn. Smallmouth will start and end the spawn phase about 1-2 weeks before the Largemouth. I have seen the largemouth still spawning in early July in southern Canada waters. The further you go north you can add a week delay on this process. After the spawn its all about the feed. Both species will go to where the food is. Depending of if they are feeding on gobies or other bait fish, the bass will go to where the bait is. As July turns to August, look for the smallies and largemouth to be around current and food. The fall will see a shallow water movement before the fish retreat to the deeper wintering areas. This is lot to cover and everybody of water has its own personality. Good luck this year.