Bass Fishing Wakomata Lake

Although the frequency of my visits to beautiful Algoma Country has diminished since COVID-19, I have been fortunate enough to continue with an annual trip to one of the many great resorts the area has to offer. This fall, the destination would be north of Thessalon at Snowshoe Camp Resort on beautiful Lake Wakomata. My son Izaak and I spent several days exploring that massive lake in mid-September and enjoying the fine hospitality and amenities that Snowshoe has to offer.

After a seven-hour scenic drive up to the resort, we didn’t have much daylight left for fishing but did get our Snowshoe rental boat (I decided to leave my heavy bass boat at home) all prepped, loaded for an hour of top water action. We enjoyed landing a couple of the smaller bass Wakomata has that evening close to camp and were all set for the next day.

Although we expected a resort barren of most other occupants at that time of year, that certainly was not the case as all but one cabin had guests…and as we learned all were happy return customers. Back at our cabin, we were impressed with how spacious, clean and comfortable it was.

That night we enjoyed the free WiFi the resort offers and enjoyed streaming the Blue Jays and watching them win another fun ball game. One night we spent in their resort games room and had a ball all to ourselves. We don’t get to play pool too often but did while watching on reliable Starlink a fabulous Blue Jays game as they romped their opponents big time.

For the next few days the weather and wind were very hit-and-miss and unfortunately for us so too, was the fishing. We caught our share of small bass, however, the bigger ones we knew were there eluded us. Wakomata is primarily a lake trout lake (season closes Labor Day) — very deep, clear water with spectacular cliff walls and rugged rolling hillsides. There weren’t a lot of islands or coves to cover off but we did use Navionics Mapping and my portable Lowrance Elite sonar to find a couple of shoals and key spots that were prime fall bass-holding areas. We also brought up an electric troll motor that helped us maneuver around when we got to our spots and for long-lining jerkbaits.

One of the shoals we fished was recommended by my good friend and renowned Algoma Country fishing guide Adam Vallee of Angling Algoma.  He fished that shoal just the week before we arrived and his clients did extremely well for much bigger bass than we were catching. Adam guides on dozens of water bodies across his district for a variety of species but like myself favours large and smallmouth bass fisheries above all others and we have had some spectacular bass fishing together in other Algoma waters. He highly recommends Wakomata and wishes he could fish it even more but acknowledges the weather and finicky smallmouth in early fall conditions can make the lake a challenge.

Snowshoe Camp resort comes highly recommended – especially for those ready to participate and enjoy the many other local activities that are provided seasonally all year long. For more details be sure to check out their website here and don’t hesitate to contact them directly beforehand.

Highlights of Our Trip:

• The very first day and every day thereafter, we saw at least one eagle on what we called Eagle Point. Algoma Country almost consistently provides us with a glimpse of these remarkable, iconic birds of prey and we feel blessed every time we see one.
• We enjoyed a fabulous home-cooked dinner with hard-working Snowshoe Camp owners Brent and Laura. It was interesting to learn that the vast majority of their clients are repeat customers and although the majority of other resorts in Algoma (especially those right off Hwy 17) have been reliant on nearby American clients, their clientele is mostly from all over southern and central Ontario. Families, friends and groups come primarily to really get away from their busy lives and relax in these beautiful surroundings. The wide-ranging interests and activities the resort offers in spades include: Hunting grouse, moose and deer, ice fishing lake trout, whitefish, burbot and yellow perch and enjoying prime spring laker fishing,  hiking and bird watching. Lately, there’s a growing trend of folks who come specifically to harvest the abundant wild edibles – like mushrooms
• Productive lures for us were about the same that Adam used for his clients. Like him, NED Rigs and drop shot were very productive. Izaak and I also caught numbers on a variety of Rapala and 13 FISHING LOCO jerk baits. Low light and fairly calm conditions were fun top water times with RAPALA X Pops and good ol’ Storm Chug Bugs

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