Lake chemong is located just 20 minutes north of Peterborough Ontario near another small town by the name of Bridgenorth. It is part of both the Kawartha Lakes and Trent Severn waterways. It spans about 14 km (8.7m) in length, a width of about 1 km (0.62m) with a maximum depth of about 26 feet. The lake is separated by a stretch of road known as a causeway, which can be seen filled with local fisherman on any given day. Although rather small in size for a lake, Chemong is home to some of the biggest monsters. No im not talking about The Lochness monster or bigfoot, I'm talking about monster fish. From trophy sized bass to mean ol' muskies, a day spent on Lake Chemong is sure to be a good one.
Our particular fishing trip start early on a Saturday morning. Before heading out of town we stopped for the usual Tim Hortons coffee and breakfast, then made our way out to the Chemong Shores Marina to begin our day. My good friend and co-worker Wally organized this particular trip as this was my first time on the lake. Before long we had the boat launched and we were on our way to a little area called Telford Bay. A nice shallow cove just south of the causeway. Being the middle of July, so fairly hot, we figured the best course of action was to hit the shallows with some top water baits. It is a known fact that big bass like the sun. Many anglers have caught fish upwards of 8 pounds or more in depths less than 8 inches. Monster sized bass have even been found with sun burnt dorsel fins. I mean who doesn't love a good tan right?
My first lure of choice for the day was a shallow diving crankbait called a Subwart manufactured by Storm. Its a perch colored (yellow, orange, dark green) crankbait that stays just below the surface when retrieving, so still a top water bait as far as im concerned. Unfortunately I can't provide a link to this particular lure as it is not manufactured anymore. So i guess you could say it's a vintage. Irregardless, its a fatal attraction for fish, especially big ol' buckets. When fishing I like to fan my casts. Meaning i never cast in the same spot twice, unless there's reason to do so. I start off casting to my left and move a few inches over towards my right every cast. With crankbaits I like to do a steady to fast retrieve pausing every few reels to add a little more action to the lure. It wasnt long until I had my first bite. Just a small perch but a fish is a fish. Had we have been keeping them that day he would have made a tasty little snack. But we weren't there for snacks. We wanted the monsters.
A few more casts later and I hit my first bucket. He hammered that subwart so hard I didn't even need to set the hook. It was straight to the fight. The thing I love about bass fishing is the sheer power these suckers have when hitting your line. Most fish can hit your line at 10x their body weight in downforce. Add the aggressive nature of Largemouth bass and you have a sport fishing frenzy. Anyways, after a short fight I brought the fish to the boat weighed him then snapped a quick picture and sent him on his way. He came in at 2.3 pounds, not exactly a trophy but not a small one either.
Unfortunately that day my buddy got skunked, save for a few panfish, but my story wasn't over quite yet. After a few more cast and no more bites, we decided to pack up and head to the north western side of the causeway, not too far from where we just were. As with everyday, the causeway was packed with people fishing from shore. It's always great to see so many people finding joy in the same pastimes as myself. I absolutely love it. This time being in some 20 feet of water, I decided to put on a standard 1/4 oz yellow Jighead (my favorite color) and some rubber imitation leeches made by berkley. I was hoping to take advantage of the deep water and do some walleye fishing. However I was only catching bluegills, so we decided to move back closer to shore and switch back to the top waters. Back to the subwart for me. This time we trolled along the shore line casting to the shoreline hoping to find the monsters lurking in Lake Chemong. Muskies, or muskellunge, are frequent inhabitants of the coves and shallows of the lake. The rule of thumb when not getting bites is theres either no fish in the area, or they are all hiding because a musky might be around. Although aggressive, a bass is no match for a musky and they know this. Well we weren't getting any bites. Not even the occassional nibble of panfish checking out your lure. Nothing.
Out of fear of hooking into one of these monsters, as we did not have the gear for one, we decided again to move back towards the causeway. It was nearing the end of the day and we were both getting tired, so it made sense to fish closer to the marina so we didn't have as far to boat back. I was still throwing the subwart, hanging on to the hope that it would prevail for me again, and then it happened. Harder then the last one and it felt heavier too. I saw the splash, the subwart disappeared from my view and then I felt it. I set the hook and started the retrieve. Halfway to the boat and he jumps straight up out of the water. My heart sank. All I could imagine was that lure coming out of his mouth, I just wanted one more before going home. Luckily he stayed hooked, and I was able to bring it in. Wally threw out the net, we got him into the boat and weighed him. 3.2 pounds. not too shabby, not too shabby at all. Still not a monster, but we were getting there.
After we put him back in the water, we decided it was time to pack it up and call it a day. No Lake Chemong monsters today. They are in there, the record bass caught here was 22 inches. That's almost 2 feet long! With musky recorded at over 51 inches, there is plenty of monsters lurking around Chemong and the Kawarthas. Whether fishing for bass, musky, walleye, pike or even cats, I recommend Lake Chemong as a must fish destination. Of course you would benefit from spending a few days in the area, a day on lake chemong monster hunting is one to be remembered. We will definitely be back here again this summer.
Until next time, Thanks and farewell my friends! Keep your lines tight!
