Faron Buckler – Fishing Tackle Tips

30 Years of Fishing Tips, One at a Time

Faron Buckler, owner of Excellent Adventures, has created a fantastic series of information on how to catch each of the five species found in our waters – Walleye, Northern Pike, Smallmouth Bass, Lake Trout and Perch! Faron explains why fishing changes throughout the spring, summer and fall of the year, and what habitat changes the fish prefer. He details exactly what techniques and tackle one should be using to catch more fish when you come to Canada on a fishing vacation!

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We encourage our guests to take fishing trip pictures and videos, and share them on Facebook and Instagram!

One of the First Questions Asked by Our Guests Is:

  • What about fishing tackle?
Smithwick Rogue Baits

Of Course, This Is Followed by a List of Other Questions Such As:

  • What kind of rod & reels are best to use?
  • What lures are best?
  • What size lures?
  • What colors are best?
  • What size monofilament line should I use?

And the list goes on…

We will address many of these questions and offer other related tackle information in our blog posts to ensure you will have a successful fishing vacation in Canada. However these are simply suggestions and the rest is up to you. Below we provide good information on the most popular lures and what type of fishing they are commonly used for.

Fishing Tackle for Walleye and Northern Pike

The Lead Head Jig

The lead head jig is by far the most effective lure for all around fishing at our remote fly-in outposts. This lure is a very inexpensive bait and is very effective for catching Walleye, Northern Pike, Lake Trout and Smallmouth Bass.

We provide the lead head jig in both the flip tail version or with a maribou skirt both are available in a large variety of colors and combinations.
Lead Head Jig

The most popular size is 1/4 oz but when the fish are suspended or slow we find the 1/8 oz variety to work very well, both sizes are available. The lead head jig is usually tipped with a minnow but can be fished with or without.

The bait is best known as a very good bait for Walleye fishing and is fished best by back trolling or by casting and jigging back to the boat. But don’t be misled, this bait is very effective for Northern Pike as they seem unable to resist this tempting appetizer. A hand full of these baits and you off to a action packed day of fishing.

The Blakemore Roadrunner

Blakemore Roadrunner

The Blakemore roadrunner has been around for a long time. Like the lead head jig it is a inexpensive bait and is a favorite for all around fishing.

You will find it a hard bait to beat when it comes to catching fish. A dynamite lure when it comes to fishing for walleye, and you can rely on the fact that Northern Pike simply cannot resist it.

Tip the “roadrunner” with a minnow or fish it like it is, either way will produce fish. However tipped with a minnow produces the best results. This bait cannot be fished wrong as long as it is fished slow.

We generally slowly back troll with the bait but casting and slowly back to the boat produces excellent results too. We have found that between the standard lead head and the roadrunner you cannot go wrong. On days when the standard jig does not work, the roadrunner seems to take over. That little blade simply does magic tricks when it comes to triggering the fish to strike.

We stock the roadrunner in large numbers, in all the favorite colors and 1/4 and 1/8 oz sizes 1/4 oz being the popular size. When it comes to fishing it is my favorite bait, you will never catch me without a selection of them. What is really nice is the fact that you can fill a 35 MM film case with these lures and a few swivels, stuff them in your pocket and you are ready for a fun filled day of fishing action.

Whether you are fishing Walleye, Northern Pike, Smallmouth or Lake Trout, you can count on this little lure for plenty of action. Especially handy when doing portage trips and you want to go light. It is also one of Jimmy Houston’s favorite baits. We need say no more about the Blakemore Roadrunner.

Fishing With Crank Baits

Rapala Husky Jerk

Rapala Husky Jerk

There are countless of crank baits available in the world of fishing. We advise bringing along what you have. Many of the ones in your tackle box may produce excellent results. But we have found that the most popular on our lake system are the Rapala Husky Jerk, the Rat-L-Trap and the Smithwick Rogue.

Smithwick Rogue

Smithwick Rogue

Of course, who knows what the best color is going to be while you are fishing? Once again, we will be able to tell you which baits are hot and what colors seem to produce the best results. Crank baits seem to produce the best results for large Northern Pike.

Rat-L-Trap

Rat-L-Trap

The Rapala Husky Jerk and the Smithwick Suspending Rogue are extensively used for large Northern Pike and have been known to be a good bait for Walleyes. The Rat-L-Trap is a very good all around bait and is very well known for its value in catching Lake Trout. Of course, there are countless other baits we use for Lake Trout, too.

Daredevil Spoons

The Eppinger Daredevil Spoons

Eppinger Daredevil Spoons have been a traditional fishing bait in Canada for years. We stock these spoons in many varieties, colors and sizes. They are a favorite pick when it comes to casting or trolling for Northern Pike.

For Lake Trout fishing, the gold, silver or 5 of diamonds are trolled for Lake Trout when they are in the deep water. They work well on downriggers and produce excellent results. Included in this line of lures is another Canadian favorite known as the Ruby Eye which is available in a variety of colors. However there are many other spoons available. When it comes to fishing in Canada, spoons produce excellent results, especially for Northern Pike and Lake Trout. Give them a try!

Walleye Bait Rigs

Walleye Bait Rigs

These simple little baits consist of monofilament line, a lead weight, a few beads, a small spinner blade, and a hook. Tipped with a minnow and fished slowly this rig produces excellent results when Walleye fishing. I have found them particularly useful when the fishing is slow and all other baits are not producing good results. The Walleye Bait Rig is a bait everyone should have in their tackle box when fishing for Walleye.

Spinner Baits

Our tackle store is well stocked with a very good variety of spinner baits. Many colors to choose from. The most popular colors seems to be yellow, chartreuse and white with silver or gold blades. Another inexpensive bait which produces excellent results.

If you are looking for Northern Pike action, tie on a spinner bait and start hitting the edge of the weed beds. In fact we call them “Northern Getters.” Now, you won’t always end up with the lunkers but you will end up with lot’s of action.

I can remember one day as evidence of the power of this little lure. Jimmy Houston was filming one of his movies and on that particular day he was going to produce a show on Northern Pike fishing, he caught almost 100 Northern Pike of all sizes. He was fishing almost exclusively with a spinner bait and was casting to the edge or just inside any weed bed he could find. Simply could not keep them off his line. What a problem to have!

Too many fishermen forget what they come fishing for, basically all fishermen are looking for the action and thrill of getting that strike and the fight to follow. If action is what you are after, use a spinner bait . Generally, you cannot go wrong.

Fishing Rods

Rods and Reels

We advise fishermen to bring along the rods and reels they feel comfortable with using. Casting & spinning are the most popular. Medium to light action rods are advised. They allow the best action and good hook setting ability. Ultra light is used but hook sets are more difficult. They offer tons of action once the fish is hooked.

Reels

Regardless of the manufacturer or type of reel, always ensure that the reel has a good drag system that allows smooth release of the line throughout the range of the reel’s drag setting and allows for easy setting of the drag. If the reel has jerky or erratic release points or is difficult to set, consider the purchase of a new reel. The drag is the most important part. Our guests land big fish with light equipment but it always comes down to proper drag setting while fighting the fish.

Line and Line Test

6# to 10# test seem to be the most popular, 8# is a good choice. For casting with larger lures some guests have a second rod equipped with 14# to 17# line. Once again, the drag setting is important, set the reel for the line test, the line must release before it reaches its breaking point. When BIG fish are hooked, set the drag back to allow for the strong immediate force these fish place on your line when they run and dive.

Suggested Tackle For Specific Species

Walleye

  • Light to medium action rod with a 6# test line.
  • Little Joe spinner, with a 1/4 oz inline sinker in gold, chartreuse, orange, green, wbite or red.
  •  1/4 oz lead head jigs with 2″ twister tails in yellow, smoke, brown, white, chartreuse and black.
  • We highly recommend live bait, minnows, crawlers or leeches.
  • Deep diving stick baits such as Rapalas, Hot to Trots, Hot tiger Black & Silver, Black & Gold Shiners.

Northern Pike

  • Medium to heavy action rod with a 1012# test line.
  • Rat-L-Traps, shad, blue, silver and chartreuse.
  • 7″ floating Rapalas blue, silver, black/silver & chartreuse.
  • Spoons, 45″ long in red/white, gold, silver, or strip Orange daredevils, blue foxes or doctor spoons.
  • Little cleos 3/4oz. In the above colors, gold/silver work the best.
  • Bucktail Mepps #4 & #5, dressed or undressed.
  • Large bass spinner baits.

Lake Trout

  • Heavy action rod with a 14# test line.
  • 1/2 to 3/4 oz Heddon Sonars, gold, white or silver.
  • 1/2 oz jigs with 4″ white gist tails.
  • Sutton spoons Flutter spoons. All in gold or silver.
  • 3-way swivels and snap swivels to handle 2 to 8 oz weight for late summer fishing
  • Dipsey divers
  • Downriggers for summer fishing.

Smallmouth Bass

  • Medium action rod with a 68# test line.
  • Bass spinner baits 1/8 to 1/4oz
  • Jig and twister tail 2″4″ long.
  • Rapalas
  • Rat-L-Traps
  • Beetle spinners
  • Roadrunners
  • Mepps
  • Devil horses
  • NOTE: It is highly recommended that you use live bait like leeches, crawlers and you also can use minnows.

Spring Fishing for Smallmouth Bass

When you fly up to our remote luxury fishing outpost camps in Northwestern Ontario, you’ll find the Smallmouth Bass are in their pre-spawn and spawn patterns in the spring and can be easily caught very shallow.

Late May through June is their spawning period, so the smaller male Bass are up in the shallows early, making and defending the beds against any threat.

Plastics and live bait are extremely effective because they can stay in the strike zone near the beds for a long period of time, but spinner baits work well.

Jig combination near a Bass’s bed will cause them to strike, primarily not because they are feeding, but to move the lure away from the bed and protect the spawning bed from danger from the intruder (your lure).

Un-weighted Floating Rapall

An un-weighted floating rapala or fluke drifting over a Smallmouth’s bed is guaranteed to instigate a strike almost every time. Leeches, crawlers, and minnows will work excellent for Bass also.

The large female Smallmouth will feed well in the pre-spawn period, but become very inactive during the spawning period. It tends to be very frustrating, as you will spot them but no matter what you throw at them nothing seems to warrant them striking it.

By later June the spawn is usually over and the Smallmouth Bass start to transition into their summer patterns and feeding frenzies.

Summer Smallmouth Bass Fishing Tips

Summer adds more sunlight and warmer water which starts the underwater vegetation to growing and showing to the surface. When this happens schooling bait-fish seek the vegetation for cover, then the post-spawn Smallmouth Bass start hanging out in these areas for food all throughout the day. Some of the best lures include spinners such as Mepps and twitch minnow baits.

Top water lures, usually in the mid-morning hours is excellent on calm mornings. Any lure that floats and can cause ripples can be good when the water is glass-calm. If the fish are active on these faster moving lures, keep throwing them. If it slows down try using Bass jigs and plastic baits. Live bait works well year round for the Smallmouth even though the action can be so fast that it is a lot of work re-baiting all the time.

Summer Smallmouth Bass Fishing Tips

If you can’t find the Bass in the vegetation areas then move out to deeper weed line edges away from shore. Move out to underwater rock shelves or rock points.

Smallmouth Bass

Click to Get Faron Buckler’s Tackle Tips

Crank baits can be an excellent selection, especially along these deeper edges using Berkley Frenzy crank baits or Rapala Shad Raps are popular in deeper water. The bass may move in and out of the weeds all day long so be ready to move around to keep on them.

Deep Water Fishing For Bass

When Smallmouth do go deep, they seem to like the 30 to 40 foot depth range. If you are fishing deep water in late summer or early fall, then bouncing a worm colored Tube Jig off the bottom also works real well. When fishing shallow rock shoals, yellow or white spinner baits as well as shallow diving crank baits have proven deadly.

In our smaller Ontario Canadian Shield Lakes that we fish, like Sumach, we are prone to using a big worm on a Bass hook with no weight and just let the worm slowly sink down to the bottom along a ridge.

When you are drifting over the ridge, just jig it towards you about 2 or 3 feet and then let the worm sink again, repeating this step several times. When the Bass hits the worm, let off on your bail and let the Bass swim 3 to 5 seconds and then set your hook. Real worms work the best but tube jigs will also work.

The best summer Smallmouth Bass fishing tips focus on finding the fish in deep, cool waters.

Fall Fishing for Smallmouth Bass

Later in the year, as you are fall fishing for Smallmouth Bass in late August and early September, many of the vegetative weed lines are dying off due to cooling water temperatures.

When the cover and plankton start to disperse out of the dying weeds that the bait fish have been using for cover and feed they usually move out to a little deeper water around rock piles or even the main lake and find submerged basins. As the baitfish move out, the small mouth will follow them.

Try varying depths as the smallies will vary there depth depending on where the bait fish are. Long, slender, diving crank baits that dive from 12-30′ are very good choices for fishing these deep smallies. Another way of finding these bass in our waters is trolling crank baits or deep divers.

Minnow colored or white crank baits work great also. Rapala Husky Jerks and larger Shad Raps are great baits also. Don’t be surprised to pick up a large northern pike or walleye while trolling this deep water as many species of fish forage on these schooling baitfish.

Best Smallmouth Bass Lures on Our Lakes:

  • Medium action rod with a 68# test line.
  • Bass spinner baits 1/8 to 1/4oz
  • Jig and twister tail 2″4″ long.
  • Shad Raps
  • Jerk Baits
  • Crank Baits
  • Rapalas Countdown
  • Rattle Traps
  • Beetle spinners Roadrunners
  • Mepps
  • Tube Jigs
  • Walleye Diver
  • Devil horses
  • Rapala Husky Jerk

Wherever possible, it is highly recommended that you use live bait when fall fishing for smallmouth bass – like minnows, leeches – but if you can get them, crawlers work the best.

Do Smallmouth Bass Like Artificial Bait or Live Bait?

Artificial Bait Or Live Bait?

Some days on your fishing trip to Canada, you may find smallmouth bass will not hit not matter what you throw at them, they will be hard to find. That’s when you have to switch and use live bait which usually works all the time.

How To Catch Bass With Live Bait

Using a bass hook and put on a big earthworm. Cast over top of a shoal or the shores edge and let the worm slowly sink. Let the worm dangle off the hook. Use light line like 4 or 6 pound test so you can cast farther. When doing this you generally don’t have to use any weight at all or very little.

Night Crawlers - Live Fishing Bait

You can use a minnow or crayfish if you want also. As it sinks down a couple of feet you gently reel the worm in towards you until it hits the surface then let it sink down again.

Crawfish

Make sure you pull it very slowly and gently letting it sink and then pulling it to the surface again and again until the bass hit. It’s best not to use any weight even if you find it frustrating to cast.

You can also use a small float about 2 feet up from the bait to cast out and draw back. Another popular method is to let the live minnow drop strait down from the boat using none or just a small weight.