Fishing for Bass and Pike at Grand Tappattoo Resort

What can I say about Grand Tappattoo on Otter Lake? Location, location, location!
ontario pike fishing grand tappattoo resort

Located on Otter Lake, within a half-hour drive of Parry Sound and only a few hours north of the GTA, the Grand Tappattoo is a beautiful resort. Situated on a prime piece of land with plenty of lodging, an indoor pool, sauna, and gym, all beside a private sandy beach, this lodge is an angler's dream. The lodge also offers hiking and biking trails, and if you prefer a winter vacation, you can enjoy cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and ice skating. There are also snowmobile trails nearby that connect to the resort for more adventures. 

exterior grand tappattoo resort

Grand Tappattoo offers the fantastic Forest Restaurant for three meals a day. The chefs will prepare a meal you won’t soon forget! They offer a mix of casual and fine dining options, with a stunning view of Otter Lake to keep everyone well-fed and happy.

restaurant grand tappattoo resort

We were looking forward to having fun on the water, heading out on our Lund and trying to figure out Otter Lake. We came with limited knowledge of the lake but knew there were plenty of bass and pike to be had. One thing about this lake is that there are plenty of back bays and inlets to hide from the wind if you had to. Unfortunately, we couldn’t bring this lake up on our Lowrance charting. But we had a good base map showing the shoreline. So, we kept it simple and just started casting the shoreline close to Grand Tappattoo. We kept an open mind while fishing and were there just to have fun and see what we could catch, with no target species in mind. We noticed a lot of fallen trees in the water, which we just had to pitch and flip, hoping for a big largemouth. We also noticed there wasn’t a lot of weed in the lake, aside from thin beds of dollar pads along some shorelines and a few thicker lily pad beds and slop in the back bays. 

fish tv ontario bass fishing
ontario bass fishing grand tappattoo resort

I suggest that if you’re after largemouth, just fish all the visual cover you can find. You won’t be disappointed. We covered a lot of the shoreline, happening upon pike fairly frequently. We spotted a few giants following our baits more out of curiosity, not hunger. This trip, we had our best success catching smallmouth bass eager to attack our Mavrik jerkbait and quite easily caught follow-ups with the Ned BLT.  I’m estimating we caught over 40 smallmouth on one weed sand flat we found. We noticed bait busting the surface out from shore and instantly found the smallmouth underneath.

If you are new to the lake, I would suggest you do just as we did and just cast the shorelines with an open mind because you can catch largemouth, smallmouth and pike just about anywhere there.

Fish TV crew at Grand Tappatto Resort

When we headed back to the resort, everyone was out enjoying the sunshine with kids fishing from the dock, using kayaks and paddle boards and jumping on an awesome floating trampoline. Definitely a great spot to take your kids, fish and relax while they have fun.

About Jason Greentree

Jason is a multi-species angler with quite a vast resume of accomplishments in the fishing world. He is a multiple bass tournament winner, participated in many television and radio guest spots and a been on the cover of Outdoor Canada magazine. Currently, Jason continues to enjoy the outdoors and shares his fishing tips and tricks with viewers as a host of Fish TV.

Recommended Articles

River Lake Trout Techniques

Techniques for catching lake trout in untraditional river settings across Ontario.

Lac Seul Outpost Adventure

Lac Seul is known for big fish of all species.

Lake of Bays fishing

Smallmouth Bass Fishing in Muskoka

The Ultimate Winter Perch Trap

Ice-fishing tips for landing yellow perch

Fishful Dreams Do Come True

Landing my favourite species on back-to-back casts at Cedar Lake Camp

3 Must Fish Ontario Hotspots for Smallmouth Bass

Everyone has a bucket list for something. Die-hard bass anglers have many.

Level Up Your Fly Fishing Game

Embrace the art of fly fishing with these 5 easy tips from a seasoned angler.

Mashkinonje Lodge

During our short stay we caught and released several trophy smallies over five-pounds.

The Best of Both Worlds

From spring right through to late fall there are species that you can target close to the home base in the Spanish River

Walleye Sunsets

Walleye Fishing on Lake Nipissing.

Top 5 Tips To Fish Smallmouth Bass in Ontario

Ontario has some of the top smallmouth bass opportunities. in the world.

Terrestrial Flies for Brook Trout

These fish feed like crazy and look for opportunities for a big protein meal.

10 Steps for Winterizing Your Boat

Essential Steps for Winterizing and Preparing Your Boat for Storage

Wind, Cloud & Walleye

How Weather is Important to Walleye Anglers

Birch Bark Lodge

A Slice of Heaven on Wigwascence Lake

Making Mistakes with Muskie on the Fly

What I learnt the hard way chasing muskie on the fly.

Top 5 Baits for Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass

What baits do you use to target bass? Find out why these 5 are the best!

The Pros Go-To Tactics

Tips to get the most of your Summer Bass Fishing in Ontario

Fishing and Foraging

Add some fresh foods and forage to your fishing adventures!

Bronzebacks of the Whalesback

One of the top bass destinations in North America.