Labour Day Bass From Lang Lake

Trade the summer crowds for the aggressive fall bite in the heart of Northeastern Ontario’s rugged LaCloche Mountains.
lang lake bass

Not all of the best bass fishing occurs in early spring or summer across Northern Ontario.

Although the early and mid-summer seasons can be simply incredible, the early to late fall bass bite can be as exciting as it gets, especially with a lot less boating traffic on the lakes. We were fortunate enough to experience the terrific smallmouth bass opportunities from Lang Lake near Espanola, Ontario, in early September on a road trip to Northeastern Ontario with the nice folks at Lang Lake Resort.

lang lake resort lang lake
Photo credit: The Extreme Angler

Summer or winter, they invite you to explore the natural beauty of the area. Set in the rugged beauty of the LaCloche Mountain range, Lang Lake Resort has been offering quality vacations for more than 50 years. At Lang Lake Resort, you will find that they have not overlooked the many ways to make your holiday as convenient as possible. Boat and motor rentals and a store with tackle, live bait, gas, souvenirs, ice, candy and all of your basic food needs are just steps away from the cabins.

You can plan on a truly enjoyable vacation at Lang Lake Resort. Summer or winter, the cabins are winterized, have a full kitchen, running water and a personal dock. Fish the main lake system for trout, walleye, pike, smallmouth and largemouth bass. The resort also offers quiet back-lake retreats. They have many activities such as hiking, snowmobiling, swimming in the sparkling-clean water of Lang Lake or relaxing in the hot tub or sauna. 

smallmouth bass
Photo credit: The Extreme Angler

We were very fortunate to experience calm, sunny weather during our fall excursion to Lang Lake and decided to explore the untapped smallmouth bass opportunities throughout the entire waterway from the tip of Lang Lake to fishing literally in front of the resort on mid-lake reefs and shorelines with long underwater points that attracted all sizes of smallmouth bass, Northern pike and largemouth bass.

angler fishing from boat
Photo credit: The Extreme Angler

Taking advantage of the calm weather conditions, we fished both evenings and mornings with topwater lures such as loud prop baits and subtle poppers in our attempts to provoke Lang Lake smallmouth bass to attack our baits and boy, did they ever ATTACK our baits. The smallmouth of Lang Lake has a unique build, shorter than traditional bass, yet a lot thicker through the belly, probably due to overeating the abundant fatty forage available on Lang Lake. We also fished the popular Ned Rig jigs along shallower grassy areas between six and ten feet deep and scored a bunch of chunky brown bass up to three-plus pounds.

The chain of seven interconnected lakes of fishing from the resort stretches for eighteen miles and boasts over one hundred miles of shoreline, with numerous shoals and weed beds. You can fish the main lake system for lake trout, walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass. For the more adventurous fishermen, the resort offers quiet back-lake retreats, where northern pike and largemouth bass never seem to stop biting. The back lakes are set up with boats ready to go, and are only a short portage away from the main lake system.

Having never fished Lang Lake before and experiencing a lot of different sizes of smallmouth and largemouth bass during our trip, we would highly recommend Lang Lake Resort as an ideal location for families and buddy trips for the comfortable cabins, fishing opportunities and overall positive experiences this resort provided us on our trip.

Visit the resort here at https://www.langlakeresort.com/ 

About Karl Kalonka

It's possible Karl's love for fishing began as early as the age of five. His parents took the kids on weekend trips across Ontario fishing for panfish, catfish, and bass. "I started with a bobber and worm from the time I was five years old," says Karl. These days, he has the enviable task of doing what he loves for a living, travelling across Ontario fishing, filming and producing two outdoor series, Extreme Angler and Crappie Angler TV.

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