Only a few days back from our trip to Bulldozer Lake, it was time for us to head out for our week long family vacation at Tomiko Lake Lodge with a group of friends. This would be our 4th year, and our enthusiasm was high, looking forward to that perfect combination of relaxation, family time, and of course…fishing! 
Historically the fishing has been hit or miss on this lake, but if you put your time in, and make the necessary adjustments, it can reward you with some very nice fish. This year was no different, as we had to adjust for the warm water, which at times was reading 80 degrees on the surface, and there wasn’t much in the way of wind to help us out.
We realized early on that some of our traditional “go to” spots were simply not producing. I chalked it up to both a change in the water level, as well as the high temps. To adjust, we looked for some structure that was adjacent to some deepper water, expecting that the fish would be resting in the cooler water, and sliding up to feed. Turns out, we were right!
There were a couple of locations that produced the best. The first was a sheer rock wall where the depth went to almost 20 feet, just a 5 ft out from the shore. I was casting the shore and letting my jig drift down the edge when I picked off a solid bass. This led me to work the area for a bit longer, and it produced a few more quality fish. 
I headed back to this location a couple evenings later with the kids, who used jigs tipped with worms to work the area. After weeding through countless rock bass and perch, the big fish came into feed, and rewarded them with more quality small mouth bass.
As always, it’s such a joy to see kids catch fish of any size, but the excitement goes to a whole new level when a well hooked smallie takes them for a run.
The other key area that worked for us was a weed line in 10-15 feet of water. The previous year, I’d fished this general area and done well in much shallower water, and right in thick stuff. This year, I had to slide much further out, and much deeper, to achieve the same results. Jigs with plastics were the ticket again, just casting out with a slow retrieve. In addition to some great bass, we managed to secure a couple of walleye as well.
We actually spent less time on the water this year vs other, partly because of the heat, and partly because we’d just come back from a great fly in trip, but we still had some great experiences. If you are interested in a quality cabin at an affordable price, check out Tomiko Lake Lodge located on Tomiko Lake near Sturgeon Falls, Ontario.
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Great article and thank you so much for the help on Lake Tomiko….it helped us out tremendously!!