Largemouth Bass
Go up-lake for largemouth. The shallow, weedy north end and the vegetated back bays off the flooded river valley are warm, stained, and choked with cover — the eutrophic water largemouth thrive in and smallmouth won't touch. This is the green half of the reservoir, and it's the first water to wake up in spring. Fish the vegetation edges and the wood, and work into the backs of the bays.
← Back to Fanshawe Lake conditionsHow it fishes
Largemouth share the bass calendar — fourth Saturday of June through November 30 — and the shallow upper end warms ahead of the main basin, so the northern bays turn on earliest. Through summer the fish hold tight to the weed and wood, ambushing sunfish and perch out of the cover the drowned valley left behind.
The nutrient-rich, stained water suits them: it grows dense vegetation and keeps them shallow and shaded rather than pushing them deep. Because this is flood control, levels can rise after heavy rain and flood or strand the shallow cover, so treat any weed edge as movable and follow the vegetation.
Late-season fish stay in the green until the water cools toward the November 30 close.
Structure
The reservoir's shallow northern reaches, thick with vegetation near the North Thames inflow — the warm, cover-rich water largemouth hold in, and the first part of the lake to warm each spring.
The flooded valley left back bays and margins that grow dense weed and hold wood — classic largemouth ambush cover away from the main flow.
Regulations
This is a summary, not the legal regulation — confirm current rules with the official source before fishing.