Chemong Lake - any tips for open water fishing?

[Skippy]

Hoping to be spending a lot of time on Chemong Lake this year and beyond - purchased a waterfront property.

Have seen a fair amount of ice reports on Chemong, but not many reports on open water fishing.

I typically target bass and fish from a kayak and would expect to be spending a decent amount of time fishing from my kayak around the Causeway.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[nominee]

Congrats on the purchase! Enjoy!

Which side of the causeway are you on? I feel like there’s more bass on the south side..

[openwater]

Chemong is a productive lake, with surprisingly little fishing pressure compared to some other Kawartha Lakes.

Panfish, especially bluegills and yellow perch, are extremely abundant and are easily caught on small plastics. Spring concentrations of black crappie near weed beds in 4 to 6 feet of water can result in some tasty fish fries. Largemouth bass can be very active over shallow weed flats and along weed lines in deeper water. Largemouth are generally smallish - in the 10 to 13 inch range but larger specimens are there, especially in the evening. Occasional smallmouth bass and walleye (often below the slot size) are caught over sandbars and rocky points.

Both the east and west shores have good fishing areas. The causeway shorelines tend to produce mostly panfish (and are a designated fish sanctuary in the early spring - check the dates). The large weedy bays at the north and south ends of Chemong hold some good-sized bass, but can get very tough to fish as the season goes on

Chemong can get quite rough, as the wind often channels up the lake from the SW to the NE.
Most of my fishing is done from a 14 ft. aluminum with a 15 HP outboard. However fishing from a kayak should be quite feasible when winds are below 12 km/hr with gusts not exceeding 15 km/hr.

Most of my fishing on Chemong is done with small plastics (tubes or curly tails), crank baits or rubber worms.

Hope this helps (without sharing exact fishing locations).

[Skippy]

East side of the lake and North of the Causeway, but easily able to get to the South side.

Of course there will always be more fish on the side opposite to where I end up fishing - or so it seems

Openwater - thanks very much for your insights. Looking forward to getting out and seeing how things go.