Your Fishing Forecast for July 17th!

Posted on 16 July 2024
By The Drift Team

Fishing Forecast for July 17th!

After getting doused with rain across Ontario, we're thankful that the passing storms have broken the heat, making for comfortable temperatures this weekend!

There are still options for trout out there, but the next couple weeks you'll find us exploring our lakes and rivers for bass! Bass are aggressive this time of year and live in many very accessible areas. If you have a cottage in the Central Ontario area, tune into this week's forecast for some top tips for finding big bass in cottage country!

Make sure to check out the "Hot Flies" section below to set yourself up for success!

Bass Forecast

We've been having a blast targeting bass at the cottage, on the Great Lakes, and in the rivers! Some rivers may be a little high this weekend with the rain, but lakes will be in great shape. If you're fishing cottage country, our advice would be to take advantage of low light periods, especially if there is a lot of boat traffic. Many times fish will be shallow around rocks, docks, and bays at the start and end of day, but will push out to deeper water when boats start making noise. Baitfish flies, poppers, leeches and crayfish all work well, but poppers and baitfish flies can be fished fast and you can cover lots of water with them, making them great for finding fish!

Trout Forecast

Though some of our most popular trout rivers are too hot to ethically fish for trout, there are still options! This is the time of year to explore small rivers, you'll be surprised what's out there! Look at the smallest rivers that are heavily tree covered, more shade = cooler river, in addition to that, we'd advise that you limit your fishing to morning hours before things heat up and of course monitor water temperature as you go (68F cutoff for brown trout).

Carp Forecast

Because carp are actually cold water fish, you may find that their peak activity level is in the morning, and they may go deeper in the afternoon heat given the choice. That said, if your waters are small and warm everywhere, fishing in shallow can be good all day! Look for soft bottom or areas of lakes and rivers with small rocks where there will be lots of bugs and crayfish for those carp to munch on!

Swimming Frog (Bass)

The swimming frog can be fished as a diver style topwater or fished on a sinking line for a truly unique swimming action that drives bass nuts!

Jig Squirdle Bug (Carp)

Imitates crayfish, dragonfly nymphs, hex nymphs, and other big bugs that carp love to munch on!

Elk Hair Caddis (Trout)

A stimulator is a great searching fly, especially in summer when bugs like hoppers and ants get knocked into the water frequently. Also imitates caddis, sedges and stoneflies.