Sept. 16/17 Bassin' Report - BIG Fish of the Season!

[JustinHoffman]

Hello All,

 

Sept. 16 (Sunday)

 

Had the chance to get out on the Rideau River for a few hours with my bud Tim. Although the weatherman called for "calm" winds, for the most part, they were pretty much howling! Pretty chilly out there, too!

I launched the boat an hour before meeting up with Tim, so checked out a few spots to see if the fish were on. First thing I notice at the launch ramp is four bass boat trailers and trucks. This is unheard of on this stretch, so I was curious what was going on.

Anyways, my first spot had a bass boat on it, so I cut in front of him a few hundred yards down the shore. Half a dozen flips into some undercut cane, and the first fish (18") is in the livewell. Miss a couple more "hot" fish, and land a smaller guy. Begin thinking, this is going to be a great afternoon, but boy was I wrong. We only got three more fish in the boat for four hours of fishing, which isn't great for this stretch. Mind you, the four boats, that I believe were having a friendly tournament, were working over every bit of slop and undercuts the river has, most two and three times each.

Anyways, still good to get out, and two of the best that I got were certainly photo-worthy..

 

 

Sept. 17 (Monday)

 

Today was a beauty day, with sunny skies and relatively calm winds. Figured I needed to get out again and redeem myself.

 

My first area of concentration..

 

 

Didn't take long for the first fish to show itself, and the shallow slop pattern was on again..

Most fish came from water less than a 1.5 feet, all on a BPS 3/8oz Black/Blue flipping jig, with Zoom trailer.

 

Here is a typical slop spot..

 

 

Although I was picking up a decent amount of fish, I decided to head up river to some deeper slop areas I have fished in the past. The slop had moved closer in to shore since the last time I had fished here, but it still looked pretty decent.

Picked up two quick fish upon arriving, then a big girl came to play!!

 

Here are two of the "smaller" fish..

 

 

As for the big girl, I pitched four feet in front of the boat, and watched my jig slowly decend the two feet to the bottom. Reeled up six inches, and gave the bait two quick jigs. As if in slow motion, I watch a huge mouth swim out from the slop and engulf the bait! A swift hookset, and the fight is on!! She gave a good tussle, but I finally won that battle and got her in the boat. A quick weight before the livewell and photos, and she's just shy of 5lbs.

 

Came in at 4lbs 13 oz on the digi scale, and fell for a BPS 3/8oz Brown Flipping Jig with Brown Zoom Chunk trailer.

 

Here is the spot she came from..

 

 

And here she is..

 

 

 

By the way, since I was fishing solo, all fish today were shot with the tripod, keeping the fish in the livewell until their time on film. That's why these shots look the same..

 

 

After giving her a friendly once over, I bid her farewell, and watched her happily swim away..

 

 

A great day on the water for sure. Put 14 largies in the boat, and missed two fish that would of went over 4lbs...Ahhh, they'll be there for the next time I'm out, flipping rod in hand!

 

Good Fishing,

 

Justin

Edited September 18, 2007 by JustinHoffman

[addict]

cool swim shot.nice fat fish u got there wtg

[evster]

Great fish! That sure is a hawg. And great report as usual.

[Rattletrap2]

Way to go Justin!

That last one is certainly a prize! Not that the rest of them were anything to sneeze at though.

As I was reading your report, I was just thinking about asking the water depth in those weeds...and boom, there it is. This is a great report.

 

I doubt that I would ever be fishing that area, so the spot is not important to me. The conditions and the specifics such as technique, water depth, presentation, and bait choice are what makes your reports so enjoyable.

 

Keep it up! I'm not getting out too much these days, so your reports of the Fall season might be as close as I get!

[fatherof3]

great fish,congrats.Love the swim away shot

[danc]

Beauties Justin. Very nice self photos too!!

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Excellant report justin and nice Hog. Just 2 questions. 1) What was the water temps 2) Can a large mouth bass suck up a 3/8 ounce jig off bottom in 2 feet of water, or do they hit on the hop?

[JustinHoffman]

Hey Johnny,

 

No idea on the water temp., as I still have an older model grapth that doesn't have that feature. It was a little chilly when the hands went in.

 

In regards to how a fish hits a jig, each and every way is possible.

 

They can easily suck up a jig, regardless of size, off the bottom. No question about that. They can smoke it on the drop, shooting out in the blink of an eye before you bait even makes it to bottom. This happens regularly when fishing a jig - even in water as shallow as 1 foot.

If they don't hit it on the initial fall, I will jig it in place, six inches or so off bottom (or even right on bottom) in hopes of luring them in. I've worked a jig as long as 30 seconds in a promising spot, before a fish has swam up and sucked it in.

 

The fish will dictate how they take it. It can happen in a multitude of ways, and that's what makes this style of fishing so exciting.

 

Good luck on the water,

 

Justin

[Greencoachdog]

Excellent report and pics!!! Some beautiful fish!

Edited September 18, 2007 by Greencoachdog

[huntervasili]

Very nice report.. thats a beauty of a Bass too... nice release shot

[Rich]

NICE!! I love the slop shots too!

[Mike the Pike]

I always enjoy your reports Justin because I know you will always have a whack of photos to show us.

 

You make it look so easy. MTP

[solopaddler]

Nice fish Justin!

[misfish]

Great read and photos Justin.

TFS

[Guest mistyriver1]

Great report Justin.

 

That last shot is amazing. That is one fat fish.

 

Congrats.

 

Jim

[Golfisher]

The conditions and the specifics such as technique, water depth, presentation, and bait choice are what makes your reports so enjoyable.

 

Amen to that!

[fishindevil]

NICE BIG , BIG BASS !!!!!!!!