Rideau River Bass - Monday, June 30th

[JustinHoffman]

Hello All,

 

Having just returned back from holidaying in Greece, today was my first opportunity to head out for some bass.

 

I decided on a stretch of the Rideau River, and headed out with my bud Andy.

 

Conditions were perfect when launching at 9am - clear, calm, and hot. With the unstable weather of the last few days, we both wondered if today would be tough or easy. (At the conclusion of the fish, we agreed it was both.)

 

Started fishing pads, slop, and flats first thing - tossed a variety of baits, but mainly worked Booyah Jigs with YUM trailers and YUM Toads. The first twenty minutes and 50 metre stretch saw us put three fish in the boat, but the fishing seemed to shut down after that. We fished hard for the next 2+ hours, but only managed two more largies.

 

Headed upriver at noon, and fished some deeper water that had a scattering of wood strewn about. That pattern produced four or five fish for us on jigs, but then we really cleaned up hitting the slop with Toads. All fish for the day came from water between one and six feet deep.

 

Here is a shot of Andy that showcases the slop we were targeting...

 

 

A minute later, and Andy winches in another one...

 

 

The fish were very aggressive when hitting the Toads, and very few fish were missed or lost.

 

One for me...

 

 

Another for Andy...

 

 

A jumbo rocky that hit a jig...

 

 

Shortly before 3pm, conditions changed for the worse. The wind began to howl, the sky turned black, and the heaven's opened up. On came the rain gear and a half hour wait for conditions to clear.

 

With the weather decent again, we hit one last spot on the way back to the launch. It is a mid-lake, undercut cane bed that often holds some decent fish. Picked up three more largies on flipping jigs to end the day....

 

Although the fish were fairly small during the outing, the laughter and fun was second to none. In total, 23 largies, 5 pike, and 1 rocky found their way into the boat - and the action definitely turned on after the mid-way point of the day.

 

Ended the excursion with nachos and a beer at the local pub...gotta love that!

 

Until the next bass adventure...

 

Good Fishing,

 

Justin

Edited July 1, 2008 by JustinHoffman

[misfish]

Hey Justin, welcome back bud.

Got out for some of them buckets aswell. It sure is a nice feeling aint it.

Love the scum shot,made me want to throw out a scum frog.Nothing like that explosion hey.

Glad to see yer back safe and sound bud.

Great report as always. Enjoyed it. Looking forward to many more this season.

[JustinHoffman]

Thanks, Brian...

 

Never went anywhere - work has kept me more than busy over the last few months, so fishing excursions were few and far between. Add in to that 3.5 weeks in Greece, and a broken finger prior to leaving, and reports were the last thing I could write about.

 

Then again, we all know that I'm a bass snob...

 

(There will be many reports to read this season.....a 6+ lb fish is still on the radar for this year.)

 

All the best,

 

Justin

[lunkerbasshunter]

great report thanks for sharing!

 

cheers!

[Mike the Pike]

Ya good to see ya back on fish Justin I noticed you use alot of bait spray is that the secret to successfull bass fishing.

 

MTP

[mattyk]

thanks for the good report.

[b2kptbo]

Bin waiting for a report, thanks...

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Nice Bass. That lake holds some great bass habitat. Thanks for sharing.