Ottawa-Area Bass Report - July 7

[JustinHoffman]

Hello All,

 

Headed out with my buddy Tim on Monday morning to spend a day on a lake just outside of Ottawa. We both anticipated a good day on the water, but as we've discovered during previous outings, this body of water can either bring you luck or hurt you bad....we both needed bandages after this trip.

 

Arrived at the launch around 9am. Water was up considerably. Sun was high and burning already, and winds were pretty non-existent.

 

Decided to give the smallies a go first thing in the morning, then turn our attention over to the green bass come 11am or so.

 

Hit a few of our proven spots, but had little to show for our efforts. Threw a variety of baits, including topwaters, tubes, Senkos, drop-shots, etc. A few dinks and that's about it.

 

Headed down to one of our favourite spots - sand, wood, and rock. I got a chunky smallie to go on a flipping jig, and Tim picked one up a short while later on a Senko. Both fish were fat, spitting out craws, and probably weighed in at 3.5lbs. Both came from three feet of water. (Tim took those photos.)

 

I missed a really decent largie from under a canopy of wood..

 

One thing that was weird was the lack of weeds this year. Bays that were previously choked full, had little or no vegetation. A very different look to the lake from previous years, and it seemed like it was affecting the fishing.

 

Here is the only fish I have some film of. Came on a flipping jig from a slop/pad patch in two feet of water.

 

 

 

The Kistler rods worked like a charm! The Helium 2 LTX Flipping Rod was a main stay today, and the difference in performance from previous rods I've owned was more than noticeable. For a hard-core flipper like myself, the extremely light weight is a God-send in itself...and in terms of feel and fight - definitely top-notch.

 

We definitely struggled the rest of the day. Although conditions had been steady for the last few days, (which I thought would make for an awesome shallow slop/dock bite), it just was not to be. Saying that, we did catch and move fish on frogs and toads that were sitting in less than a foot of water. But prime docks, slop, and weed edges held nothing.

 

We began to wonder if the spawn was late this year, and fish were in that "in between" stage before moving into typical patterns. We did notice a few rock bass still on their nests, so maybe this train of thought has some validity. Whatever the case may be, the largies were not were they should be for this time of year...

 

Got off the water around 5pm, but not before a quick jump in the lake to cool off. The heat was definitely a major factor today in terms of comfort...

 

All in all - a slightly disappointing outing, but only in terms of fish. The laughs and friendship definitely means a whole lot more...

 

So, with a mixed-bag of 18 bass, we bid farewell...there's a good chance we won't bother returning again until late fall.....when the true piggies come out to play!

 

(Will be fishing three days out of the next five, with one stop being at my "big bass" lake - will post a report of my outings next week...)

 

Good Fishing,

 

Justin

[Mike Pike]

Enjoyed your report and pics Justin! One thing I realize is that your bad days aren't that bad! LOL

 

The spawn, the weeds, everything is a bit behind this year, eh? Way to go adjusting though.

 

Thanks for the post!

[lunkerbasshunter]

great report!

 

Cheers!

[bucktail]

Nice report.

I was up to lake X on the weekend and found almost the exact same conditions. Higher water, less weed growth and fish only on wood and off of there normal spots in slightly deeper water.

I am off to a northern Haliburton Lake next week , think I will start alittle off of shore.

 

 

D

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Great report. Still gotta get my first jig and pig fish this year! But working on it!