Rideau River Bass Report - July 29

[JustinHoffman]

Hello All,

 

Decided to head out to a new-to-me section of the Rideau River yesterday.

 

Launched the boat with my Dad out of the small gravel ramp, and off we headed to explore. The time was 10am.

 

Here is a shot of the first spot we stopped at..

 

 

This whole stretch screamed to us "TOADS AND FROGS," so that's what we began chucking.

 

Here is my Dad working a frog..

 

 

Fish were fairly active, and willingly smacked our topwater offerings. Missed a bunch of fish, but put a couple in the boat. We then drifted outside of the pad area, to a nice flat that bottomed out at 4 feet deep. Nice mixture of subsurface weeds, as well as some emergent cane.

 

I began working an XCalibur XW6 Wake Bait, while my Dad tossed a spinnerbait. The first cast of the Wake Bait produced a dink of a fish, with a better fish coming a few casts later.

These baits are awesome! Produce a sweet surface wake/wobble, and the internal rattles are extremely loud. It's one bait I'll be tossing a lot this year.

 

Opted to head to a narrow section of the river near the upper reach, and began working shoreline slop, wood, and pads. Fishing was a bit slow to pick up, but I finally put a nice 3.25lb largie in the boat. (Came from a deep, shaded tree from 6 feet of water.)

 

A short while later, the best fish of the day was put in the boat. 3lbs 15oz of chunky largemouth. Caught from the edge of a slop mat in 2 feet of water..

 

 

And here she is with a 3.5lber that was caught a short while later..

 

 

The gentle release..

 

 

Continued to fish this area, and put a few more decent fish in the boat. My Dad finally put his first, and sadly his only fish in the boat, from this spot on a frog. At only around 10", we both deemed it not picture worthy! lol

 

It was a good bite on the frogs for an hour or two after this, but hooking them was another story. The old man stayed with that technique, while I clung tight to the flippin' stick.

 

Another one that came on the jig..

 

 

Continued to search out some new water, and tried to interpret our new water better. Found some sweet undercut banks and slop areas, as well as mid-river flats and cane. All look promising for future trips.

 

Here is the last fish of the trip, caught some 100 yards from the launch. Caught from a slop patch over 3 feet of water..

 

 

Fish are finally beginning to turn on, and from the looks of the fat bellies, they are beginning to chow down. The next few weeks of fishing definitely look promising.

 

Off the water by 4pm, and down to the local watering hole for a cold pint. A day on the water doesn't get much better than that...

 

Report Synopsis

 

Total Bass Caught - 13 Largemouth Bass

Big Fish - 3lbs 15oz

 

Rods - Kistler Helium LTX and Magnesium Flipping Sticks, Helium LTX Medium/Heavy Casting, Magnesium All Special Medium/Heavy 6'6" and 6'9"

 

Reels - Quantum Accurist PT's

 

Productive Baits - Booyah Boo Jigs (3/8oz) with YUM Chunk trailers - Red/Black & Perch, XCalibur XW6 Wake Bait, Booyah Spinner Bait, SPRO Frogs

Good Fishing,

 

Justin

[solopaddler]

Outstanding as usual Justin, it's easy to see why you're affiliated with OOD.

(jigger should love this report! )

[mattyk]

great report, some very nice fish!

[Cookslav]

That first buckets a beauty, and that slop just looks screams fun!

Thanks for the report Nicely done as always

[Rattletrap2]

Now dats a great report!!!!!

Way to go Justin. Some real nice fish there and thanks for all the details!

[ehg]

Great post and excellent pictures.(first one is great)

Good to see that ego hasn't stopped you from sharing with others.

ehg

[Rich]

Good stuff Justin, nice fish, great pics and exceptional reporting as usual! Thank you for sharing.

[Leecher]

Outstanding report Justin

 

The big bucket is a sure beaut and the pics.....PRICELESS

 

Thanks for sharing

Leechman

[BabyHerc]

Well done.

[snag]

I have a ton of respect for your passion.

 

Jigger is loving you.

[scuro]

Nice report as always...thanks for sharing.

[Victor]

Thanks for the report Justin. I'm so jealous, you seem to slay'em everytime you get out there . Gotta try fishing in that thick stuff sometime soon.

[evster]

Nice work! That water you're fishing looks amazing.

[steve_paul]

Thanks for the report Justin, great as always.

[Greencoachdog]

Nice Green Trout!!!

[MCTFisher9120]

Very nice fish. Congrads and thanks for sharing.

[JustinHoffman]

Thanks for the kind comments, guys...

 

Will have another up in a few days.

 

Good Fishing,

 

Justin

[danbo]

Frogs n Bass..my fave combo. C'mon sundown!