Two Days of Bassin' on the Rideau River (Aug. 4-5)

[JustinHoffman]

Hello All,

 

Headed out this past Monday and Tuesday to my newly-found stretch of the Rideau River. Here's what happened..

 

Day 1.

 

Fished this first day solo. Arrived at the launch around 11am to hot and humid conditions, and very light winds. A quick 40 second trip with the outboard, and I was at my first spot - a large weed flat that contains slop, emergent weeds, and pads. Depth ranges between one and five-feet deep.

 

 

Began tossing around a Bobby's Perfect Frog, and it didn't take long for the action to begin. Fish were mainly hitting in open pockets adjacent to heavy cover, and really jumping all over the bait.

 

As you can see, they were hungry..

 

 

The bait of choice..

 

 

Picked up a half dozen fish, including the big fish of the day - a 3lb 3oz largie.

 

 

This sweet spot produced a decent fish on the flipping jig - she was tucked into the top corner in the shade..

 

 

As the day progressed, the fish were positioning themselves tight up under thick cover. Although the surface bait was garnering a bit of attention, getting right into the thick stuff was key for getting those extra bites.

 

Tied on a Fin-tech "TitleSHot" jig with a Berkley PowerBait Mud Critter, and punched my way through any slop, pads, or vegetation I could find. Picked up a few more fish using this technique..

 

 

As afternoon turned into early evening, I decided to spend the last hour of my trip working a large weed flat (4 to 6 feet deep) with the XCalibur XW6 Wake Bait. This bait really provides some great topwater thrills, and the "swell" and "wake" in provides across the top of the water really does provoke some heavy hits.

 

The last fish to end the outing..

 

 

The Kistler rods really shine out on the water. Having "Technique Specific" rods on hand, such as are found in the Magnesium lineup, make the task of fishing specific baits all the more easier. The sheer lightness of these rods can also be felt at the end of a heavy day of flipping, also. I am also very happy with my switch over to Quantum reels this season - very dependable and ultra smooth...

 

 

All in all, a great first day! Hopefully day two would be a repeat...

 

 

Day 2.

 

Headed out on the second day at 9:30am with good 'ole Dad. Conditions were much the same as the previous days, although cloud cover was a bit more prominent in the morning. The humidity was pretty sticky early on.

 

Started at the same spot I fished the day before. I began tossing a Wake Bait to the open areas outside of the weed flat, while Dad tossed a Frog into the thick stuff and adjacent open pockets.

 

Didn't take long for the first fish to the Wake Bait, but this one was of the Esox variety..

 

 

Not long after, Dad finally gets the skunk of his back, and lands a decent largie on the Frog..

 

 

As the surface weeds began to get slightly thicker, I also opted to toss a frog. Didn't take long for the action to heat up, and with a big splash, the big fish of the day was landed early on.

 

4lbs 2oz..

 

 

This fish gave quite the tussle in the shallow water and heavy cover. Dad did a great job with the net.

 

Until we meet again..

 

 

Really liked how this next series of shots turned out. You can really see how a rod flexes on the back cast of the second image..

 

 

 

 

As early afternoon appeared, we once again headed into the thick stuff to scrape out a few more fish. Texas-rigged plastics were the key, with Papi Craws and Sabertail Burly Bugs working best. Most fish were relating to small clumps of isolated slop adjacent to emergent weeds, especially those that had the wind blowing in on them.

 

Here is a typical fish using this tactic..

 

 

 

All in all, another great two days on the river. It's only a matter of time before this section coughs up a fiver...

 

 

Report Synopsis

 

Total Fish Caught - 32 Largemouth

Largest Fish - 4lb 2oz

Rods - Kistler Helium 2 LTX 7'6" Flipping and 6'6" Medium Heavy Casting, Magnesium 7'8" All Day Flipping and All Purpose 6'6" and 6'9" Medium Heavy

Reels - Quantum Accurist PT

Line - BPS Excel 20lb Mono

Baits - Booyah 3/8oz Flipping Jigs/YUM Chunk, XCalibur XW6 Wake Bait, TitleSHot Jig w/ Berkley Mud Critter, Bobby's Perfect Frog, Texas-rigged plastics - Sabertail Burly Bug and Papi Craw.

 

 

Until next time.

 

Good Fishing,

 

Justin

[Reef Runner]

learn something new every post. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience with us.

 

P.S. That rod bends so much I'd be scared to hook up with my on the backcast, lol.

 

Nice fishies

Edited August 7, 2008 by reefrunner

[tibbs]

Fantastic Report!

 

And great Pics!

[Leecher]

Awesome report and pics Justin That 4.2 is a real beauty

 

Thanks for sharing your time on the water with us

Leechman

[highdrifter]

Great report Justin. Informative, with plenty of Bass XXX..

 

Gotta love them Frogs!!

 

By the way, great article in the last issue of OOD.

 

Well done.

HD

[evster]

Awesome fish! And great report, thanks for the info and the good read!

[mattyk]

thanks for the report, and great pics!

[bucktail]

Great report as ALWAYS Justin !

[dannyboy]

Thanks Justin, I always enjoy your reports.

 

Dan

[Victor]

Thanks for the great read Justin, lots of information and I always learn something reading them.

[Peps]

awesome Justin as always thanks so much for the report and all the info you provide is bar none.

 

peps

[Guest Johnny Bass]

Great Report. Nice 4lber.

[b2kptbo]

Fantastic report and pic's again, great tips, thanks...

[JustinHoffman]

Thanks for the kind words, guys...

 

Until next time.

 

Good Fishing,

 

Justin

[Greencoachdog]

Some very respectable Green Trout in those pics Justin, as much as you hang around the slop... you ought to change your moniker to Slop Hog or something!!!

 

Great report and pics!!!

[lunkerbasshunter]

wow that was an awesome report! But i must say that 4 pounder looked alot bigger to me. If you asked me to guess the weight on it i would have pegged it closer to 5 or more

 

thanks for the report!

 

Cheers!

[Mike the Pike]

All I can say is wow Justin I am looking forward to the Rideau river this week

[JustinHoffman]

Hey Mike,

 

Did you get the PM I sent in regards to your visit to the Rideau? I sent it from work, and wasn't 100% sure it made it through...

 

Good luck when you're up here - we're dealing with some pretty iffy weather at the moment, and quite the cold front appears to be coming through. Middle of next week looks like it will be decent again..

 

Good Fishing,

 

Justin