Due to work and other happenings, today was my first crack at some largies since the season opened. Woke up this morning to cool temperatures and very strong winds. The air temp. was down a good 15 degrees from 12 hours earlier.
Since I was visiting my folks, decided to toss the boat in a section of the Rideau River and see what my Dad and I could scrounge up. I wasn't expecting a banner day to put it mildly..
The wind was howling upon launching, and the river in this section offers little relief in way of calm waters.
Most of my "flipping slop" hadn't formed yet, so we opted to fish a nice patch of pads adjacent to the launch.
A dozen casts in and my first bass of the season was in the boat. Small in stature, but it sure felt good. Fell for a frog..

Started to work some weed clumps and patches in 3 to 4 foot of water. Chalk one up for the flipping jig..

The fish were fairly aggressive if you could find them, but they were well concealed for the most part.
Another flipping jig fish - this one came from a small patch of slop that was adjacent to a dock and the shoreline..

Lost a really nice fish that was 3.5+, as I was a little wimpy on the initial hookset. Had her on for five seconds or so, and was a chunk. She was up sunning herself on some rock in 8 feet of water, just off a small point.
My Dad was struggling to connect with a fish, but finally put this one in the boat toward the end of the day. He found this little guy in an isolated patch of pads..

All in all, a good start to the season. Fish were definitely small, but a bunch of fun. Landed approx. 8 largies and three pike, while missing a few more bass. Not bad for two-and-a-half hours of fishin before the lunch bell rang..
Until next time.
Good Fishing,
Justin