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
Which Mag series rod were you using exactly? The Jig n' Toad 7' ?