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
It looks HUGE! 32 largies, very nice!
. If I get that in a couple of months, I am over the moon. 
