The quality of fishing on the Rideau right now has more to do with water temperature than anything else.
The fish aren't shallow, at least the bigger fish aren't shallow yet. After the spawn, the fish move out into deeper water to recover and then, as water temps heat up, they will move into shallower water.
Right now, the up and down temperatures means that the shallows are not consistenly getting warmer and it's a bit of a yoyo. The fish stay deep in order to better regulate themselves where the temperature swing is minimal. Once (IF) we get some heat that is consistent for a few weeks, the fish will move up.
The Rideau is especially tough because it is predominantly all shallow.
If you are fishing a tourament and want to fish shallow, you have a few of choices.
1. Forget the shallow plan and find deeper structure and weedbeds that will hold fish consistently or look for docks or rock that will retain heat even in shallow water.
2. Cover lots of water looking for active fish in shallow and pray for the best five you can muster while hoping one of them is a big hen that has moved up to feed.
3. Go out the night before the tournament and take the air out of the tires of everyone's trailer so they can't make the tournament on time.
Seriously though, I've spent 6-7 hours in the last three days fishing a tournament or prefishing for Mississippi and the fish just aren't shallow. If they are they have consistently been on structure.
Matt
Matt Massey
Kistler Rods Canada
matt@kistlerrods.ca
as for the water quality I did see a few spots that had a large algea bloom but all in all I thought the water looked better then it has in years.
