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Ottawa River - La Passe area

Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2016 3:14 pm
by Grey_Thunder
Has anyone boated on the Ottawa significantly south of La Passe, ON (6-7 miles south)? There is an island (Sullivan Island), at the south end of which are "McKay Chutes" (rapids, I assume) and
"Barrage du Rocher Fendu" (a dam on the QC side).

My question is how boatable is this area w.r.t to current? On the Navioncs web app, looks doable but I don't want to find myself going down rapids in my bass boat, lol...

Any tips on boating experience in this area would be helpful.

Re: Ottawa River - La Passe area

Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 6:31 pm
by beachburger
McKay Chutes are where the whitewater rafting tours begin their journey. Super strong current above the rapids. The side of Sullivan Island the current is fine but as you head towards the dam, there is a huge rock in the middle of the river. Last I checked there was a white jug on it. You can

Quite frankly, the fishing around Sullivan Island generally sucks and navigation down the channel that leads to McKay Chutes can be treacherous if you don't know where you are going. If you want to come that far down the river from the Lapasse launch, there are several weedy bays along the way that hold both kinds of bass and pike.