July is for Fishing

Every where you look in the back bays of Newboro and the six other lakes that make up this section of the Rideau, you will find large mats of lily pads or floating grass. These areas see very little fishing pressure because you have to work a little harder to get to them, plus you need some heavier tackle to get the fish out once you do hook-up.

Bring your big sticks to these parts of the lake. 7 foot plus baitcasters with 50 to 65 lb. braid are the weapons of choice. I usually rig three rods to find fish here. One with a hollow body frog or a solid body frog weightless on a 2X 4/0 hook. They are my fishfinders and let me cover lots of ground.

Depending on the thickness of the grass, hook-up ratios vary from 1 in 3 to 1 in 6, but you will find feeding largemouth. If I miss a blowup I will follow up with a weightless 10 inch worm slowly across the same area, then a beaver style bait or a Zoom Brush Hog with a ½ oz to ¾ oz tungsten flipping weight. I fish these baits much slower in the middle to bottom depths.  Sometimes I yoyo it up and down to see what depth the fish are.  

The strikes come a few different ways. First is your typical bass “thump” and set the hook right now hard. Somtimes when you are sliding the bait up & down it will appear to go weightless on you. Use one of your free hooksets because odds are a big bass just sucked in your bait. Last but not least, you will see your line start to move sideways. I usually use heavy action rods and set the hook hard enough to start to bring the bass to the top of the slop. The reason for the heavy tackle will be become quite apparent. If you don't get the fish on top of the slop and start dragging him quickly towards the boat, a big bass will dive and wrap you around the roots and stems and you will likely lose it.

Go heavy or go home--- lighter tackle will frustrate you quickly  Lots of fun, not much competion.  Just you and the deer flies, but a great way to pick up a kicker bass.