Big Rideau Lake Fishing Guide: Species, Structure & Where Bass Live

A big, deep two-storey lake: a warmwater bass fishery over a cold, very deep trout basin — the deepest water on the Rideau (over 300 ft in the deep main channel).

Largemouth 55% · Smallmouth 45%

  • Shallow weedy bays & island shorelines (<15 ft) — Largemouth over lily pads, stumps, docks and sheltered back-bay weed beds — topwater frogs, flipping jigs and weedless plastics along the outside vegetation edge.
  • Main-lake rock shoals, points & island saddles — Smallmouth bass on the hard structure and first breaks — drop-shot, tubes, swimbaits and jerkbaits around wind-blown shoals, points and rocky saddles.
  • Deep cold-water basin & sheltered secondary bays — Stocked lake trout in the deepest cold water (vertical jigging and downrigging), while sheltered secondary bays and connecting channels hold bass and pike out of the main-lake wind.

Water

Clear and stable most of the year. A big, deep, low-nutrient lake, so the main lake stays clear right through the bass season and only the weedy back bays and creek inflows carry any stain. Deep clear water rewards a finesse, natural-colour approach with long fluorocarbon leaders, and pushes the better smallmouth out onto the offshore rock.

Bass season opens the third weekend of June and runs to Dec 15.

Overview