The Rideau Lakes area is home to some of the best largemouth bass fishing anywhere for numbers of quality fish. You won’t find the monsters that you would find by fishing the southern waters of Florida and Texas, however, if you want to catch a lot of bass and catch quality bass in the 2 to 3 pound range with 4 to 5 pounders possible, this may be the best destination to come fish. There are so many lakes in this area and it seems like most of them have large numbers of largemouth bass.
Rideau Chain of Lakes
The Rideau Chain of Lakes is a series of lakes that are connected from the Rideau Canal. The bass fishing on these lakes is flat out awesome for largemouth bass and smallmouth bass. The northern pike fishing is very good for numbers as well with some big fish. Panfish such as perch, bluegill, crappie and rock bass are found throughout the area lakes. Walleye and lake trout are here in limited numbers.
Learn more on our Rideau Chain of Lakes Fishing page.
Frontenac Provincial Park
Anglers have lots of options here if they are up for a little adventure. With canoe routes through 22 lakes and over 100 km of looped backpacking and hiking trails, there are so many places to explore. In the lakes throughout the park, you may catch largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, crappie, northern pike, lake trout, brook trout and perch.
https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/frontenac
Bob’s Lake
Bob’s Lake is a large lake with tons of awesome fishing spots. There are so many bays, points and islands to fish for a variety of species. The lake has lots of largemouth bass and northern pike to go along with smallmouth bass, walleye, crappie, perch, rock bass and bluegill.
Charleston Lake
Charleston Lake is a good fishing lake and it is part of the Charleston Lake Provincial Park. Many people come here to fish, hike, canoe or just enjoy the outdoors. Anglers can target lake trout, smallmouth bass, northern pike, crappie and perch.
https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/charlestonlake
Loughborough Lake
Loughborough Lake is a good bass lake with northern pike and lake trout too. It’s a long lake with over 20 miles of shorelines to fish. Anglers usually come here for the excellent bass fishing. Largemouth bass dominate here and can be found in the shallows around all of the vegetation. Smallmouth bass are usually found in the deeper water along with lake trout.
Lower Beverley Lake & Upper Beverly Lake
These two lakes are located close to some of the better lakes on the Rideau Chain of Lakes. Lower Beverley Lake is considered the better fishing lake of the two. Both lakes have largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and northern pike. Largemouth bass are the primary species of fish here.
Other Lakes in the Area
There are so many more lakes in this area that offer good fishing beyond the bigger, more popular lakes. Most of the smaller lakes will have largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, but largemouth bass will usually be the primary species of fish. Northern pike, lake trout and a variety of panfish will usually be found in these lakes too. If you want to come here and do some exploring on the smaller lakes, make sure to bring a small boat to drop in because some lakes will have boat launches and others won’t.
Best Baits for Largemouth Bass
Largemouth bass will eat so many different baits and there are so many different lures that are made for catching these fish. Anglers have more options than they really need, but since we have all these options, it’s nice to know about the different baits that are available.
Minnows, nightcrawlers and leeches are definitely the best live baits for largemouth bass. When it comes to artificial lures, you have so many options. Soft plastic worms, lizards, crayfish baits and minnows work great. Hard baits such as crankbaits, topwater lures, spinnerbaits, jigs and jerkbaits are also all awesome choices for largemouth bass.
To learn more, take a look at our pages below.
Best Live Baits for Largemouth Bass
Best Lures for Largemouth Bass
Best Rigs for Largemouth Bass
There are so many different rigs for largemouth bass. While you definitely don’t need to use all of them to consistently catch bass, it is important to learn how some of the rigs will help you fish certain areas or certain baits in a way to catch more fish. Most good bass anglers will use several different rigs in a variety of situations to consistently catch quality largemouth bass.
The standup jighead, Texas rig, drop shot rig, wacky rig and Carolina rig are definitely some of the best rigs for largemouth bass page.
Best Techniques for Largemouth Bass
There are many different techniques that are used for largemouth bass fishing. Casting a variety of baits to cover water is most popular, however, flipping & pitching is one of the best ways to catch bass around shallow water cover.
To learn more, take a look at our best techniques for largemouth bass page.
Learn More About Largemouth Bass
Our largemouth bass fishing section has tons of tips on the best lures, live baits, where to catch them and how to catch them.
Visit our largemouth bass fishing website to learn more.