Tracking Confirmations

There is a fish that has been hanging out next to the ramp on the Long reach of the Rideau River the last several times I've gone to track it. I was getting worried because it seemed to be in the same location, or nearly the same location, each time I'd go to track it. When we stopped at the ramp I turned the receiver on and pointed the antenna in the direction I'd been hearing it. Sure enough, it was still there. We launched the boat and zeroed in on the signal. The water was extremely clear and I could see down to the bottom in 3-4 feet of water. Finally, I got the signal down to its lowest setting and let us drift along slowly. As I scanned the water I noticed movement to my right where the signal was coming from. A puff of silt clouded the water and as I pointed the antenna at the point of disturbance, the signal gradually got quieter and quieter. That was good evidence that our fish was there and, most importantly, alive.

After completing the rest of our tracking on the Long reach we moved to the Eccolands stretch closer to downtown. I picked up the frequency of our first fish from this stretch of river (caught speed trolling a spinnerbait) and tracked it down. When I had the signal at its lowest strength I began scanning the water. It was deeper here so I did not expect to see anything. Just as I was about to turn around and grab the GPS to mark the location, the fish I'd been searching for came cruising RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BOAT at the surface! I could see the transmitter, backing, and Floy tag clear as day! The fish stayed on the surface for less than five seconds before sounding into the weeds.

I am very pleased as this helps confirm that my tracking accuracy is very good!

The live-bait study will, hopefully, begin sometime this week. We are having troubles getting acceptable sized suckers, but things are progressing nonetheless. Stay tuned...