One of my favourite summer activities is fly fishing for smallmouth bass in flowing water. So, when Jeff Jackson, owner and operator of Algonquin Fly Fishing, offered OOD Editor Ray Blades and myself a chance to fish out of his drift boat on the Ottawa River, I found myself counting down the days.
Jackson is a consummate professional. He’s a Fly Fishing International-certified casting instructor and, in the off season, a professor at Algonquin College, teaching outdoor adventure and tourism-related subjects. With him at the oars, you are in good hands.
Along for the ride
We met Jackson in early August, the evening before our float, in Beachburg, a pretty little town just southeast of Pembroke. We were staying there at the aptly named Whitewater Inn, an elegant place that provided an excellent bed and breakfast experience. It’s the kind of place you could happily take a non-angling spouse to and get full points for the choice.
Jackson let us know what we could expect, and laid out the plan for the float including, safety instructions, and where we would meet to launch.
A drift boat is basically a river dory that is steered and propelled by one person working the oars. Everyone else is just along for the ride – or in this case, to cast streamers to one of the countless fishy spots. Drift boat experiences are popular in the US, but rare in Ontario.
I had high expectations of the waters, but at the launch point the next morning, I realized they probably weren’t high enough. The Ottawa River, at that stretch, is about the closest thing to smallmouth bass heaven I’ve ever seen. It is a tea-coloured, boulder-strewn, food-filled flow where every current seam, weed line, bank, and boulder (and these are countless) seems perfect for hold- ing bass that proved to be enthusiastic consumers of flies.
We stayed at the Whitewater Inn in Beachburg, about a half hour south of Pembroke, then drove 15 minutes to the National Whitewater Park in Foresters Falls.
We could have easily fished the full day within sight of the launch and had a great time — as the first few casts quickly proved. During that prime time, I had a fish on immediately, and was rarely able to string two casts in a row in which a fish didn’t follow or hit. Blades, though he lacked the advantages bestowed by a casting position at the front of the boat, also did well.
They weren’t huge fish (mostly in the 12- to 16-inch range), but they were beautifully clean and feisty smallies — the kind that make the tip of a fly rod dance, especially in fast water. These are what Jackson dubs medium-sized fish. The larger ones, he says, hit the 20-plus inch mark.
On the float
The float — in that drift boat — is what makes the experience unique and is what draws you back.
The river isn’t privately owned — this is Canada, after all. But access along that entire seven-hour stretch is. Plus, there are just enough rocks and whitewater areas to keep out motorized boats. Nor was there any development in sight. One trapper’s cabin was, in fact, the only structure we noted along the way. We floated down a beautiful and brawny wild river that had carved its way through the raw and rugged Canadian Shield. If it could have been any better for a fly-fishing smallmouth bass junkie, I can’t imagine how.
We fished beneath the outstretched wings of eagles and osprey. We caught dozens of smallmouth bass, and other species including a small channel catfish.
Ridiculously fishy spots
On a trip like this, you quickly develop respect and admiration for the person at the oars. Jackson knew the river and how to navigate the whitewater stretches. More importantly, he knew how to hold the boat in place and position so we could send streamers into ridiculously fishy spots for as long as it took to exhaust the bites there.
At midday, we pulled into a picturesque point for a picnic lunch (this is a catch-and-release experience), and take cast from shore. Not surprisingly, we caught fish here too.
By the time we landed at the takeout point, Blades and I had our fill of fresh air, nature, and bass. And that’s a great feeling to have. Jackson, who worked the oars solidly the entire day, looked ready to do it again. And that’s a good thing, because I’m definitely going back.
Other AFF adventures
In spring, Jackson offers Algonquin Provincial Park wade-and-fish adventures for brook trout too. AFF also guides fly fishing adventures on the Petawawa, Madawaska, and other stretches of the Ottawa in summer.
Casting instruction is also available.
Fish species
If you choose to target any of these, Jeff and his guides can help.
- smallmouth bass
- brook trout
- walleye
- pike
- muskie
- channel cat
- fallfish
- white sucker
- rock bass
- perch
Trip details
Cost: $500/day, $50 for an additional angler. Two anglers max per boat. AFF runs two drift boats and two fly-fishing specific rubber rafts. This allows for a maximum group size of 8.
Contact: www.algonquinflyfishing.com
Accommodations: www.whitewaterinnbeachburg.com
Originally published in Ontario OUT of DOORS’ Fishing Annual 2024
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