Friday I hit the Potomac River downstream from Harpers Ferry. It was a new area for me and was a whole lot different than what I've seen on other parts of the river. Lots of big exposed rocks, a bunch of small pools and rough terrain on the river floor. I hit the river around 3 p.m. and fished until around 7 p.m. when the sun started going down and masked the rocky terrain.
Earlier in the week, I received three packs of NetBait Mini B Bugs and was anxious to try them out. They have a crawfish look to them and I read somewhere on the internet to cut off the bigger middle "flapper" so they looked a little more like crawfish. I used the jigs with 1/8-ounce Confidence Baits Draggin' Heads and because of the strength of the current, switched to 1/4-ounce jig heads.
Ten-inch smallmouth on the NetBait Mini B.
It seemed like there was more action with the 1/4-ounce jig heads but I was only able to land one fish, a mighty 10-inch Potomac smallmouth. Lots of hits, a couple on the hook that Houdini'ed their way off the hook when I had them within sight.
I also tried Charlie Brewer's Slider Jig Head with three-inch and four-inch straight worms. With much switching, it seemed like the dark, three-inch worms with red flakes were getting the most action. But I only landed an eight-inch smallmouth. And a small channel catfish. Hey, my career total catfish is now up to three! Like the redear sunfish, if I was fishing for them and knew I would catch a mess of them, I would have kept it.
Today I tried another new area for me on the Potomac, just below Dam 4. This area is further upriver from Antietam Creek but not quite as far upriver as McCoy's Ferry. I know this area has walleye and muskies, too, from watching a video of the Maryland DNR electrofishing to sample the fish population. But the video was taken in the early spring when the river is a bit higher, so I wasn't going to target those toothy fish. But, hey, if Mr. Walleye picked up a jig off the bottom or Mr. Muskie snagged a topwater lure, I wouldn't mind.
Nice view ... except for the fish left to die.
When I got to Dam 4, I walked out to a spot overlooking the dam. And got pissed off. There were four or five dead catfish and a dead sunfish laying on the ground. Obviously they didn't leap 15 feet over the dam wall to beach themselves. The telltale sign was an empty chicken liver container, so whoever was here last night (early morning) had caught the fish and just left them to die. Fucking people. If you're not going to keep the fish, throw them back. Anytime there was something other than a smallmouth on the end of my line this year, I was kind of disappointed. But I'd never just leave the fish to die on shore.
I went back to the truck to get my waders and gear grumbling the whole way. I was going to try the NetBait lures on one rod and a Heddon Spook Jr. on another rod. Me being super smart, I had rigged up my designated topwater rod with six-pound monofilament thinking I could cast it further than the braid with about an eight-foot section of 10-pound mono as a leader. First cast with that setup, and the lure might have gone 15 feet. So unless I was standing right in front of a fish, it was pretty much useless.
The NetBait with six-pound fluorocarbon did cast like a dream as usual. Zinged that lure all over the place in a section of rocks past the dam. But after 30 to 45 minutes, I had only a single bite to show for it.
I moved down to a place where I could wade out about 15 feet from shore with no issue and switched over to a three-inch Stick-O worm "Texas rigged" on a Slider Jig Head. I went with a black worm with red flakes because I had decent action with it two days ago.
A strong 12-inch smallmouth.
My favorite time to catch a fish is when I first show up and get a fish on the first cast. My second favorite time to catch a fish is after switching lures and catching a fish on the first cast with that setup. And that's what happened with the three-inch worm. Started working the lure along a break of fast/slow water and got a hit! It felt like a good fish, and I started reeling it in. "Please don't be a catfish!" Got it closer and it was a smallmouth. Not as big as I thought it was, but I didn't tell the fish that. It did measure at 12 inches, and this fish was strong!
I caught two more smallmouth in this section, one around eight inches and another that was 10 ... maybe 11. The third fish was particularly angry once he got within sight of me. "You tricked me!"
The fish seemed to hit as I let the jig drift in water, pop it once or twice and let it sit with tension on the line. If I worked the lure fast, I didn't get anything. But slowing it down seemed to work better.
I moved down to another section just above some small rapids looking to do the same thing with the jig. Cast downstream and work it back slowly against the flow of water. I must have made six casts in this section and lost five lures on snags. Pretty disappointing. At this point I was out of the black/red flake worms and was running out of the Slider Jig Heads!
Rather than snag more lures, I moved back up to the section I had been at before. And lost my last black/red worm. So I switched to a green "pumpkin" worm and managed to catch two sub 12-inch smallmouth. Then I lost the last of the Slider Jig Heads. I went back to the NetBait Mini B with no luck. By this time it was after noon, and I hadn't anything to eat all day so I decided to call it quits. I definitely want to try this area again, maybe try for walleye. There were some deep areas -- a couple places the water was past my waist, and one section in particular where I couldn't see bottom. And I didn't even go close to the dam.
Smallmouth number two.
Smallmouth number three was angry that I tricked him!
I decided to head to the Antietam area today but try downstream from the creek on the Potomac River. I fished this area once last year but didn't catch anything, but back then, I didn't know what I was doing. Now I'm an expert smallmouth bass fisherman!
I tried wading right near where the creek emptied into the river, and the water was too murky. I hate wading when I can't see where I'm walking. Plus there was deep mud where my leg went at least a foot deep into the mud. Hate that too.
There was a bit of a trail next to the river, so I followed that and fished from the bank for a bit. I was using a Heddon Super Spook Jr. -- about in the middle on size between a Zara Spook and a Zara Puppy -- that I had not really tried before. Also on my other rod I had a three-inch crawdad-colored tube bait on a 1/4-ounce Draggin' Head. I didn't get any action on the Spook but hooked into something with the tube bait, but the fish got off. I didn't see what it was but it felt like all the 12-inch smallmouth I've caught the past few weeks.
Screenshot of the smallmouth on the Super Spook Jr.
I moved further down to a section that looked like a dam of rocks. The rocks stretch almost all the way across to the West Virginia side. There's slow moving water before the rocks and it looked like there were some deep pockets. I was using the Super Spook and had a hit, but the fish didn't get hooked. I twitched the lure, and the fish hit it again but didn't get hooked. Twitched the lure again, and the fish hit it again and finally got hooked! Reeled it in and it was a feisty 12-inch smallmouth. It only took 90-plus minutes of fishing to get a fish.
Rock dam on the Potomac.
On the bottom, I tried grubs, straight worms and the tube bait with no luck. Not a hit or anything. I waded out to about the middle of the river on top of the rock dam and tried a green three-inch worm. After a few casts down from the dam in a fast section of water, it felt like I had a hit so I set the hook. Nothing. It was going against the current so it felt like resistance from the water. I let the worm drift and it again felt like I had something, set the hook and again felt like the strength of the water. Again let the worm drift and again it felt like something. Something was up, so I started reeling ... and there was a smallmouth on the other end. Actually, it should only count as half a smallmouth because it was half the size of my first fish.
An angry Potomac smallmouth!
I upsized to a four-inch green worm and worked the same area after the "dam." After a handful of casts, a fish hit the worm. It felt like a decent fish and pulled hard. It jumped and I saw it was a smallmouth but not as nice as I thought. Go figure: a smallmouth that fights bigger than it actually is. I pulled the fish out of the water, and it was around 11 inches. Still better than half a smallmouth!
Fished for a little while longer with no luck and decided to call it quits since my drinking water bottle was empty. This section looks like it could be a hotbed near dusk or at night since there were a lot of baitfish (and a snake) hiding among the rocks.
Karen and I tried a new campground on the Potomac, Spring Gap, which is the furthest north/west campground on the C&O Canal trail. We got to the camp site around 3 p.m. Saturday, set up camp, and I went fishing.
Sandy bottom, a few small rocks, no fish.
I started off wading just upriver from the boat ramp and didn't have any luck. The river in this section was pretty featureless -- just slow moving water over a sandy bottom with a few rocks here and there. I should have recognized it wasn't very "fishy" but I tried it anyway.
On the furthest portion downriver of the campground, I found a trail that led to the river. I climbed down and started wading. This part of the river looked a little better, and I even saw a few smallmouth and sunfish cruising around. Nothing seemed interested in what I was throwing at the time, a four-inch straight worm on a weedless 3/16-ounce jighead.
I saw a large ripple down river that looked interesting. It was fairly straight and stretched across a good portion of the river. It was a actually a rock formation that was maybe a foot or so in its deepest section. So I walked across it right over to the West Virginia side!
At this point, I was using a brown, three-inch curly-tailed grub. I had one little hit but decided to switch over to a pearl white grub. Exactly the same lure, just a different color. I checked my phone, and it was around 5:30 p.m. Two-plus hours of fishing and not a single fish.
First fish of the day before we agreed to part on friendly terms.
About five minutes later, I had a fish -- a 10-inch smallmouth! It did the quick release as I was pulling it out of the water. Thanks, fish!
Five minutes later, I had another strike! I started reeling in and could tell this was a nicer fish. It jumped, and I saw it was a smallmouth, easily 12 inches. But it was fighting like it was bigger. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I like these little brown fish! They are angry because you tricked them!
When does a 12" fish feel like a hog? When it's a smallmouth!
I got the fish out of the water, and it looked like he had almost swallowed the jighead. Luckily, the tip of hook wasn't down the fish's throat. Unhooked it easily and let it swim away.
Two-plus hours of no fish, then a small change and two smallmouth in five minutes. I fished for a little bit longer then decided to head back to the campsite to get my "topwater setup" since the sun was going down.
Back in the same water, I started off with a chrome/black Chub's Hub. I had never used, in fact, never even heard of these lures before I downloaded a book on smallmouth bass fishing to read on Kindle, "Topwater Smallmouth" by Mike Mladenik. He raved about these lures and about how at one time, the lures were really hard to come by and almost out of production. But H.C. Baits had started making them again, and I ordered a handful of lures after reading the book. I haven't had huge success with them, but they have caught fish.
This time the Chub's Hub helped me land a really nice ... redear sunfish. It was actually a pretty decent size, and if I was fishing for sunfish and hoping to catch a bunch of them, I would have kept it.
I got several hits on the Chub's Hub but for whatever reason, fish avoided getting any part of the TWO treble hooks into their mouths. Two treble hooks. Seriously.
I switched over to a Rebel Pop-R in a perch pattern. Another lure I learned about reading the "Topwater Smallmouth" book. First cast, just as the lure hit the water, fish on! I mean, as soon as it hit the water, it got a hit! Unfortunately, I forgot to turn the GoPro on after switching lures, so you're going to have to just believe me. I did land the fish, though -- another 12-inch smallmouth.
That was it for the night. The sun had gone down, and the rocky terrain didn't really lend itself to night wading.
Screenshot from the West Virginia side of the Potomac.
The next morning, I headed back to the same section and wanted to try topwaters again. This time with a Zara Puppy in a frog pattern. This is a three-inch version of the famous Zara Spook, and I have had pretty good luck with it. Last year, it got me the first smallmouth I ever caught on the Potomac and started this addiction. Plus a redear sunfish or two. And a failfish. Three different fish on one lure? How is this possible? Could I do it again 10 months later? Read on and find out!
Today I ended up catching three fish on this Puppy -- a small redear sunfish, a 10-inch smallmouth and a failfish. It happened again! The failfish, while disappointing when reelizing what kind of fish was on the other end of the line, was kind of interesting to catch. It created a boil going after the lure, then went after it again as I paused the lure. As I reeled it in and caught sight of the fish, I saw a gold color and thought for a second I might have caught a walleye. Nope. No teeth. Just fail.
I decided to head back to the campsite because Karen texted me that breakfast was ready. But before that, I wanted to try a different lure. For just one more cast. Just one more. Or two or three. I tied on a 1/4-ounce Draggin' Head jighead with a three-inch tube bait in a crawfish pattern. I didn't learn about the Draggin' Heads from Confidence Baits by reading a book. I learned about them from watching videos on YouTube. It is 2015 after all!
With the 1/4-ounce jighead on six-pound fluorocarbon, 40-plus-year-old Mitchell 300 spinning reel, modern seven-foot Shakespeare Ugly Stik rod, I could really zing this lure. Almost hitting the shore on the West Virginia side. After a few casts, I had a fish on! It felt like the second fish I caught yesterday -- not huge but strong! I landed it, and sure enough, it was a chunky 12-inch smallmouth. My GoPro ran out of memory, so again, no video of a nice fish.
I had a few more hits, but that was it, so I decided to call it a day.
My arsenal
Looking back, it was a fairly interesting weekend. No lure really "hot" like a few weeks ago at Paw Paw then the next weekend near Antietam. If something wasn't working, I switched lures trying for something that worked. I even tried a Rapala Shadow Rap and Skitter Pop with no luck. But got action a few times when switching lures in the same section of water I had been fishing before. Pictured to the right is the three-inch pearl grub on a 1/8-ounce Draggin' Head jig, the three-inch crawdad pattern tube bait with a 1/4-ounce Draggin' Head, the silver/black Chub's Hub, and the Zara Puppy. And the obligatory shot of the Mitchell 300 reel I used that is older than me.
Eight fish total, five being smallmouth and three of them of the legal size.
Potomac River about a half mile from Antietam Creek.
The saying goes, "If fishing were any easier, they would call it 'catching.'" It felt like that today.
I went back to the exact same spot I went to last Saturday on the Potomac River. The conditions were exactly the same. Fished around the same time in the morning (actually showed up about an hour earlier this time). The river looked exactly like it did last week. I used exactly the same lures (and then some!). Ten fish last week. One fish this week.
I started off using a small silver/black Chub's Hub topwater lure but didn't get any action. So I switched over to the four-inch worm I used last week initially. The one where I caught several fish including a 16-inch smallmouth bass.
The second cast, about 10 feet out from shore, I caught this smallmouth.
Catch ....
Easily a 12-inch smallmouth! It's always good to catch a smallmouth that's a legal size even though I have no intention of keeping it. It's like the legal size limit means it's a real fish.
.... and release.
And that was it. Had a handful of hits but didn't land a single fish the rest of the time. Tried a green (watermelon) worm, a tube bait, a three-inch curly-tail grub, a chatterbait ... and nothing. I guess after 35 smallmouth in three weeks, it was time for a slow day.
Anyway, I did get the GoPro mounted better so you can actually see what's happening. Here's a short video of me catching that one smallmouth:
