Two and a Half Smallmouth

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.