Eight shouldn't have been enough

I headed back up to Dam 4 on the Potomac again.  I didn't cover a whole lot of water when I was there on Sunday, and I wanted to try a little further down river.  This area is also pretty easy to get close to the water.  There is a partial trail right along the water that goes down about a quarter mile below the dam, and the C&O Canal Towpath also runs fairly close to the water in a few sections with easy access points to the water.  I got there around 3:30 p.m., and the plan was to work jigs on the bottom then switch to topwater as the sun was going down.  I hate it when a plan doesn't come together.

It started off OK.  I caught three "8-10" smallmouth in a couple different sections of the river on a four-inch straight worm Texas rigged on a slider jig head.  Found a "fishy" section further downriver with a handful of large exposed rocks and somehow didn't get any action.  Although I did see a nice 15-16-inch smallmouth along the shore as I waded into his area.  He took off about the same time I saw him.  Probably  went out to warn all the other fish in the area.

Never tried these before ... I wonder how they'll fair?

13" smallmouth

I moved back upriver to about the same area I caught the first fish of the day and decided to try three-inch Berkley Gulp! worms I got earlier in the week.  They're supposed to be lifelike, scented and flavored and all that, and these were in a nightcrawler pattern.  When I was a kid there was the Chum'n Minnow that allegedly contained real fish parts, and there was the Chum'n Rub, which looked like Chapstick that you rubbed over lures.  And neither of them seemed to bring me more fish.

So I was skeptical of the Berkley worms since I never used them before.  I rigged them on the same slider jig heads I had been using and waded out a little ways.  Fired the jig out and started working it back ... and got a hit!  It didn't feel like that good of a fish and I figured it was a catfish.  But when it jumped, it looked like a smallmouth.  I reeled it in some more and it was a smallmouth, and not an "8-10" fish.  Hoisted it out of the water, took a picture and measured it --13 inches!  And on the first cast using the Berkley worms.

And the fish kept on coming!  At one point, I had three fish on three straight casts.  I caught five total on the Berkley worms including one that was 12.5 inches and another that was a little over 12 inches.  I also had another that I had reeled all the way and decided to let the fish "play" a little, and the fish happened to free himself.  It was a smaller one anyway.  But all this happened within 30 minutes.

12.5 inches of angry smallmouth

Unfortunately, the Berkley Gulp! worms aren't very durable.  I had a pack of 10 and ended the night with an empty plastic bag.  I think all five fish I caught, the jig was snagged in the fish's mouth with no more worm left.  One fish jumped out of the water, and the worm went flying off the hook (but the fish stayed on).  One worm fell off just as I picked the fish out of the water, a few minutes later, I saw baitfish picking at the worm on the bottom of the river.  Berkley has some other Gulp worms, so I might see if they look to be more durable next time I go to the Bass Pro Shops money pit.

I do have a container of Berkley Gulp! minnows, and they are a whole lot more durable.  In fact, I've never really used them because I don't think they could be rigged weedless because the hook won't cut through the plastic when a fish clamps on.  I've been thinking the minnows would be good with a floating jighead attached to a weight on the bottom for some other kind of fish -- maybe gold in color with sharp teeth.

12 inches of angry smallmouth

The sun was going down, and I headed back to the truck to get my "topwater rod."  It's another classic French-made Mitchell 300 reel on a Bass Pro Shops rod with a cork handle.  The reel was spooled with 30-pound test braided line with an 8-lb monofilament leader.  I hiked back down to the same spot and tied on a Super Spook Jr.  Fired that thing out and started working it back.  I had worked the lure most of the way back and looked down at my reel.  There was a nice bird's nest of braided line, and I guess the spool wasn't seated all the way because the line was also wrapped around the shaft of the reel.  So my night was done.  There was no way I could cut through the braided line with the little scissors I had, and I didn't feel like hiking all the way back up to the truck for another rod then hiking back down.

Still, it was a pretty good outing, my best day of fishing since catching 10 smallmouth (including a 16-incher) on the Potomac near Antietam Creek.  Eight fish total with three being legal size.

Also interesting to look at the three fish above, all three similar in size, but notice the subtle color differences that differentiate them.