Two dinks

Karen and I fished the Upper Potomac for a few hours yesterday morning and didn't have much luck.  The water was running low after a week off from rain and temperature was around 65 degrees.

First smallmouth of the day on the first cast with a swimbait.

I started off with a Whopper Plopper and didn't get any hits.  Switching over to a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper swimbait, I caught a cookie-cutter smallmouth on the first cast.  Maybe 45 minutes later, I caught another cookie-cutter on the swimbait.

After that, no luck at all.  I watched a smallmouth take a swipe at the swimbait on two successive casts, but it didn't clamp on.  Other than that, the bite was definitely not on.

I tried a Rapala X-Rap, a couple tubes, a four-inch Stik-O worm, a rubber crawfish (forget the brand) and nothing was interested.

Downriver from me, Karen hooked a smallmouth on her first cast but didn't land it, but then she did catch somebody's fishing rod:

The river taketh away and giveth to someone else.

The reel might be usable if I clean and lube the internal gears, but it's not much of a trophy -- an Abu Garcia Cardinal 101 that goes for about $30 new.  In fact, I used to have the same reel and sold it on eBay for $20 last year when I decided to go with nothing but classic Garcia Mitchell 300 reels.  And that reel saw hardly any use and was a gem in comparison from this one Karen rescued from the bottom of the Potomac.

I forgot to mention in my post from the Little Patuxent that I switched jigheads on the Skinny Dipper rigs.  When Karen and I fished with Jason Shay from Penrod's Guide Service in July, we were using the same Reaction Innovations swimbaits but with a "sickle hook" jighead.  I couldn't find them anywhere and settled on Owner UltraHead Darter jigheads that were available at Bass Pro Shops.

eBay special swimbait jigheads.

I couldn't find the jigheads mainly because I didn't know what they were called.  Kept doing internet searches for "swimbait jigheads" and with no luck.  Finally I stumbled upon the correct term -- sickle -- and tracked some down.  A search on eBay brought up what I thought I was looking for -- someone hand-making 1/16-ounce jigheads with Matzuo #2 hooks.  Best of all, the seller had a pack of 50 for only $7, so they were worth a shot.

The hooks are thinner than on the Owner jigheads, but it makes rigging a swimbait easier.  Plus the hooks appear to be stronger.  I've broken a few of the Owner jigheads on snags but got one of the eBay special jigs snagged on a rock yesterday, and the line broke -- not the hook -- after considerable effort.

I think the angle of the sickle hook gives the swimbait a little more action.  Even if the presentation was equal, my quick take is that the eBay specials are better bang-for-the-buck.

I might try a larger hook, but it seems like smallmouth (and largemouth) attack the swimbaits from the front, as opposed to nibbler sunfish that nip at the tails.

Obligatory scenic shot:

The rock formations create large submerged trenches and pools.  It looks reely "fishy" but I haven't caught much in this area.  Given the expanse, it's probably better with some kind of watercraft that can skim over the rocky terrain.  This stretch is maybe a quarter-mile across to the Virginia side.  The rocks are fairly treacherous, though -- I almost-busted-my-ass only twice.

All basses large and small

After a lot of rain last week, the Little Patuxent River was down to normal levels.  I actually fished the river last Friday -- with water flowing about a foot higher -- but didn't catch a thing ... only one nibble the whole time.

Hitting the water today in the Savage Mill area, I wasn't having any luck for about an hour.  Several bites from what I suspected were nibblers, but nothing could get hooked. Rock-hopping between pools, I couldn't get anything.  Even the area where I caught a 13-inch smallmouth and a 12-inch smallmouth didn't produce a bite.

The common Little Patuxent
smallmouth bass.

Finally I moved to a large pool just above the mill.  I'm not giving away any secrets here because EVERY TIME I've been here, people are tossing lines.  Every.  Time.  Weak sauce Zebco 33s with bobbers.  Truly amateur hour.

Except today.  Nobody was fishing, so I had the entire shimmering pool to myself.

Using a Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper, a fish hit after a few casts, maybe five feet in front of me.  It was hooked and started fighting.  It wasn't a smallmouth bass or catfish or failfish or even a sunfish.  I could easily make out the distinctive jagged green line running horizontally the length of the fish's body -- a largemouth bass!

River fishing for two years now, I had yet to land a largemouth.  I've seen a few small ones on the Upper Potomac but otherwise that has been it for the smallmouth's cousin.

Well that largemouth shook itself free just as I was pulling it out of the water.  It wasn't big -- maybe 10 inches -- but I was disappointed not to get a picture as proof.

The next cast -- THE VERY NEXT CAST -- I caught a cookie-cutter smallmouth bass.  A little bit later using a Z-Man TRD Finesse worm, another smallmouth that wasn't even cookie cutter size.

Moving downriver in the pool, I began peppering the opposite shore with the swimbait.  The river is very narrow, and you can usually land lures on the bank if you're not careful.

The not-so-common Little
Patuxent largemouth bass.

After several casts, I fired the swimbait at a field of rocks on the opposite side of the bank.  As soon as the lure splashed the water, something grabbed it.  Set the hook and started reeling.  It wasn't a big fish but as it got closer, that distinctive green lateral line was clearly visible -- another largemouth!  This one must have wanted his picture taken because he obliged to be hoisted out of the water.

Then the next cast another fish hit the swimbait and jumped -- a smallmouth bass.  But he managed to free himself.  That would have been too funny to catch a largemouth and a smallmouth on consecutive casts.

Fishing this pool for about 45 minutes, I landed two more small largemouth -- one on the swimbait and another on a Z-Man TRD Finesse worm.

I tried a Whopper Plopper for a little bit seeing if there was something big lurking below, but nothing even swiped at the topwater lure.

It was interesting standing on the bank at one point.  Right in front of me I could clearly see fish just chillin' in the water.  Largemouth, smallmouth, sunfish, all holding station in a small confined area.  Even a small carp cruised by.

Fishing is one of those hobbies where you want to catch a lunker, but a day catching small fish is still rewarding when getting something out of the ordinary.

An opening in the ruins of a wall.

Cat you describe the ruckus?

Karen and I went camping again, this time at the Antietam Creek site on the Upper Potomac.  It was somewhat of a first for me on Saturday -- taking part in my two main hobbies on the same day.

Saturday morning, I awoke bright and early for an Autocrossers, Inc., autocross in Waldorf, Md., to drive my friend Kirk's 1973 Datsun 240Z.  You remember, Kirk, right?

After finishing up (and even getting some fun runs in a 2015 Camaro SS), I headed up and met Karen at the campground.  She had already set up the tent and everything but didn't have any luck catching fish.  When I got there, it was almost 6 p.m. with the sun ducking behind the trees, and I decided to fish with nothing but topwater lures.  One rod was rigged with a Heddon Zara Puppy, and on the other I tied on a Whopper Plopper.

Downriver from the campground, I waded out in the clear, low Potomac River.  First thing I tried was the Zara Puppy on my usual jig rod/reel -- Pflueger President reel with a medium-light St. Croix rod.  The Zara Puppy isn't very heavy, but with this setup, I was able to make long casts.

Sunfish like it on top.

Lots of action on the lure from what I suspected were sunfish.  Finally it was confirmed -- yup, sunfish (see picture to the left).  Not wanting a repeat of last week where I just caught nibblers and dink smallmouth, I switched over to the rod with the Whopper Plopper.

This lure is great for the lazy fisherman.  Fire it out, retrieve it slowly, and the tail churns across the surface.  Cast, reel, cast, etc.  Maybe sometimes vary the retrieve by pausing for a few seconds.

After a few casts, I caught a smallmouth that was around 10.75 inches.  Actually, it was 15.75 inches because when catching a fish on top, you can add five inches to the fish's length!  Every fisherman knows this.

A little while later, I landed another smallmouth, this one just a bit smaller.

The Whopper Plopper was getting some swipes, which I assumed were smallmouth because the lure was really too big for panfish to attack.

Just smallmouth bass to find here.  That's all.  Nothing else in this river would be interested in a festively plump topwater lure.

Always amazing how small fish hit big lures.

Except a muskie!

A few casts after smallmouth number two, I lobbed the lure to the middle of the river.  After it sat still for a few seconds, I began reeling it in, but something smacked it and started causing a ruckus on the surface thrashing about.  It looked like a nice sized fish -- definitely not a cookie-cutter smallmouth!

After the splashing subsided, the fish stopped fighting back, but it was still hooked.  As it got closer, I could make out the milky white belly of a fish floating Tango Uniform through the clear water.

It wasn't a muskie.

It was ...

... Mr. Whiskers.

Mr. Whiskers looked to be at least 18 inches.  The front treble hook was in the fish's mouth, and the rear treble was on the edge of the gill.

I started dragging the fish -- still hooked -- through the water toward the bank figuring it would be easier to deal with it on the shore.  And I texted Karen asking if she wanted me to keep it.  One hand had the rod trying to keep tension on the fish, and the other hand texting with my phone.

Tell your friends not to text and fish, people!

Usually I don't keep fish, but Karen is always disappointed to hear me tell tales of releasing something that would be good table fare.  And I'll admit since catching-and-releasing a good "eater" size catfish in June, I've been wondering how Mr. Whiskers would taste after spending time on my smoker.

I was maybe two feet from putting my boots on the shore, and the line snapped!  The catfish started thrashing thrashing at my feet.  I tried grabbing it with my hands, but it was like trying to catch a greased pig wet catfish in a river.  The fish was in his element and disappeared leaving only a cloudy mess of churned-up river bottom.

Oh and taking my $13 (those are American dollars) Whopper Plopper with it.

The Whopper Plopper didn't catch a whopper.

The end of the 8-pound Trilene was really frayed, so Mr. Whiskers probably did that damage causing a ruckus on the surface after getting hooked.

After that, nothing.  It was like all the fish scattered from the danger area.

This morning, I awoke bright and early and hit the water again armed with another Whopper Plopper -- Karen offered me the one from her tackle box.

Starting off in the same area as the encounter with Mr. Whiskers yesterday, something big swam past the lure on my second cast.  Later on, a smallmouth clamped on, leaped and freed itself from the two big treble hooks.

Going back to a comfort lure.

Moving down river to a set of exposed rocks and riffles, I finally caught three smallmouth -- the biggest around 11 inches.  Karen texted saying she had breakfast ready, so I headed back to the campsite.  After sausage and scrambled eggs, I decided to fish the river right behind our campsite.  The water didn't look all that great -- really shallow, but still lots of rocks and rock formations scattered throughout the river bottom.

After no topwater action, I switched to a TRD Finesse worm and caught one cookie-cutter smallmouth.  It was the only bite I had on that.  Switching to another comfort lure -- a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper -- landed me another cookie-cutter smallmouth.

The weather was fantastic today.  Kind of chilly in the morning but improved around 9 a.m. so that it felt really comfortable.  Fall is here and supposedly this is when the smallmouth start fattening up so they can relax in their winter hideouts.

The sunfish also rises

Little sunfish love it on top.  Water lures.

Karen and I went camping at McCoys Ferry on the C&O Canal Saturday night. We had not been here in more than a year mainly because it's a bit further away than other stops like Antietam Creek.

A blurry picture of a dink smallmouth.

I always like coming back to this area because this is where the fishing bug restarted when camping in October 2014.  At that time, I caught a few decent smallmouth, and then the itch was scratched.  Two years ago, it started with a smallmouth exploding the surface going after a Zara Puppy, got hooked, jumped a couple times then charged like an angry bull right at me while I was standing on the shore ... and then the line broke.  It looked like 16-inch fish.

Since that time, I have not had much luck on this stretch of water.  Last time I was here, I didn't catch a thing.  This time, I caught some fish, but nothing of heft.

The river in this section is almost like a lake, so the water flows really slow unlike most areas of the Potomac.  On Saturday I started with a three-inch, black/silver Hubs Chub topwater lure.  Because of the flow -- or lack of flow -- the floating lure wouldn't drift downriver very fast.  Most areas on the Potomac require an almost frantic retrieve when using a topwater because it gets swept away so fast.  Like using the Zara Puppy two years ago, I would cast the Hubs Chub out, let it sit for a few seconds then work it back with a variation of jerk-jerk-pause.

Good morning Potomac River!

There is also thick vegetation right along the bank on the Maryland side, so working a jig on the bottom was almost impossible. Even using a swimbait running just below the surface only enticed one bite over Saturday and Sunday.  Otherwise the only action was from the Hubs Chub.  However, it's always a sight to see fish strike (or attempt to strike) topwater lures.

Saturday, I could only manage two redbreast sunfish on the Hubs Chub.  The first one was actually a decent size, and I thought about keeping it, but it freed itself from two treble hooks as I was pulling it out of the water.  Sunfish don't really attack topwater lures like smallmouth bass -- they kind of suck it down when the lure is paused.

Sunday morning around 6 a.m., it rained for a bit and woke me up.  The rain quickly subsided and since I was awake, it seemed like as good of time as any to hit the river.

Two smallmouth, albeit dinks, managed to get hooked on the Hubs Chub, and then another sunfish later.  Lots of action, too, with the topwater.  Maybe five hits on the lure for every fish I actually caught.  Nothing of size though from what I could tell.

I should also note that there is a special challenge to removing a sunfish from a treble hook when all three hooks are in the fish's tiny mouth.  Enough of a challenge that I want to snip two hooks off every single topwater/jerk/crank bait I own.

Two rivers at one time

A 13-inch Little Patuxent smallmouth!

Two rivers in one trip -- the Little and Middle Patuxent Rivers -- and caught five fish including my first smallmouth from the Middle Patuxent.

I started off in the Savage Mill area and caught three dink smallmouth after the first 90 minutes or so.

First fish of the day -- a cookie-cutter smallmouth
on a swimbait.

The third one was pretty funny -- I was using a Z-Man TRD Finesse worm and had a follow from a little smallmouth.  He didn't take it and turned back toward the middle of the river.  The water was crystal clear, and I tossed the worm a few feet beyond where the fish was and began working the lure back.  The fish approached the worm, and then I couldn't see the worm anymore ... because it was in the fish's mouth -- fish on!!  He was angry because he had been tricked!

After letting that fish go, I moved upriver below a section where catching a fish earlier in the day and near where landing a 12-inch smallmouth in the first week of August.  Same Z-Man worm, first cast down river and had a hit -- definitely wasn't a cookie-cutter fish.  Reeling the fish in closer, and it was easily a 12-inch smallmouth.

Just beyond those two rocks protruding from the middle of the
river is where the 13-inch smallmouth was lurking.

I landed the fish and scrambled back up the bank to break out the ruler.  As I was getting the ruler out of my fishing bag, the line snapped.  Fortunately, the fish just flopped down in the sand and didn't try to get away.  The smallmouth measured right at 13 inches!  The fish got a little bath in the water to clean off the sand, and I took the picture that's at the beginning of the post.

After no more luck in this area, I decided since being so close to the confluence of the Little Patuxent and Middle Patuxent, catching a smallmouth from the Middle Patuxent was an acceptable challenge.

I walked upriver and waded across the Little Patuxent (actually not really "wading" -- more like trying to not bust my ass walking across the river bottom that was strewn with slippery rocks).  On the other side, I walked a short ways then not-busted-my-ass crossing the Middle Patuxent.

My first MIDDLE Patuxent smallmouth.

Last time on the Middle Patuxent was probably seven or eight years ago when trying to fly-fish for trout.  I caught a couple fish -- I think a rainbow trout and a sunfish -- but no smallmouth.  At the time, I didn't think there was the possibility to catch a smallmouth bass in this river.

So today back on the Middle Patuxent, first cast upriver, and it felt like a snag as soon as I started working the Z-Man worm back.  Usually the first instinct when feeling tension on the line is to set the hook.  I did that, but it wasn't a snag -- something was pulling back!  It was a feisty cookie-cutter smallmouth and great to catch one on my first cast.

That makes smallmouth for me now on the Potomac River, Little and Middle Patuxents, and Antietam Creek in Maryland.

After fishing this area without any more action, I called it quits. Or maybe not???

Heading back and walking along the trail next to the Little Patuxent, I saw smallmouth bass in a pool near where I started fishing today.  Maybe five or six fish and at least two looked decent.

It was a pretty steep bank, so I climbed down halfway trying not to spook the fish.  They didn't seem to notice me, and I tossed out a swimbait.  As soon as the lure hit the water, the fish took off -- away from the lure.  A few more casts and nothing.  Then some smaller smallmouth made their way back.  Switching back to the Z-Man worm, one little smallmouth emerged from under a rock and tried to take the lure back to his hiding spot, but I couldn't hook him.  But no more interest in a swimbait or worm after that, so I really called it quits for the day.

Let's see, last week, Karen and I drove an hour-plus to fish the Upper Potomac, and I caught six dink smallmouth.  Today I drove 20 minutes and caught four dinks but also a 13-incher.  I'm sure it's more likely to catch a trophy sized smallmouth on the Potomac (nothing over 16 inches for me, yet), but it is getting harder to make that longer drive for a half-day trips when I catch pretty much the same fish on the Little/Middle Patuxents (three total measuring 15 inches).

How 'bout six? Six is good.

First fish of the day for me.

Finally a day where it wasn't hot as balls, and no threat of a rain or hurricane, so Karen and I went this morning to the Upper Potomac.  We fished the same area where I caught a 16-inch smallmouth at the end of July.

The river was a little different this time -- maybe a foot lower and crystal clear.  It was a lot easier to wade with the water down.  Water temp was a tick below 80 degrees, and skies were pretty much clear.

Trench warfare.

Even though the water was different, I went with the same pattern as before, launching lures through the riffles and rapids.  Using a swimbait, I caught one smallmouth in the first 15 minutes then nothing for at least an hour.  I waded almost straight across the river navigating through a trench.  Some smaller smallmouth were nibbling at the swimbait in one section, but nothing clamped on the hook.

I waded back to the Maryland side and switched to my "finesse" rod and tied on a Z-Man TRD Finesse Worm.  Wading back across to where I had been, I caught three smallmouth that were even smaller than the first one.  Had a few hits and had one hooked briefly, but that was it.

A few nice, fairly deep pools in this area.  I wonder if these are
wintering holes?

Slimy green algae (or whatever) liked the Z-Man worms, though.  Every other cast, I had to pull the green slime off the jig.  So I decided to switch back to the swimbait because that didn't seem to attract the green stuff.

I use the swimbaits with 1/16-ounce Owner Darter jigheads.  With this combo, the swimbait can be fished fairly slow just below the surface of the water, and it's virtually snag-proof.

After I added these swimbaits to my arsenal after success with them on the Susquehanna, I tried slightly heavier Owner jigheads with the swimbaits, but I found they sank too quickly and were easier to get snagged.

Standing at the top of a group of riffles, I cast the swimbait almost directly straight toward the shore and reeled in slowly.  The lure ran just below the surface, and working partially against the current helped give the swimbait action with the slow retrieve.  The lure was visible to me almost the entire time, so it was cool seeing smallmouth emerge from nowhere and give chase.

Karen's smallmouth.

I caught two more smallmouth, had one free itself at my feet, and had a few more hits.  So six fish total landed for the day.

Karen didn't have much luck but did catch one, which she claimed was about 12 inches, on a Z-Man worm.

Since it was Labor Day weekend, I was worried the area would be crowded with people "floating" the water. One of the reasons we didn't go fishing Saturday or Sunday. But we didn't see any river traffic until about a half hour before we stopped fishing.

The trenches on the river floor created some deep pools.  While they didn't hold any fish, I am wondering if maybe these might be wintering holes for the smallmouth.  Or maybe walleye.  Going to have to try this area again when it gets colder.

Dogs and catfish

Cute ... until they became annoying.

All three smallmouth looked
like this.  In fact, I think
the second and third ones may
have been the same fish!

I fished this morning at my secret spot on the Little Patuxent River catching three wee smallmouth bass and a catfish.  The first smallmouth hit (that's being generous) a Z-Man TRD Finesse worm, while the rest of the fish were caught on a Reaction Innovations swimbait.  The catfish hit the swimbait just as it hit the water, so I figured it was a smallmouth.  At least catfish fight better than failfish.

I mentioned before that Bass Pro Shops has a swimbait that looks really similar to the RI plastic lure. I used the RI swimbaits last week and this week, and I think they have a little more action than the BPS Sassy Sally.

Also, my last trip to the secret spot, I encountered a couple dogs -- one male that looked kind of like a pit bull and a female that looked like a mutt.  This time, after fishing for about an hour, I heard barking and three puppies (maybe six months old?) came bounding out of the woods and barking.  They seemed friendly but still puppies.  One tried jumping on me when I reached down to pet it.

"OK, fine, I'll continue fishing."

Then one tried to grab my water bottle and another started going through my tackle bag.  After buttoning everything up, I went back to fishing.  And they continued to bark, and then one tried to grab my tackle bag.

"OK, fine, I'll move somewhere else."

Mr. Whiskers returns!

The dogs followed me as I stumbled through the woods and weeds.  Tried shoo-ing them away and telling them to stay, but they stayed on my trail.  I picked up speed and thought I lost them as I reached one of the other nice spots for fishing in the area, but no, here they came again. Then started barking again.

I had enough at this point and took off as fast as I could (lots of thorny plants here, too).  Going through dense cover hoping the dogs couldn't make it through or get discouraged, they finally lost interest, I guess.

So what I had planned to be a two- to three-hour fishing trip turned into about a 90-minute trip because of somebody's stupid dogs.  I probably won't go back there for awhile.

The Potomac River kicked my ass this weekend

At the end of the branch with no leaves in the lower
half of the picture is a bald eagle.  He didn't catch
anything either.

Not a good weekend of fishing.  Saturday night, I went to Dam 4 and sweated my ass off for a few hours and didn't catch anything.  A 11- to 12-inch smallmouth clamped onto a swimbait for a few seconds, jumped then freed itself about eight feet away from me. No other bites before that, and only one other bite after that.

Five-plus hours of fishing this weekend, and this was my trophy.

This morning, I went to Taylor's Landing bright and early and only sweated half my ass off.  After the first hour, I finally caught one smallmouth that was around 10 inches.  And that was it for actually landing fish.  A couple more hits, even a follow on a swimbait from a fish that I am pretty sure was a small walleye.  Around 9:30 a.m., the sun started peaking over the trees and bathing the entire river in its warm glow which did wonders for the humidity, so I called it quits.

Swimbaits, Z-Man TRD Finesse worms, Bass Pro Shops Stik-O worms, some topwater (topwater bite has been almost nonexistent for me this year, yet still I try), a Rapala Shadow Rap (which I lost, exact same lure that a 20-inch Susquehanna smallmouth liked so much in April) ... nothing seemed to work.

Did I mention it was hot as balls?  I fished mainly in areas right below riffles and could only manage to land that one smallmouth.

A nice morning drive to go fishing

The confluence of the Middle Patuxent and Little Patuxent Rivers.

This morning was a fishing trip a little closer to home -- the Little Patuxent River.  I had not been on the river since last month punctuating my quest of catching smallmouth bass on four rivers in five days.  This time instead of my usual "hot spots," I tried near Savage Mill.

A nice pool where I caught a trout last year ...
but nothing this time.

I fished this area once last year and caught a rainbow trout on a Rebel Wee-Craw, of all things.  What I discovered then was that while I rarely see anybody else fishing on the Little Patuxent in other spots, this place is pretty crowded.

Same thing today.  There's trail access in a park near Savage Mill (everybody parks on the bridge at Savage Mill) and as I wandered downriver, I saw two people fishing.  Then I got to the spot where I caught the trout last year and started fishing and saw two more people on the other side of the river armed with fishing rods.  So four people fishing even before I put a line in the water.

Like yesterday, I alternated between one rod with a Z-Man TRD Finesse worm and another with a Bass Pro Shops Sassy Sally swimbait.  But no luck in this section, not even a nibble.

I remembered there was another big pool just downriver, so I hoofed it that way.  And sure enough, there was somebody else already fishing there.  Figuring it would only get more crowded further downriver, I headed back upriver and found a nice pool below the confluence of the Little Patuxent and Middle Patuxent.

First fish -- a12-inch smallmouth.

First cast with the swimbait upriver, and there was a really hard tug on the end of the line -- fish on!  The fish jumped, and it looked like a decent smallmouth.  The fish stayed on so I could hoist it out of the water -- measured just above 12 inches.  Like I've said, it's always nice to catch a legal smallmouth, especially in this river.

It's worth noting that I had zero action until this point.  No bites or nibbles but then hooked into a legal-sized smallmouth on the first cast in this section of the river.

But that was here -- maybe that smallmouth bass was apex predator for this area -- and I wandered back upriver.

The river is kind of a misnomer, I think.  It's more like a creek.  Really shallow this time of year, and this area was a minefield of protruding rocks.  Most of it isn't ideal for fishing unless you want to toss a lure at each of the hundreds of rocks that scatter the river floor.

Moving on, I found another pool of water that looked decent.  I had a hit on the swimbait when I tossed it downriver, but couldn't get anything to clamp on.  After several casts and nothing, I threw the swimbait upriver and had a hit.  Kind of.  It was a smallmouth but maybe six inches.  Must have been hungry.

Rare for me to catch a green sunfish.

After that and no more action on the swimbait, the switch to the Z-Man worm got me something I don't think I've caught on the river before -- a green sunfish.  Usually, the sunfish I catch on the Little Patuxent and even the Potomac are redbreast sunfish.  A small fish but nice to see something different.

And that was it for this section.  I thought there was a big pool further upriver, and walked up scouting the river.  More of the same minefield of large, scattered rocks in close quarters.  It's really scenic but I don't think good areas for holding Mr. Smallmouth.

I finally found a section that looked OK.  Not great, but one of those things where I walked long enough and decided to settle on something.

I tried the swimbait first and felt a tap on the end of the line.  No fish, so I figured it was just the jig hitting a rock.  But then I saw a fish behind the lure, and it grabbed the swimbait.  The fish jumped once revealing it was a smallmouth.  It fought hard so it seemed like a decent fish, but when I hoisted it out of the water, it probably measured 10 inches.  But that's the thing with smallmouth bass -- they think they are bigger than they actually are!

I usually have two rods so it's easier to switch
between presentations.

That was it for the day, but not too shabby for a couple of hours on a little river that flows through D.C.-Baltimore gridlock.  One legal-sized smallmouth, two other smallmouth and a rare (for me) green sunfish.

Funny that as I was leaving and driving over the bridge at Savage Mill, I saw three more people heading to the river with fishing rods.  If you like people, this is the place for you.  But if you go fishing to get away from people, maybe not.

Four dinks

Potomac River downriver from Taylor's Landing.

Went back to the Taylor's Landing boat ramp on the Upper Potomac today.  This was the same area I fished a month ago when I got six smallmouth and my first Potomac rock bass.

Bass Pro Shops Sassy Sally on top, Reaction Innovations
Little Dipper on the bottom.  Sally is a little longer and skinnier
and the Little Dipper is slightly chunkier and
more pronounced ribbing on top.

I ran out of the "hot" color swimbait that worked really well last week, but a new shipment wasn't scheduled to arrive until Monday.  Earlier in the week when I was at Bass Pro Shops at Arundel Mills Mall, I found a really similar swimbait at Bass Pro Shops and bought a pack of those in the "Houdini" pattern.  They are slightly more slender and have a slightly different profile, but they seemed like a good alternative.

I hit the water around 8:30 a.m. and started with a topwater lure -- a Heddon Super Spook Jr.  A few fish swiped at the lure, but none of them clamped on.  I think a couple of them were sunfish.

Then I tried the new swimbait and had a fish on the first cast!  Reeling the fish in, it felt like a decent size ... but then freed itself.  This would be a recurring theme throughout the day.

No more luck for a little while, and I switched to my rod with a Z-Man TRD Finesse worm (click that link ... maybe they will start giving me a discount on the worms!).  Again, first cast, just as the worm hit the water, there was a fish on!  Reeling the fish in, it felt OK again -- nothing like the 16-incher from last week -- and then -- poof! -- it was gone like Keyzer Soze.

Fishing that same area for a little while with no action, I said, "Just one more cast."  How many times do you say that and nothing happens?  This time, a fish clamped on to the worm and stayed hooked.  It was probably around 11 inches.  No picture because my Canon S90 thought the battery was dead, and my phone was in a pocket of my shorts (wearing chest waders), and the fish was hooked pretty deep.  After some work, the hook came out thankfully with no blood.  I'm sure the fish didn't like it, though!

I think this was the third fish.

I waded downriver and alternated between the rod with the swimbait and the one with the Z-Man worm.  Not a lot of action.  Had a couple more fish on that managed to free themselves after reeling them in for a few seconds.  Finally I landed two dink smallmouth within three casts using a Z-Man worm.  A few minutes after that, casting upriver and working the worm back, another fish was on!  This time it got within sight -- maybe a 12-inch smallmouth? -- but then it came unhooked.

By this time, it was around 10 a.m. and the clouds were starting to clear.  I started wading back upriver this time with a "Money Shot Green" Reaction Innovations swimbait (they have great names for their colors) instead of the Bass Pro Shops swimbait.  I caught one really small smallmouth on the swimbait, but that was it.  Other than two hookups again where the fish got off.  <Grumble, grumble.>

A review of the Sassy Sally versus the Little Dipper: The Sassy Sally's action is a really good imitation of the Little Dipper, almost exactly the same  They are cheaper per pack -- and come in a pack of 10 compared to nine of the Little Dippers -- and I don't have to pay for shipping since they are a 10-minute drive away.  The only question now is how they compare on durability.  The Little Dippers usually only lasted through three or four fish, so there wasn't enough action today to see how the Sassy Sallys held up.

Potomac smallmouth love getting some tail

Literally standing in the middle of the Potomac ...
in knee deep water.

First fish of the day ... they were INHALING the swimbaits!

Headed back to the Potomac today but this time upriver from where I was last week.  I fished this section once before last November and remember a huge area of riffles/rapids and figured it would be good to try this time of year.

Using a swimbait, I caught six cookie-cutter smallmouth in an hour or so.  Last week, I theorized that the bigger swimbaits enticed bigger fish, but that wasn't the case today.  Just a bunch of dinks hitting the swimbait.

Until landing a 16-inch smallmouth that fought like a tank.

Let's rewind here.

Aggressive smallmouth getting some tail.

Just before this Sherman smallmouth, I launched a lure into a tree.  Kept firing it downriver, and it wouldn't hit the "right" spot.  Then went into the overhanging tree.  Then the fishing line developed a small bird's nest.  I can never understand why this happens on spinning reels -- the line gets tangled for some reason further down on the spool.  Cast, reel, cast, reel, cast and a small bird's nest hinders the cast.

After dicking around with this crap for 20 minutes, cutting line and re-tieing on the swimbait, I cast out again.

Well, crap, it's a snag.

But it wasn't.

16-inch tank of a smallmouth!

It was an actual fish that inhaled the lure, and of course I was hoping it wasn't a catfish.  But it jumped almost immediately, and it was no catfish!  And then there was hoping the fish didn't come unhooked.

This smallmouth was one of the angriest I've encountered -- kept pulling drag and making runs.  Finally got close enough where I could pull the fish out of the water by the lower lip.  Measured it just over 16 inches and let it go.

This was my biggest Potomac smallmouth in more than a year!

That was lucky fish No. 7 in under two hours.  After that, the switched turned off.  I caught two cookie-cutters wading out toward the middle of the river, but then nothing after that even after making a home in between two riffles of water (top picture) that looked great for holding fish.  Not even a nibble.

Heading back toward shore, I threw my last swimbait back in almost the direct area where I was wading when I caught the 16-inch smallmouth ... and caught another cookie-cutter bass.

These plastic swimbaits only last through a few fish/hits, and that was the last one.

LOL, whut?

Time for the Z-Man TRD Finesse Wormz!  By this time, the clouds started dissipating to let the hot sun warm the sticky, humid air.

Earlier in the week, I got 1/20-ounce Shroomz jigheads, lighter than what I tried last week.  I keep trying lighter jigheads hoping they are less prone to snags.  The 1/20-ounce jigs didn't get snagged, but they rolled down the river too quickly, at least in this section.  They might be good for slower-moving water, though.

I tried a Z-Man worm with a heavier Shroomz jighead and caught a 12-inch bass almost immediately.  That made it 11 smallmouth for the day in a hair over three hours.  Not too bad wading and working a long section of riffles.

There doesn't seem to be a magical "honey hole" on rivers for smallmouth.  It's not like lake fish where the bass hold position.  Smallmouth migrate a lot, especially this time of year, so if I find a section of water that looks good, I keep fishing that area.  The 16-inch fish today must have come after 20 to 30 casts around that same area.

It was after 11 a.m., and the sun and humidity started trying to kick my ass like last week, but this time better preparation with water meant not feeling like passing out.  But still, that was it for the day considering the lull in activity by the little brown fish for the last hour or so.

Rifling the riffles

What do you do on the day you get married?  Go fishing, of course!

Hot day, do these riffles hold smallmouth?

Karen and I tried the Antietam Creek area of the Potomac River yesterday.  This was the same section we fished earlier in the year and didn't have much luck.  With temperatures in the 90s, I guessed it would be better fishing this time because of the riffles that stretch nearly the entire length from the Maryland side to the West Virginia side.  The bubbling water oxygenates the river in these stretches, which attracts smallmouth bass while funneling bait (fish, crawdads, plastic worms -- ha ha!) to predator fish.  Like smallmouth bass ... and sunfish ... and ... and ... Mr. Whiskers.

Karen's first smallmouth of the day.

Karen fished mainly above the riffles in the slower section that had a lot of large, hidden rocks below the surface.  She tried the Z-Man TRD Finesse worms for the first time and reportedly had as much success with those as with the Bass Pro Shops Stik-O worms -- seven cookie-cutter smallmouth and a sunfish.

She was pretty happy, though, because she had been skunked the last few times fishing.

My first fish, a tick over 12 inches.

I started off with a swimbait and, like last week, had several fish hooked but they shook the lure before I could land them.  I did catch three smallmouth around 12 inches ... and then had a hard hit after casting the swimbait downriver and reeling directly upriver against the current.  To describe the hit, it seemed like the fish sucked the lure in while following behind it. The fish was strong, though, but I figured it was a catfish.

Played the fish some more and it finally got close enough to see what it was -- not a catfish but a nice smallmouth probably around 16 inches!  It was fighting like a cinder block like the 16-inch smallmouth I caught at the same time last year.  Didn't rip off line on the drag, just didn't want to come in.

And then the smallmouth bass turned into Keyzer Soze and -- POOF! -- it was gone.  Just somehow got unhooked.

Goddamnmutherfuckingsoneofabitch!  It sucks losing a nice smallmouth bass especially when you see the fish and are almost ready to land it.

Oh, hai there Mr. Whiskers!

I only had two of those swimbaits with me rigged on jigheads and eventually lost both of them.  So I decided to try the Z-Man worms, too.  Two fish on the first three casts with them, then two more a little later.  But they were all cookie-cutter fish.  And Mr. Whiskers made an appearance again.  I saw a long, slender body under the water with gold coloring and thought (hoped) it was a walleye.  Nope, it was a catfish.  They still fight well and are way more fun to catch than a failfish.

Also, it's funny to see the bank strewn with empty chicken liver containers and thinking of all these people targeting catfish while I catch them on accident.  I bet nobody catches a smallmouth with a chicken liver!

By that time it was a little after 7 p.m., and I wanted to start throwing topwater lures.  But I didn't feel good.  Stomach cramps and a little light-headed, probably dehydrated.  I hadn't had much water that day.  I drank one bottle of water as we walked down the C&O Canal Trail and another bottle a little while later.  But the heat and humidity had started kicking my ass.  Maybe next time.

It was interesting that the four fish I caught on the Z-Man worm were smaller than the ones on the swimbait, but I caught them in about 20 to 30 minutes.  The three fish on the swimbait -- plus the one that got away -- were hooked in about 90 minutes.  My quick take is the swimbait attracts bigger fish but not as easy/numerous as the smaller Z-Man worm.

Still, seven fish (plus Mr. Whiskers), not to mention numerous other hits.  And Karen caught the same number of smallmouth, too.  Definitely going to hit this area again.

Variations

In the last installment, I wrote about how easy it seemed to catch fish with the "Ned Rig" Z-Man TRD Finesse worms, and the next trip to the Potomac wouldn't involve them.

That didn't happen.  On the riversmallies.com forum, one of the posters there seems to use nothing but the Z-Man worms but rigs them on 1/32-ounce mushroom jigheads.  His reasoning is that the lighter weight jigheads lessens the chance for snags.  Sure, you will still lose lures but they won't get snagged as often, and they are easier to free.

Yesterday, Karen and I went to the Arundel Mills Bass Pro Shops and, lo and behold, they now stock the Z-Man worms and Shroomz jigheads.  Z-Man doesn't offer 1/32-ounce jigs but their lightest is 1/10-ounce.  I normally use 1/4-ounce and some 3/16th-ounce jigs, so I bought a five-pack of the 1/10th heads.

Fish-holding riffles.

This morning, I started off at the Lander Road boat ramp on the Potomac and biked up the C&O Canal Trail.  It took awhile to find a place that had easy access to the river.  Put on the chest waders and hit the water.  This area had a few good spots with riffles not too far from shore.  Tied on a Z-man worm with the lighter jighead and started firing it below the riffles.

Nothing for 20 to 30 minutes.  Then finally had a fish on -- a typical Potomac cookie-cutter smallmouth bass.  A little while later, another fish but a bit smaller.  While it wasn't noteworthy in size or appearance, it was my 100th smallmouth of the year!  Last year, I didn't catch the 100th smallmouth until September, so maybe I'm getting better at tricking them little brown fish?

First fish of the day and smallmouth
number 99 for the year.

Wading upriver to another riffle, I caught three more smallmouth and a sunfish.  I also had numerous hookups where the fish got off while reeling them in.  Usually I don't miss many fish that way -- if they're on the hook, I land them.  My quick take is that while the smaller jighead didn't get snagged as often (I only lost two), they enticed lighter strikes.

In about two hours, I caught five smallmouth and the sunfish.  Around 11 a.m., the switch turned off.  Nothing.  No bites or nibbles.

I waded back down to where the bike was and switched to my other rod and tied on a swimbait.  What kind of swimbait?  That's a secret.  Jason Shay introduced it to me when he guided me and Karen on the Susquehanna earlier month.  It's about the same size as a Berkley Havoc but the action is a whole lot better.  Reeling in just straight with no variation on the speed or action using the rod, the swimbait rolls and darts slightly from side-to-side.

A decent sunfish.

After about 10 minutes using the swimbait, there was a hard hit on the other end of the line.  I thought it was snagged but whatever was on the other end was pulling back -- certainly not a rock!  The fish jumped once, and it looked like a decent smallmouth.  The fish got within a few feet from me, and I saw it was at least a 12-inch bass.  Then it jumped and freed itself from the hook.  Right in front of me!

I cast out to the same general area and got another hard hit in the same area as the first fish.  Started reeling, fish was close, a little smaller ... and that fish jumped, too, and got off.  Right in front of me!

A few casts later wading upriver, I had another hit.  This time I kept the rod tip low to prevent the fish from jumping and actually landed it -- a sub-10-inch smallmouth.

High noon was rolling around, and I only had one hit after that.  Maybe next time I will just fish with the swimbait and leave the Z-Man worms at home.

Maybe.

And now I will leave you with something creepy: