I figured I wouldn't do much fishing until March or April because of the impending cold weather. Maybe hit up the Little Patuxent River when the Maryland DNR started stocking trout. But after catching five walleye on the Potomac River to end last year, my fishing plans for the "offseason" have changed. While the smallmouth bass are shacked up in deeper pools, the walleye have come out and are thriving in the colder water.
Today I ventured back up to Dam 4 on the Potomac River to target walleye. I tried fishing on New Year's Day in the same area, but the water was way too high and flowing too fast after recent rains. Normally, the river is just under five feet as measured from a gauge just north in Hancock. But last week it was just under eight feet! I didn't even think to check the level of the river before I went out last week.
This time, I monitored the gauge throughout the week and saw the river level steadily dropped. There was a call for rain on Saturday, so since I freed myself from work early today, I decided to hit the river again. As I drove up I-70, the temperature display on the Lightning went from 40 to 34 degrees. Water temp when I got there was just over 30.
And man was the water COLD! On Christmas Eve, I waded out until the water was just over my knees (wearing non-insulated hip waders). I could tolerate the cold temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. Today I tried the same thing and made two casts before heading back to shallower water. My plan was to fish just below the dam like on Christmas Eve and toss a Rapala Shadow Rap out toward deeper water, but that wasn't happening this time. (I did order insulated waders using a couple Bass Pro Shops gift cards I got for Christmas, so maybe they will be here next week.)
I wandered down to the same section I caught my first Potomac walleye about a month ago. Again using the Rapala Shadow Rap, the second cast, I got a hit. Reeled it in and it was -- go figure -- a walleye! First fish of the year. It was about 12 inches, and I unhooked it and let it go.
A few casts later, it felt like I had a hit, but it was a really quick stop and release. I figured maybe it wasn't a fish but the lure briefly snagging on a rock.
My expert analysis determined that the lure didn't snag a rock:
Scales from whatever fish snagged on one of the treble hooks. Either the fish hit and missed and got the business end of a treble hook, or the Rapala ran into a fish.
After a little while and not much action, I went further down river looking for similar spots -- a slow, deep pool of water bordering a faster channel. My theory is the fish hang out in the pools and feed on baitfish or whatever meal that gets churned up by the faster water.
There were a couple promising areas, but I didn't get any bites. I walked along the towpath and saw some deep sections but by this point, the bank was too steep to walk down. Maybe with those insulated waders I can get in the water further upstream and wade down to those sections?
Further downstream I found a natural dam and a few fields of larger rocks that I definitely want to hit during warmer weather for smallmouth.
By this time it was around 4 p.m., and I turned around to head back to the spot where I caught the first walleye of the day. Karen gave me a St. Croix fishing rod for Christmas that I was anxious to try out. It's a lighter weight rod that I want to use for working jigs on the bottom for smallmouth bass. I lucked into my first Potomac walleye using a Charlie Brewer Spider Jighead with a three-inch Gulp! Killer Crawler, so maybe this would work again.
Yeah, it worked.
The walleye were tearing this up! One that I caught was 13 inches but most were 12 inches or smaller (mostly smaller), but still fun to catch. One walleye struck the jig just as it hit the water! I finally lost the worm and switched back to the rod with the Shadow Rap, and the walleye tore this up, too! I counted eight total walleye and even one fallfish, so I was at nine walleye at this point.
The skies were overcast and getting darker, so I went back up to the dam. There's a point along the rocky bank below the dam where you can climb down (gingerly!) about 15 feet and get close to the water. There was slow moving water along the shore that bordered faster water. It looked like a good spot but I didn't get anything. No action on the Shadow Rap. Nothing on the Killer Crawler.
It was now around 5 p.m. and I scrambled back down river to the spot where I had caught all the fish before. I caught three more walleye -- I think one on the Gulp! Crawler and two on the Shadow Rap -- so that made 12 total for the day plus the one fallfish! Still nothing with size, but I'm hoping to find some decent fish once I can venture out a little further with the insulated waders.
The fish seemed to respond to really slow presentation. With the jig, I popped it once on the bottom and let it sit for a few seconds. Same with the Shadow Rap -- jerked it once, waited for a few seconds then jerked it again. Most of the hits were really light. In fact the hardest hit was from the fallfish!
Today I ventured back up to Dam 4 on the Potomac River to target walleye. I tried fishing on New Year's Day in the same area, but the water was way too high and flowing too fast after recent rains. Normally, the river is just under five feet as measured from a gauge just north in Hancock. But last week it was just under eight feet! I didn't even think to check the level of the river before I went out last week.
This time, I monitored the gauge throughout the week and saw the river level steadily dropped. There was a call for rain on Saturday, so since I freed myself from work early today, I decided to hit the river again. As I drove up I-70, the temperature display on the Lightning went from 40 to 34 degrees. Water temp when I got there was just over 30.
 |
| First fish of the year! |
I wandered down to the same section I caught my first Potomac walleye about a month ago. Again using the Rapala Shadow Rap, the second cast, I got a hit. Reeled it in and it was -- go figure -- a walleye! First fish of the year. It was about 12 inches, and I unhooked it and let it go.
A few casts later, it felt like I had a hit, but it was a really quick stop and release. I figured maybe it wasn't a fish but the lure briefly snagging on a rock.
My expert analysis determined that the lure didn't snag a rock:
 |
| Scales snagged on hook. |
Scales from whatever fish snagged on one of the treble hooks. Either the fish hit and missed and got the business end of a treble hook, or the Rapala ran into a fish.
After a little while and not much action, I went further down river looking for similar spots -- a slow, deep pool of water bordering a faster channel. My theory is the fish hang out in the pools and feed on baitfish or whatever meal that gets churned up by the faster water.
There were a couple promising areas, but I didn't get any bites. I walked along the towpath and saw some deep sections but by this point, the bank was too steep to walk down. Maybe with those insulated waders I can get in the water further upstream and wade down to those sections?
Further downstream I found a natural dam and a few fields of larger rocks that I definitely want to hit during warmer weather for smallmouth.
By this time it was around 4 p.m., and I turned around to head back to the spot where I caught the first walleye of the day. Karen gave me a St. Croix fishing rod for Christmas that I was anxious to try out. It's a lighter weight rod that I want to use for working jigs on the bottom for smallmouth bass. I lucked into my first Potomac walleye using a Charlie Brewer Spider Jighead with a three-inch Gulp! Killer Crawler, so maybe this would work again.
Yeah, it worked.
 |
| Walleye landed on my new St. Croix rod. |
The skies were overcast and getting darker, so I went back up to the dam. There's a point along the rocky bank below the dam where you can climb down (gingerly!) about 15 feet and get close to the water. There was slow moving water along the shore that bordered faster water. It looked like a good spot but I didn't get anything. No action on the Shadow Rap. Nothing on the Killer Crawler.
It was now around 5 p.m. and I scrambled back down river to the spot where I had caught all the fish before. I caught three more walleye -- I think one on the Gulp! Crawler and two on the Shadow Rap -- so that made 12 total for the day plus the one fallfish! Still nothing with size, but I'm hoping to find some decent fish once I can venture out a little further with the insulated waders.
The fish seemed to respond to really slow presentation. With the jig, I popped it once on the bottom and let it sit for a few seconds. Same with the Shadow Rap -- jerked it once, waited for a few seconds then jerked it again. Most of the hits were really light. In fact the hardest hit was from the fallfish!
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