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.