Fished the Little Patuxent for a little over two hours on Tuesday. Mainly wanted to get out and do something with the possibility of Hurricane Florence or its remnants hitting this area by the weekend.
A guy on a fishing forum fabricated a homemade batch of small propeller lures and asked for some guinea pigs to try them out and provide feedback. Ideally they would be for lighter presentations. I volunteered and got a couple mailed last week. They are really small (not going to provide details other than that since I'm not sure of his intentions ... like if wants to make a fortune off them).
I tied one on to my medium-light setup -- seven-foot ML St. Croix AvidX rod, Pflueger Supreme reel and six-pound Hi-Seas Triple Fish fluorocarbon.
Despite the light weight, the lures cast through the air with excellent distance. I managed to catch two tiny smallmouth, and another one freed itself while being hoisted out of the water.
Usually the pesky redbreast sunfish nibble (and sometimes bite) regular "smallmouth lures" like Z-Man worms and swimbaits, and I was hoping this little prop bait would catch a few so I could bring some home to introduce them to a frying pan. That's why they're called panfish, right? But no such luck.
While the smallmouth bass were sub-dink size (maybe six inches), it was encouraging considering the rains that have blown up the Little Patuxent and other little rivers in the area. The closest gauge on Tuesday measured three feet -- close to normal -- but it was over seven feet a few days before that. Survival of the fittest -- I'm guessing the smallmouth have been around here since just after their first introduction on the Potomac, and they will continue to find a way to survive.
I was also trying out a new (to me) jerkbait -- a Yo-Zuri 3DB. Buying new lures is almost as fun as actually fishing!
Unfortunately with the cloudiness of the water, it was almost impossible to tell what kind of action the lure had. One smallmouth hammered the lure -- it was hooked for a moment then shook free near the surface. It looked like a fish in the 12- to 14-inch range.
If the Potomac ever gets back to normal, I intend to compare some of the jerkbaits I have like this Yo-Zuri and the Rapala Shadow Rap ... and a few others acquired during the offseason but haven't even used yet, like the Rapala RipStop, Megaba$$ Vi$ion, and Lucky Craft Pointer. The shallow-running jerkbaits dive down as much as four feet, and I'm hesitant to cast them in the skinny, shallow Maryland rivers because they are more prone to getting snagged.
A guy on a fishing forum fabricated a homemade batch of small propeller lures and asked for some guinea pigs to try them out and provide feedback. Ideally they would be for lighter presentations. I volunteered and got a couple mailed last week. They are really small (not going to provide details other than that since I'm not sure of his intentions ... like if wants to make a fortune off them).
I tied one on to my medium-light setup -- seven-foot ML St. Croix AvidX rod, Pflueger Supreme reel and six-pound Hi-Seas Triple Fish fluorocarbon.
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| Hold fish closer to the camera to they look bigger. |
Usually the pesky redbreast sunfish nibble (and sometimes bite) regular "smallmouth lures" like Z-Man worms and swimbaits, and I was hoping this little prop bait would catch a few so I could bring some home to introduce them to a frying pan. That's why they're called panfish, right? But no such luck.
While the smallmouth bass were sub-dink size (maybe six inches), it was encouraging considering the rains that have blown up the Little Patuxent and other little rivers in the area. The closest gauge on Tuesday measured three feet -- close to normal -- but it was over seven feet a few days before that. Survival of the fittest -- I'm guessing the smallmouth have been around here since just after their first introduction on the Potomac, and they will continue to find a way to survive.
I was also trying out a new (to me) jerkbait -- a Yo-Zuri 3DB. Buying new lures is almost as fun as actually fishing!
Unfortunately with the cloudiness of the water, it was almost impossible to tell what kind of action the lure had. One smallmouth hammered the lure -- it was hooked for a moment then shook free near the surface. It looked like a fish in the 12- to 14-inch range.
If the Potomac ever gets back to normal, I intend to compare some of the jerkbaits I have like this Yo-Zuri and the Rapala Shadow Rap ... and a few others acquired during the offseason but haven't even used yet, like the Rapala RipStop, Megaba$$ Vi$ion, and Lucky Craft Pointer. The shallow-running jerkbaits dive down as much as four feet, and I'm hesitant to cast them in the skinny, shallow Maryland rivers because they are more prone to getting snagged.
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| Jerkbait comparison coming soon? From left to right: Y-Zuri 3DB, Megabass Vision 110, Rapala Rip Stop, Rapala X-Rap and Lucky Craft Pointer. |
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