Three's company, too

Big fish of the day, on the last cast.  It fell for a
swimbait "dying" on the bottom of the river

I haven't fished the other Patuxent river this year, so I gave it a try this morning.  The last couple years, this branch has been tough.  There just aren't that many fish, and they are usually small cookie-cutter size.  Although I have seem some bigger smallmouth cruising while observing from banks above the water, there is still always some hope of landing a nice fish.

The weather was great -- 65 degrees and overcast to start the morning.  I tied on a Heddon Zara Puppy in a bullfrog pattern on one rod and a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper on the other since the latter enticed fish last week on one of the other Patuxent branches.

First fish of the day, a scrappy cookie-cutter smallmouth bass.

On the very first cast with the Zara Puppy, a fish went after it just after plopping into the water.  It was probably a sunfish, but still, I thought it was going to be a good day for topwaters after that, but I only had one other bite the rest of the morning.

After an hour of hitting small pockets and pools, I finally got a fish to snare a Little Dipper.  About a 10-inch smallmouth.  Two casts later in about the same spot, another smallmouth was landed, maybe slightly bigger than the first one.

Then the action dried up.  No more bites and not much activity.  Even throwing lures in a few spots that always seem to get activity, the fish were on social distancing mode.

I trudged back upriver and decided to fish the same spot where I caught the two fish from before.  This time a Rapala floating minnow was in place of the Zara Puppy, and two smallmouth bass gave chase on the first cast.  I kept peppering the area with the swimbait and the Rapala.  I could even see fish below the surface, but they didn't seem interested in fake food.

A spot that has held fish before.  This time ... nothing.

I cast the swimbait in the perfect spot and reeled in steadily.  Two fish -- one small and one bigger -- emerged from the shadows in pursuit.  The bigger one seemed more intersted but it suddenly gave up.  I killed it -- the swimbait that is -- by letting the lure hit the bottom of the river.  This last dying act triggered the fish and it took the bait -- literally -- and scooped the lure into its mouth.

The smallmouth bass jumped twice but couldn't shake the hook free.  It looked close to 12 inches.  And  I decided to call it quits after that --  better to go out on a high note than flailing lures for the next half hour or so. 

A whole lotta action but not much catchin' (no pictures so dial-up safe)

Hit the usual local river this morning.  After some thunderstorms during the week, the river was down to normal levels but a bit murky.

This is about prime time for topwater, and I rigged up a the familiar Heddon Zara Puppy, and on the other rod, a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper swimbait.

The fish didn't seem interested in either offering initially, but then I started getting bites on the swimbait and some attacks on the Zara Puppy.  Finally after an hour, a smallmouth came out from nowhere and hit the swimbait about 10 feet in front of me.  It thrashed around and did an SDR (short-distance release) before I could get it out of the water.  It looked to be at least 12 inches, likely more.

In another spot a half hour or so later, a redbreast sunfish decided it was brunch time and snagged a Hubs Chub* that was chugging across the surface.  I contemplated keeping the fish because it was hand size, but it wriggled free when I was trying to take a picture.

On to another spot, and a smallmouth torpedoed the swimbait after a few casts.  It was a bit smaller than the first smallmouth, but it also did an SDR before I could take a picture and make it internet famous, and that was that.

I meandered down the river and tossed lures into a few spots without much interest from the fish.  At the turnaround point, I decided to switch things up with my mystery spinnerbait that I still have after almost three years.  After a few casts with nothing pursuing the little spinner, I tied on a classic Rapala floating minnow on my other rod.

The ol' Rapala is a pretty versatile lure.  On the first cast when I started reeling after it hit the water, I thought to myself, "Should I use it as a jerkbait?  Maybe just a steady retrieve?  It could be worked as as a topwater HOLY SHIT THAT'S A BIG FISH!"

An enormous smallmouth (by this river's standards -- at least 15 inches, maybe bigger) emerged from the stained depths and pounced on the Rapala.  I felt the tug on the other end and set the hook.  The fish pulled back briefly ... that was it.  This time an LDR (long-distance release) and freed itself from two treble hooks.

I didn't get any other bites after that, although there were some follows, but it was like a switch had turned off.

It was kind of like the Potomac last week -- it would have felt like a better trip if I actually landed every fish I hooked.

* Donated the Zara Puppy to a river tree so had to switch.  Also, no link to Hubs Chubs because they were discontinued earlier this year.