Smallmouth smashing a topwater and smashing my personal Potomac best

A 20-inch smallmouth?  If not, it was
really close and easily my personal
best on the Potomac.

Possibly a 20-inch smallmouth on the Potomac?  If not, really, really close.

Headed up last night to meet with Karen to stay overnight at Antietam Creek Campground.  I got there around 7:30 p.m. so didn't have much time to do some real fishing -- just drowned some lures behind the campsite for 20 to 30 minutes.  With a family a couple campsites away causing a ruckus in the river, I didn't think fishing would be very productive.  

It wasn't.

Saw baitfish just in front of the tip
of the line of rocks closest to the weeds.
With no bites, then made a cast near
the overhanging branches in the
center at the top.

This morning, I suited up and went upriver to near where I caught my personal best Potomac smallmouth -- 17 inches -- almost five years ago.  Maybe 100 yards upriver from that spot is a rock formation that creates a set of rapids protruding almost the width of the river.  The water in front is smooth as glass, but the current is pretty fast.

As I ambled down to the water, I saw baitfish activity on the surface just in front of the rapids.  A few small fish jumping here and there, some feeding from the top.  Then there was a boil from a larger fish -- a smallmouth? -- so I made my first cast with a Rapala X-Rap Prop and churned it through there.

Nothing.

I made another cast.  Nothing.

I was casting toward the center of the river, so I turned 45 degrees and fired the lure upriver under the edge of overhanging branches.  The twin propellers frothed the water for about two seconds before a fish slammed the lure.  I waited a half second, couldn't see the lure anymore, and set the hook.

Fish on! Only issue was that I was in fairly fast current.  Even dink smallmouth bass can use the current to their advantage.

The fish didn't jump but shook its head a couple times out of the water.  The fish was going for the rapids, which is definitely something I didn't want happening.

Usually I bring a lighter rod for jigs and swimbaits and a medium rod for larger lures like topwaters, jerkbaits, crankbaits, etc.  Instead of grabbing a medium power St. Croix rod with a cork handle and a Pflueger reel, I grabbed a medium-light rod with a cork handle and a Pflueger reel.  So now I was battling this bruiser in current with the lighter rod and wondering why I wasn't making much progress.

Basically I held ground and finally muscled the fish along the weed bed.  There was still strong current but it wasn't even ankle deep, so the fish couldn't swim anymore -- just dragged it along the water until I could grab its lower lip.  With me clamping on its mouth, it wiggled enough so part of the treble hook went into my thumb (notice the small blob of red in the picture at the top).  If it started thrashing, I was going to be in trouble.  Fortunately, it stayed calm -- the hook wasn't embedded too far and came out easily.

It was a nice smallmouth.  A beast by Potomac standards.  I didn't have a tape measurer so eye-balled it next to the rod and figured I would measure the rod after getting home.  It looked to be an easy 18 inches, possibly more.

After that, I lost a smaller fish on a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper, and that was it for the next two hours.  No bites or anything.  

But it was worth it.

After I got home, I immediately took the rod and headed for the garage to get a tape measurer.  While standing in the river, I had put the fish's tail against the butt-end of the rod, and the nose went to a logo on the main shaft ahead of the cork.  With the tape measurer, this was 19-3/4 inches.  This was just holding the fish by the jaw and not measuring properly -- the mouth wasn't closed, and the tail wasn't squeezed to narrow it the length of the tape.  If it wasn't 20 inches, it was really close.

From the bottom of the rod to the "RS" logo ...

... 19-3/4 inches!  Not measuring it "properly" with
a closed mouth and squeezing the tail so it wasn't
fanned out.

Finally photogenic fish

First smallmouth this morning.

Looks really fishy but not much activity.

The results over the last two days of fishing -- this time near Fifteen Mile Creek -- were similar to Friday's exploits.  Caught some dink fish, although these stuck around to have their picture taken.  I only took two pictures of fish.

Similar conditions from Friday.  No rain or anything, but the weather was much better, and the water was flowing low and clear.

Luck in this area has been hit or miss.  There was one time I caught 10 fish over two days, similar to yesterday and today.  Actually, other than that, it has been mostly miss.  Usually the thing to look forward to fishing this area is trying to spot a muskie lurking in the creek. 

First and only smallmouth yesterday.  They almost
always seem to get hooked in the corner of the jaw.

Fished the exact area as in 2017 (linked in previous paragraph).  Looks really fishy with protruding rocks and slow eddies but could only muster a smallmouth and a sunfish yesterday, and two smallmouth this morning.  The two this morning I think hit the Reaction Innovations Little Dipper because it basically landed on their heads, and they were angry for being disturbed on such a peaceful morning.

The smallmouth from yesterday was also tricked into biting a Little Dipper.  The sunfish was landed on a Heddon Zara Puppy as it followed it out of a slow eddy trying to slurp down the forward treble hook.

Still, it's better than a good day at work, and way better than the best day at my previous job (which I left on Thursday).

Dam fish, saving a turtle and a summary of a transition day before my next job

No fish pictures.  Just trees.

Yesterday was my last day at my current job and planned to take today off before starting the new job on Monday.  What I didn't realize is that since the new job is working as a contractor for the government (U.S. Air Force) that I couldn't start on Monday because it's a federal holiday.  Should have said I would start today and then gotten paid for the holiday.  I opted to just make it a four-day weekend.

The background picture of this blog,
this is the tree that has the 
overhanging branches.  Definitely has
some stories to tell.  Probably laughs
at the smallmouth I lost eight years ago.
Shut up, tree.

Tried to get on a boat with Susquehanna Smallmouth Solutions, but since it was last minute (gave two week's notice last Monday), there weren't any openings.  So I decided to just hit a few spots on the Potomac River.

First stop was McCoy's Ferry.  Ah, McCoy's Ferry.  Where I will never forget the fish I lost ... geez ... eight years ago?!  Basically a smallmouth bass ANNIHALATED a Heddon Zara Puppy, charged right at me standing on shore.  Let me say that again, the fish charged at me while I was standing on shore!  It jumped a few times, and the line broke.  Probably at least a 16-inch smallmouth.  

Anyway, I think of that every time I'm here.  I think about that every time I tie on a Zara Puppy.  So what did I try today, eight years later?  A Zara Puppy.  And a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper.

This section of the river, because of Dam 5 just downstream, has almost a lake-like quality.  There's some flow, but it's really slow.  Which is why I like using topwater lures here because they don't hit the current and float away.

There were a couple guys fishing in a boat just off shore when I got there.  By the time I tied on my lures and everything, they had shifted more toward the middle river and eventually floated away.

Lots of fish were roaming near the bank, but they were small.  Some sunfish, a few smallmouth and even largemouth bass.

Other than a tiny sunfish trying to slurp the Zara Puppy, the lure had zero strikes.  Caught one smallmouth on the Little Dipper, but it released itself after I was about to grab it when I pulled it out of the water.  While I couldn't get a picture, those are probably the best.  Don't have to perform surgery to remove a hook.  The fish doesn't try to impale you with spiked dorsal fins or the hook in its mouth.

I eventually switched from the swimbait to a Z-Man Finesse TRD worm, AKA, the Ned Rig.  I don't know who Ned is, but he probably stole the presentation from somebody else and just slapped his name on it.  

Searching for some dam fish.

The Ned caught one fish that looked like ... yes ... I thought it was a largemouth?  But it also wriggled free just as I was about to grab it.  No surgery.  No stabbings.

Headed back to the car and drove down to Dam 5.  I used the roads -- the Subaru Crosstrek isn't an amphibious vehicle.  Stopped and helped a box turtle complete it's journey across the road.

The river at Dam 5 was really shallow.  We had heavy rains for brief periods the past few days, and I was expecting high water, but the level seemed like ideal summer flow.  Other than right at the overflowing waters at the face of the dam (which is hard to get to), it was ankle deep for a long stretch.  I finally found a nice, small pool just off current.  

Let's try that Heddon Zara Puppy again.

First cast, a smallmouth ICMB'ed out of the water.  I try to refrain from my excitement of a topwater strike and pause before setting the hook until I don't see the lure anymore.  The fish jumped again, and I wasn't sure if the lure was still floating, so I set the hook, and the fish was on!  It jumped a couple times, and it looked like it was barely keeper size (12 inches ... but I've never kept a smallmouth anyway).  Got it to shore, pulled it out of the water, and it also wriggled free before I could grab it.

No surgery.  No stabbings.

The next cast, another fish went after the Zara Puppy but didn't get hooked.

Reaction Innovations swimbait and Heddon
Zara Puppy with the 1960s Garcia Mitchell reels.

Eventually I caught one more fish on the Little Dipper.  It was really funny, just as I was pulling the swimbait out of the water, this fish zipped in from out of nowhere and grabbed the rubbery bait.  Basically exactly the length of my rod to my left where the water met the shore.  I pulled the rod up, and the fish was on, but I wasn't sure if it was actually hooked or it was like a terrier not wanting to release a squeaker toy.  The fish wriggled free and splashed down into the water.  An easy release with no surgery or stabbings.

I thought today was supposed to be nicer but it was 95 degrees at this point, so I called it quits.  Hopefully there will be another entry on Monday because Karen and I are going camping Sunday night.

A Wee smallmouth

Rebel Wee R that was slightly smaller than the
smallmouth bass it hooked today.

You would think that getting two hits within the first five minutes would lead to a stellar day of fishing.

But it wasn't.

Fished the Potomac River at the mouth of the Monocacy River, a spot that I had not fished for a few years but have had pretty good success in the past.  I started off with a River2Sea Whopper Plopper on one rod and a Rapala Shadow Rap on the other rod.  Water was fairly low but stained enough that I had to watch my footing as I waded out into the current.

On my second cast with the Whopper Plopper, a fish hit the lure as it churned across the surface.  Nothing like a topwater bite to start things off!  No more luck after a few more casts, so I switched to the Rapala jerkbait.  I think it was the third cast that a fish clamped on but did a self release after a few cranks on the spinning reel.

This was going to be good!

Remnants of wood deposited on shore after the
river had overmatched its banks.  Almost scary to 
think of the height of the water to create this logjam.

Nothing at all for the next two hours.  Moved down river and hit a few protruding logs and timber.  No bites.  Moved back upriver and cast a Rebel Wee R a few times.  You might remember this lure as it (not the exact one -- it got donated to the Potomac River a couple months later) caught the eye of the biggest smallmouth I've landed on the Little Patuxent River ... geez, four years ago.  This one is a crawfish pattern that was scored off eBay because the little crankbait is no longer in production.

It's a shallow-running squarebill crankbait, but easily goes down three-plus feet.  I could feel it ticking off the river floor.

I was about ready to call it quits when a fish slammed the lure.  But as I started reeling, it seemed like the fish had gotten off?  Kept reeling because smallmouth sometimes are tricky like that.  The fish had stayed on but it was a tiny smallmouth bass.  Like so small that if I had another the same size and put them together it wouldn't even equal a legal-sized 12-inch fish.

Kind of disappointing considering the start of the day but one fish is better than zero fish.