MDbassinmike

There are smallmouth in Northern Georgia in Lake Blue Ridge. That is as far south as I have heard of them.

Just wondering, do you wade that far or do you have a kayak or a canoe? If you do float it, how long does it take to fish and float this section of the river?

Yeah...I think it was the toothy variety too. The hook just pulled out. I brought it back in and checked the sharpness and everything seemed to be good. Just didn't get a good hookset I guess. I'm going to try tomorrow in the rain. It is suppose to be close to 60 degreess, so maybe the fish will be feeding??

Is anyone still fishing? I went on Tuesday and Thursday last week. I was fishing with a Zoom 4" Green Pumpkin on a shakeyhead. On Thursday I got skunked, but on Tuesday I caught one chunk of a LMB (about 2lbs) and then, two or three casts later, something huge picked up my bait and started swimming off with it. As soon as I set the hook my drag started singing and my rod almost bent double. Unfortunately, I never saw the fish. It pulled off and just kept on going > Does anyone know what the water temp is right now?

I think it is called Blue Plains and is part of the tidal Potomac? Since you are new to the area the Potomac is broken into two parts gemerally. The Lower which is Tidal and mostly LM and the Upper which is non-tidal and mostly SM. The dividing line is great falls as far as I know? The Dam numbers start at 1 and go west up to #6 or something like that. I only fish around Dams #4 and 5 and maybe 3 so I do not know about 1 or2. Allen Thanks Allen...I should be able to make some progress with all this information. I just don't want to tear up my lower unit, so I need to know where the river starts to get too shallow for a prop. One question I have is...If I fish in the tidal portion of the river do I need a different license? I thought that I read somewhere that if you fish in DC area that you need a DC license.

Basser89 Supposedly there is a warm water discharge somewhere near the airport on the Potomac. I have only been in Maryland for two years and have only had a boat for a few months, so I am very interested in learning the Potomac. I have no idea where it is safe to put my boat in and where it isn't. I read about different areas, but all the lingo is typically in local language (like "I fished Dam 1" or "I fished around so and so island."). Not being from around here and not knowing the river, I have no idea where some of these areas are and how to get there. I would need Road Numbers and directions, not locations on the river. That is why I would be interested in going with (or taking) someone who knows more about the river than I do. Thanks for the information you gave me though.

Would this same technique work with a Little George?

I live in West Friendship and spend a lot of time on Triadelphia. I bought a BassTracker TX17 this summer and have enjoyed learning the lake from a new vantage point. I would love to hook up with someone to learn the Potomac (especially warm water discharge areas). My favorite baits right now are jig/pig and shakeyhead, and if it ain't green...I ain't throwing it.

Went to Triadelphia today twice (early this morning and this evening) only caught one 12" smallie this morning and zipped this evening. I talked with several fishermen who zipped. I have never had so much trouble catching fish. I fished carolina rig 4" finesse worm, Green Pumpkin, most of the time. I also tried crank bait and top water. By the way, they are also dropping the lake level alot. It's probably about 4 or 5 feet low.

went to Piney Run on Thursday this week and only caught one fish early on a zara puppy. Couldn't get anything else and left at noon.

I just bought a 17' Tracker with a 50hp motor. Is it safe to launch it in the Lander area without tearing up my prop??

This may sound strange, but you can catch gar on just a piece of nylon rope. Cut the rope to about 6-8 inches long then fray about 1/2 of it. Then tie it to your line and cast it out. Once it is wet you can retrieve it like a rapala (jerk-jerk-pause). The gar will try to eat it and its teeth will get tangled in the frayed rope and it will not be able to get out. This really works well when the gar are floating around near the surface.

Brian...Thanks dude! That is a great resource.

Hey Guys....thanks for the info, but I have been to both Liberty (bought the permit last year) and Centennial, but still would like to do some river fishing for smallies. I can't believe that there is no one out there who will share the put-in and take-out spots??? Oh well, I guess I will have to go exploring.

I have been fishing the bank and having some great success this year, but I would like to use my canoe to catch some as well. The local reservoirs here require a permit to fish them (Tridelphia, Liberty, Rocky Gorge). I would like to use my canoe on maybe the Potomac or Monocacy to catch some smallies, but I am relatively new to the area and don't really know of the good put-in and take-out locations. I live in West Friendship (pretty much centrally located in the state). Can anyone help? Or better yet, would anyone like to join me?

Hey Daniel...nice fish! I have family that lives in Cape and Scott City. Have you ever fished a place called Duck Creek??? I love that place and full of nice bass. I have also fished Wappapello (sp?). Nice fish again.

According to all the maps I've looked at in my lifetime Virginia is no where near Erie???? You may want to check another map if yours says that Erie is in Virginia.

I was at a local reservoir fishing for bass with a shakeyhead and saw my line moving off to the left so I set the hook. When I did I could feel this huge weight on the end of the line and it was coming to the top. I could also feel a fish surging. I had no idea what I had. Suddenly a limb came to the surface and I could see my worm stuck on the thing, but I could still feel a fish surging. So I struggle to reel this thing all the way in and as I was trying to pick up this limb there was a huge splash. I finally go a hold of the limb and started pulling it in by hand. And then I saw what was going on. Someone had put a huge carp on a stringer and it must have gotten away. The stringer got tangled around this limb and I just so happened to catch this limb??? Anyway, I got the carp off of the stringer and released it. That was one lucky dude!

Be observant of every fish you catch, every fish you don't catch, every movement in the water, wind direction, time of year, time of day, water color, water temperature, size and color of dominent prey, how does your lure look to the fish. All of these things should tell you something. I have learned more on the water than I have in books and magazines. If you watch and listen, you will learn. BE OBSERVANT!

Not necessarily. Actually the male spends more time at the bed than the female. She lays and leaves the male to guard the bed and the male even stays with the fry for a short time guarding them. However, the one in this picture looks like a spawned-out female. Nice job with the swimbait.

It's hard to beat the Zoom green pumpkin finesse worm on a sliderhead. I have caught some big fish even on this small bait. If you haven't tried it, do it next time you go out.

I know I already congratulated you in person, but it is still pretty awesome! I can't wait to get back out on the lake with you! When we going????

Shakeyhead, Shakeyhead, Shakeyhead and Shakeyhead. I know this sounds too limited, but I have caught so many fish on this method with Greenpumpkin Zoom finesse worms w/tail dipped in Chartruese Spike-it that I can't bring myself to throw anything else. This pattern will work all year long and in any conditions! I have caught fish with this method deep, on beds, on shallow structure, on rocks, on flats, and on points. It also works in any weather condition (i.e. Coldfront, Dog days of summer, Winter), it just doesn't matter. If I only had one bait to throw...this would be it!

I was on the North side of the lake off of Deer Park Rd. and I was fishing from shore. Sure would love to hook up with someone with a boat though, so I could fish other parts of the lake. I have a canoe but Liberty is a huge body of water for a canoe. I plan on going today (5/2) I'll let you know how I do.

Will you be coming all the way from NY to fish at Liberty??? That's some haul!