bass_slayer_1

My buddy and I went to Burke on Saturday afternoon. We got skunk'd bad. We saw a few people with nice stringers of catfish, but no bass to be found. We pounded the shoreline with spinnerbaits and soft plastics, but nothing. Looks like the bass have moved to deeper water. Found several marks on the fishfinder in the middle of the lake between the dam and the park ramp. Suspended at about 10 feet in 30+ feet of water, Not sure what they were, but couldn't get them to bite on crankbaits and swimbaits. Burke is tough place to fish!!

Just FYI, but I've been told that this section of the Potomac River is all catch-and-release for smallies. I got this info from a different thread in this forum.

I saw a lot of boats being rented and launched out at Fletcher's a week ago, presumably for the white perch fishing, when I took my daughter there for the AFFTA youth fishing day event that they were hosting out at the C & O canal. What a great event; the excitement on all the kids faces to catch a little sunfish was priceless. Fletchers was a zoo to get in and out of, though. Only a one lane driveway for 2 ways of traffic

I'm all for conservation and the environment. I pick up trash where ever I find it and have a "live and let live" attitude. I'm at peace with Mother Nature and all her glory. It's just that I consider LMB a very fine delicacy. Kind of like truffles. People would scour under every log in the forest to find truffles. It is then carefully harvested and prized for its flavor. That's how I consider LMB. It kind of brings me back to my childhood...when i used to catch a couple of bass to take home for my mom to cook up in a kick-*** recipe. But, I digress... I consider poaching one of the greatest evils. I'm licensed up and strictly follow creel limits. If I can get out to fish more often, I would much rather catch white perch for a meal. But, with time constraints, I fish only when free time presents itself. So, I like to take a few home to put a nice meal on the table. Also, I've landed only 1 bass in an embarrassing number of attempts :'( So I'm far from being a true "Bass Slayer". I just liken myself to one for my bravado. 8-)

I would love to be able to catch a mess of bluegill or crappie for a fish fry. I haven't targeted panfish since I was a kid, though. I figured now that I'm an "adult" with a decked out kayak and medium-heavy action rods that I'll dedicate myself to hunt the best gamefish in freshwater, the LMB. : Maybe I'll bring along a lightweight outfit the next time I go out to see if I can't find a submerged brush pile somewhere with a big school of crappie swimming around it. That would be fun.

Went out to Beaverdam on Saturday. Right after getting out on the water, we heard so much commotion going on that I just assumed it was ducks splashing about. But, the closer we got to the grassy shoreline, we saw literally hundreds of carp splashing around mating/spawning/spooning/cuddling/etc. Never saw anything like it. All that ruckus they were making probably scared all the bass away from the shoreline. A real slow day, but I did finally christened my kayak with fish slime as I hauled in a nice 2 1/2 pounder on a spinnerbait. Otherwise, it was a hot Saturday afternoon with the bass still hard to figure out at the Beav.

Thanks for the info, Brian. Now the dilemma...is the fishing so good that it's worth the effort even though you can't take a bag of fish home for your efforts?? :-/ What about just fishing for the sport of it? And no, it's not that good. Besides, it would be much healthier if you just bought your fish at the store instead of catching it out of the Potomac. I had the same conversation with my buddy who I kayak fish with. He said fishing should be done purely for the sportsman aspects of it. I told him he's full of crap as he still hasn't gotten the skunk off his yak, yet. I said fishing is what takes us back to our primal beginnings...we slay our catch and gain sustenance from it. I know about the PCB pollutants in the Potomac...I was hoping that the cleaner waters farther upstream would have healthier fish in it.

Thanks for the info, Brian. Now the dilemma...is the fishing so good that it's worth the effort even though you can't take a bag of fish home for your efforts?? :-/

Is it really? I've been wanting to check that location of the river out in my kayak. Is the catch and release only during the spring spawn months? How fast is the current in the Algonkian park area?