Fried Lemons

Nice report sounds like a good time. Those catfish are everywhere on the Potomac, I cannot seem to avoid them no matter what I throw. I went to Little Seneca for a short session. Air temps were pleasant for June at around 70 with overcast skies and a light drizzle. I started off Clarksburg Road and fished the surrounding coves. Shore access was kind of sketchy with thorns, poison ivy and tall grass to contend with. I noticed the occasional fish breaking around a cove. Figuring there would be a topwater bite I tied on a wake bait and slowly dragged it across. This fish hit just as the bait was nearing some wood. Shortly after I had another hit by a beaver dam but didn't connect. The rain was coming down pretty fast at this point and I was getting soaked so I called it a day.

Glide Jack 180. Fished like a glide bait or waked on top. Haven't caught anything big on it but I catch numbers like a crankbait.

I used to wear a backpack with two planos and at least two rods. Over time I realized I don't use 90% of what I pack and putting down/picking up extra rods really slows me down. Now I wear a small sling that holds a few bags of plastics and hooks or a few swimbaits and some accessories and never bring more than one rod. If I'm wading I will bring a single bag of plastics in my pocket so I can dunk myself without worry.

First fish I ever caught on the megadog.

I fished the refilled section of canal above lock 22 over the weekend. It was less than ideal as there were people paddling up and down the stretch but I managed to stick a 3lb largemouth on a frog in the flooded grass. The main difficulty aside from water traffic was the amount of flooded grass made it difficult to locate the fish which have spread out. Later I hit widewater in the evening. Caught 3 skinny fish on a glide jack off shallow rock piles. Fished a point and had a bigger one blow up on me three times without hooking up.

Thanks everyone. Will definitely try the dowel thing next time. Took the reel home and dug through it and turns out there was a small loop which must have cut through the line as I was pulling. Lesson learned.

Just when I thought I had baitcasters figured out this happens. Hung up a lure with heavy braid to a tree and have to choice but to pull and break the line. I hear the loud snap of the line breaking but can’t find the tag. It’s buried somewhere in the spool which is tightly wound up from pulling on the snag. Any ideas?

I often throw big baits as I find it more enjoyable than fishing with conventional sized lures. I have little to no interest in the smaller bass I see cruising around and I willingly give up bites to improve my odds of catching the big bass. If I get tired of being skunked there are plenty of of other species in my area I find more fun to catch than small to average bass.

In addition to what has already been mentioned, Evergreens are an outstanding but expensive JDM option. While not as flashy as Megabass, build quality and performance are among the best in the industry. There are also higher tier versions of USDM rods like the Shimano Poison Glorious/Ultima series rods and the Daiwa Steez Racing Designs. There are many other high end JDM options that will open your eyes to a different level of quality, but be warned that is a deep rabbit hole.

S waver 168s. Probably the best bang for your buck for hard baits. Soft baits you have more options like 3:16, keitechs, basstrix.

Tie between keitech noise flapper and stanley ribbit here. Flapper is bigger and seems to run upright better than the ribbit but is not as noisy. I prefer to rig them on the Stanley double take hooks. Skips and casts amazingly well on a heavy rod. Ribbit tends to tear and slide down the hook after a single catch but I put up with it because it gets bit. It’s my go to sight fishing lure. Snakeheads love these things. Definitely get mend it though. I have not found color to matter. I’ve caught equally well on natural bullfrog, black, white and pink.

For those frequenting the canal they seem to have completed maintenance and the water is up again. This should revitalize the sections above widewater. Lots of flooded cover looks very fishy. Anyone want to meet and hit these spots let me know.

In my view line choice has more to do with hook penetration and lure weights than the fight of the fish. Braid in the 30lb+ sizes often used bass fishing is strong enough for hard running saltwater species. On a fight basis I don't think any bass warrants more than 6lb test but all of my reels have heavier line.

Fished the tidal potomac on a high tide. With the recent rains the limbs of many overhanging trees were underwater. This combined with thick mats of floating debris made for difficult fishing. Once the water began to ebb I was able to skip baits into the trees. Stealthy approach and soft entry were important.

I fish a 1000 size shimano with a shallow spool and 26 ipt. I use ultra thin 2lb fluoro so I would have a hard time filling a regular spool with the stuff. If your cast distance is suffering with spinning gear chances are your reel is not the problem. I recommend switching to mono in 2-4lb test. Braid does not cast as well as mono in equivalent diameters. Never tried Nanofil so can't comment on that. Rod is also important. Most ultralight rods have a noodly action. Try and find one with a fast responsive tip and I think you'll appreciate the difference.

Drive along river road and you will find many access points. Google maps is your friend. There is a lot of information on the Potomac on this site alone, just do a search. Pockets of slack water are generally prime spots. Currently as others mentioned the river is running high which is not the best for bass fishing but is optimal for blues and flatheads if those interest you.

Consider the type of fishing you are doing eg what type of cover, what kind of lures you are throwing. Heavy cover calls for heavy braid to quickly overpower your fish and drag it out. Open water with light to moderate cover go for something with low diameter to maximize your distance. Texture can also be a factor here. I like something rough like FX2 or maxcuatro for cover fishing to saw through weeds. For open water smooth line like j braid casts better.

That spot has some big bass but they are very pressured. I don't know anything about flies but I recommend upsizing your presentation to represent a bigger meal. Fish them slowly as the big fish are lazy and do not want to chase. Here's one I caught a few weeks ago on a hudd 68.

Good for slow rolling baits on the bottom like spinnerbaits and big soft swimbaits. It's much easier than cranking a high speed reel for one turn every 5-10 seconds.

Daiwa Ryoga 1520H. Thing is just so smooth and refined it makes my other reels feel sloppy. The only one that comes close is the conquest.

Caught it sight casting with a weightless keitech. They get extremely wary at times and it was the only thing they would hit. Harvested for dinner.

Caught my PB snakehead at 8.2lbs exploring the potomac.

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I carry 1/32 and 1/16oz unpainted ballhead jigs, mainly because they're cheaper than painted and catch just as well. It is good to have options for trailers. The traditional 2" grub will catch sunfish when they are aggressive but I have found that at times they will ignore it for a smaller offering. It is worth carrying 1-1.5" plastics as well as marabou jigs for those times. I believe it is the smaller profile combined with the slow sink rate which makes these baits effective. To cast these tiny lures you want a true ultralight rod and 2-4lb test. I recommend 2lb test because it casts and handles significantly better than 4. Usually I don't use bobbers when fishing with artificials. The key is to retrieve them as slowly as possible, letting them fall naturally through the water column. I start off reeling as slowly as possible until I feel the jig tick the bottom. Then I will speed up the retrieve just enough to avoid contacting bottom. From my experience I have also found that bluegills and crappie seem to prefer a steady retrieve without any added action from the rod. As others have mentioned you will catch pretty much every species present in your body of water doing this. Make sure your drag is set light and is running smoothly.

I reel in just enough slack to feel for the bait. If it's a fish generally you won't feel the weight of the bait and it will feel 'mushy' on the end. If it isn't you will feel the bait contacting the structure.