More specifically the potomac! I have a tournament coming up in October and I have never been up there. We are launching out of smallwood state park. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Lure/presentation advice and especially what areas to fish are the most unknown to me.

 

I have read that flipping cover and punching mats are key but I am not so sure in the fall with this cooler weather.

 

 

thanks!

I have never fished the Potomac River. I hear it gets very rough out there. Anyway, I feel like any river system in the fall. I'll hit the backwaters, slough, chutes, use Black and Chartreuse  5 ft squarebill or Shad color squarebill. Works everytime for me. Use the lure on lay downs, or timber or rocks. If nothing works, I'll go with Rattle Traps or Chatterbait but once awhile, I'll use Buzzbaits. 

 

Later of the day, I'll pitch a jig or beaver style bait.

 

Good Luck!

The river has fished pretty tough this year, as it has the past few years.  There's not very many large grass beds you can get in and fish all day and because of that most of the obvious hard cover has been getting pounded.  That said, there are still fish to be caught and good bags are still out there.  Typical tidal fishing...the hour on either side of a tide change are going to be your prime times.  During the mid-tides try to intercept the fish on their logical routes to and from the cover they are moving to/from.  FWIW, I've been more successful this year by thoroughly fishing one large-ish area than I have by running and gunning up and down the river.  

 

All the normal areas are productive, but timing, tide, and fishing pressure are a much bigger factor.  Google 'National Bass Guide Service'...He does great monthly and weekly fishing reports.  There's a lot of sponsor plugging but the info is solid.  

 

In October the grass is usually breaking up but still there.  Flipping plastics will always catch fish.  Don't ever go to the Potomac with out a Mann's baby 1-minus ...Spinnerbait, Chatterbait, and Senko would round out the line up on my deck if I were fishing the river at that time.

 

Nothing here is a secret, the Potomac has none ... I haven't been out on the river since Mid-August and won't be back on it til winter time...SML, Anna, Gaston, etc, are on my docket between now and then....Otherwise I'd give you a better scouting report!

 

 

Edited to add:  I see you say you've never been here.  Mattawoman Creek (where you are launching) is a good creek.  Chickamuxen and the mouth of Pomonkey are other areas close by that have been productive this year.  Check out a map and get a feel for the place, it is a huge body of water.  5 feet is 'deep' on the Potomac (fishing-wise).  Most fish will be caught between 1 and 4 feet deep, a depth irregularity of 1 foot is a big deal and can be a game changer...Few tips for a Potomac rookie .

Great post, thank you for the information. Because this is a college tournament I feel a lot of teams will not be making big runs so I feel the really close options will get crowded though I won't count them out.

On the map I was intrigued by the aquia creek. Any information in that one? It looks like a big creek you could sit in all day and find what you need.

Corn, I was told by many guys that the fishing was really tough in the Potomac.

 

My bass club had a tournament there in August, which I passed on fishing, and the guys did not do well.

 

Winner went into Potomac Creek and caught his keepers on a Senko. I don't know if he went back into Potomac Creek or hit Accokeek Creek. He just said he got his five keepers in Potomac Creek on a Senko.

 

A friend went all the way back into Aquia Creek, past Hope Springs and Willow ramps into the small creek where he won the tournament last year and he said he never got a hit. He fished the same places he did last year, too.

 

If I remember correctly we had only three five-fish limits and six guys skunked. Winning bag was 8 pounds.

 

Potomac is over fished. Virginia and Maryland need to put the river off limits for a few months in the summer to give the bass time to recoup. 

 

And by the way, only one snakehead was caught by the 18 guys fishing the tournament. So where are the snakeheads?  They are fun to catch.

 

I hope the fishing is better up river. So if you want to run to Arkendale Flats or Aquia or Potomac Creeks remember you will be using a lot of time and taking a chance of not catching anything.

 

Tips: 

1.  If the wind is out of the east it can hold up the tidal flow.

2.  If the wind picks up the Potomac River is like the Atlantic Ocean with white caps and it can get hazardous in a snap of your fingers.

3.  As stated above, the tidal flow is the secret. Check the Maryland Salt Water Tides location on the Internet and see the high and low tides. An outgoing tide is best. 

4.  Grass is all over the place. Sometimes you will see a beautiful dock that has not been fished. Why?  Because you can't get to it due to the grass.

 

Good luck and please let us have the details of your adventure.

Great post, thank you for the information. Because this is a college tournament I feel a lot of teams will not be making big runs so I feel the really close options will get crowded though I won't count them out.

On the map I was intrigued by the aquia creek. Any information in that one? It looks like a big creek you could sit in all day and find what you need.

It's about a 15 miles one-way just to mouth of Aquia, 20 miles if you want to go to the back. It's an area that can produce, but it gets just as much pressure as the rest of the river so don't expect to go down there to get away from boats.

If you DID go to Aquia though, the area at the mouth has good grass...People call it the 'Beach' since there's a sandy park area on the shore. Inside the creek there's a lot of fishable water too. Back in the creek, there's docks, feeder creeks, grass, and hard cover...Lots of good looking water.

FWIW, this year I've done the best in Mattawoman and Pohick. Not for lack of trying everywhere else, those just were the best areas for me.

Few more small things to point you in the right direction. Hitting duck blinds, laydowns, and/or old barge hulks on high tide is a high percentage pattern. Outside grass edges at low tide . 1-minus or spinnerbait over grass at higher water and parallel to edges at lower water. Don't be afraid of using a spinning rod, if it gets tough get out a senko or trickworm...Don't force the power-stuff if it aint working!

A word of caution...If you've got a calm day, running around the river is no problem...But if that wind kicks up it can get nightmare-ish really quick, just keep that in mind.

Thanks again guys. Okay if the whole river has high pressure then it actually might be better to stick closer to the ramp and just try to get on a good pattern. When you say the wind can make the river nightmarish, as a lake erie fisherman I wonder if it would be much of a difference.

Different kind of rough water than Erie. I've been on Erie in rough water in my boat too so I do have both experiences to compare .

As a general rule, the waves don't get quite as big...but they are much closer together which makes getting through them a challenge. When the wind blows against the tide or over shoals, it makes things a little more interesting too. The conditions change rapidly depending on where you are or are going. Could be a manageable chop for 10 miles and all of sudden you could hit a stretch where the waves double or even triple in size. It does take much more wind to build it up though...10mph winds in the right direction on Erie can make things interesting, it usually takes 15-20mph to get the river going.

It's not some impossible feat, you can get through just fine if you know what you're doing...Just make sure you plan for it and be smart. The Potomac can be just as dangerous as the great lakes if you let it surprise you! I wouldn't worry too much, on the off chance that the main river is crazy, Mattawoman will still be perfectly fine to run around in.

Tournament did not go well for many of us. It was a real struggle unless you had intimate knowledge of the river. Only had one day of practice and wish we had 1 more. Ended up with only one fish for 2.75lbs.

 

A lot of teams blanked or caught only 1 or 2, not a lot of limits, but the top 5 did really well. It took only 7.5lbs to make the top 15 cut, 16lbs took first on the first day.

Different kind of rough water than Erie. I've been on Erie in rough water in my boat too so I do have both experiences to compare .

As a general rule, the waves don't get quite as big...but they are much closer together which makes getting through them a challenge. When the wind blows against the tide or over shoals, it makes things a little more interesting too. The conditions change rapidly depending on where you are or are going. Could be a manageable chop for 10 miles and all of sudden you could hit a stretch where the waves double or even triple in size. It does take much more wind to build it up though...10mph winds in the right direction on Erie can make things interesting, it usually takes 15-20mph to get the river going.

It's not some impossible feat, you can get through just fine if you know what you're doing...Just make sure you plan for it and be smart. The Potomac can be just as dangerous as the great lakes if you let it surprise you! I wouldn't worry too much, on the off chance that the main river is crazy, Mattawoman will still be perfectly fine to run around in.

It actually was very windy on tournament day. Main river had anywhere from 1.5 footers up to solid 3+ footers in some sections. Ran about 20 miles in it but made great time and didn't beat the boat up too much.

 

Was interesting though like you said, at certain points there was 1.5 chop coming at you then 2.5 footers rolling left to right at the same time.