I have spent a lot of time talking up this river and how much fun it is to fish there and the incredibly large biomass that inhabits the water.  I guess it was time for what we call a “dues paying day”.  We normally do very well because of the time we put in there and can salvage most any day.  Spent the entire day out there Friday and had the water mainly to ourselves but struggled mightily.  I managed 5 from the back deck with the 2 pictured the best.  What worked….Ned rig with an Yamamoto Cali Roll or a 3 inch Senko.  Second place….5 inch Senko.  Also thrown but zero caught…..crankbait, spinnerbait, fluke, chatterbait, dropshot, and a few I am probably forgetting.  My partner who is as good of a stick as me caught 1 after 8 hours.  It was a grind.  There were also some real good tournament fishermen practicing that we know and they were all having a tough time.  It’s like I always say, “If it was easy it wouldn’t be fun”. 

Nice! What's the snakehead population like in the Rap?

Good job for a slow day.?

20 hours ago, Darren. said:

Nice! What's the snakehead population like in the Rap?

It’s a huge population.  They are pretty common and they are getting big.  Another species are the Blue Cats.  They are also pretty thick although we didn’t catch any that day.  
 

19 hours ago, GaryH said:

Good job for a slow day.?

Make no mistake the 5 bass I caught minus the one pictured, wouldn’t weigh in a tournament? We went to the Potomac on the next day and it was even tougher.  

On 10/16/2021 at 11:32 AM, TOXIC said:

It’s a huge population.  They are pretty common and they are getting big.  Another species are the Blue Cats.  They are also pretty thick although we didn’t catch any that day.  

 

Been curious to see if they'll eventually make it down my way,

the Yorktown area. I understand they're mostly northern waters,

tho are known in the James and York rivers. Guess they'll stay

clear from the saltier flows.(?)

From what I have read they are pretty resilient to salt as well.  They have been caught in some very salty rivers and even some from the lower bay.  ?. Their one redeeming factor is that they don’t seem to be affecting the local species and they are delicious to eat no matter the size.  

10 years ago people were freaking out about them.  I'd love to catch some.

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

10 years ago people were freaking out about them.  I'd love to catch some.

“Sky is falling” is the standard reaction to 100% of exotic species 

As a little break from the black bass, brown bass and every other river species, we are going to go out on a creek off the Potomac Sunday and get a handle where the crappie are staged.  I won’t be keeping any until after the first hard frost but it’s good to keep tabs on where they are positioning.