Warning: Long Post. TL;DR: Work has kept me off the water, and BOAT = break out another thousand, it's true. One good fishing day makes it all worth it.

 

This spring has been awful for fishing for me, mostly due to work. I missed the shad run, even through it started in March and went through May. I usually get out to Fletcher's and Occoquan at least once, but I couldn't make it happen. I also missed the crappie spawn, which I regret the most because that type of fishing makes my 84 year old dad the happiest. I got out to Little Seneca Lake for a quick Sunday trip a month ago and did well there with a mix of spawning/post spawn bass. Then I tried to get out there again for some top water action and my Ultrex brushes burned out because I switched to lithium, and didn't know Minnkota advises to not run at speed 10 for extended periods of time because of the high amperage and their brushed models weren't designed to dissipate the heat quick enough. So I upgraded to the Ultrex Quest to take care of that, but had to find the time to install it. I finally go out on a real fishing trip this week and went to my tried and true spot, Mattawoman. I got there at sunrise and it was nice and foggy. I thought the pads would be where it was at and went way up the creek to look for clear water in the pads. I got there and got a nice 2lber in the first few casts and thought I was going to crush it in the pads, but I only managed one small dink the next 5 hours. The water was ultraclear, but there was just no baitfish in there. It was about 11AM and midway through the outgoing tide and decided to go back home. It was getting hot, and the clouds were gone, it was blue bird skies. On my way back I noticed some baitfish getting pushed up a small creek with a strong outflow, so I went to check it out. Bait was getting pushed all over the spotty hydrilla. The one lure I didn't throw all day was a popper, and I always love throwing one, so against conventional wisdom, I threw a silver Rico in blue bird skies. And that's what they wanted, I was catching LMB on every other cast, sometimes just deadsticking it and letting it drift. I lost several fish because they would hit it as soon as it hit the water and I couldn't reel up the slack quick enough. It slowed down to about 1 fish every 10 casts around 12:45P and I decided to leave to beat traffic on VA's 495 side. On my way out I could see wolfpacks of 2-3lbers cruising the edge of channel, and saw some snakeheads circling in and out of the hydrilla, chasing baitfish. I've never seen so many good sized LMB just cruising like that.

 

Quick hike and stog at Swain's last night. The lock is open and water is coming through real good. Some parts actually have some current. The wider area past the pump house is really mucky though, not duck weed or milfoil, the nasty algae snot clumps. Bring a frog, or weightless trick worm if you wanna fish it.

Frog leg sticking out of this 3lber's gullet.

Wow! It's been a day or 3 since I've been on here. I'm surprised to see this thread still on the first page! Haven't been out much the past few years but working on correcting that. Just wanted to stop in and see who might still be here from when I was a lot more active. LOL! Tight Lines!

Tridelphia on Sunday, 6am - 12 noon trying to beat the heat. Was actually comfortable with light cloud cover till around 10:30/11:00. Surprised by all the surface fish activity but no takers on my top water selections. Started the day with an unexpected catch, 13inch crappie on a deep diver. Caught a couple 15-16 bass on some jigs and missed a few as well. The highlight of the trip was a 18 inch bass on a zoom lizard, my new PB on this lake. 

On 6/27/2024 at 6:19 PM, basser89 said:

Wow! It's been a day or 3 since I've been on here. I'm surprised to see this thread still on the first page! Haven't been out much the past few years but working on correcting that. Just wanted to stop in and see who might still be here from when I was a lot more active. LOL! Tight Lines!

Same here, only for me it's been a few years. I've had some success on smallies on the Juniata and Susky this year, and the Upper Potomac. Since post spawn, I've mostly been fly fishing using Tenkara rods for anything that bites. I've done very well on all types of panfish, some trout, shad, and lots of punk sized bass. My biggest Tenkara smallie so far is 18" and my biggest LMB on Tenkara is 17". The smallie was on my larger rod which can handle big fish, the largemouth was on my UL Tenkara rod which was quite a fight. Anyway, good to be back. I'll post some reports and fish pics soon.

Hit Little Seneca Lake yesterday for a couple hours, I've never fished this lake in November, or anytime in the fall for that matter. After the spring/early summer bite, this place is feast or famine for me and I usually hit other bodies of water, but since it gets dark by 5PM it's really my only option since it's 20 minutes away with the amount of time I had. My plan was to do some cranking and to move around to find fish, I went to the first big creek on the right and hit the left split and got a nice 3lber on a 5' crankbait. Then the wind seemed to die down and some clouds rolled in with a slight drizzle, so I headed to the big point near the bridge. I was surprised to see top water action, so I tried a small spook, and I had one swipe at it. I threw a small paddletail and got a couple dinks to bite, but I wanted to upsize and then threw a 7" keitech fat impact swing on a big underspin. I got thumped twice, but couldn't get a hookup. As the wind picked up again I threw a jerkbait, and that was what they wanted. I got one other nice LMB, and several small ones in about 10 casts. Then the winds picked up more, and the bite shut down by 4PM.

 

Before you slip too far into the winter doldrums - Start planning for the 2025 season!  Fish On Bass Anglers is the largest bass club in the region and IMO the best local tournament trail option you will find. 

 

There will be a meeting in early January, on Zoom, but many of us usually meetup at the Germantown Mission BBQ and reserve their private room to hang out while we put the meeting up on the big TV.

 

Our tournaments are competitive enough for people to take it seriously, but laid back and fun enough for those that just want to fish....Really a perfect mix for local tournament fishing, a good place for experienced tournament anglers AND people new to tournament fishing (or even bass fishing in general).  No commitments or expectations, fish when and where you want.  Costs are pretty low and its a non-profit club with 100% tournament payouts.  No affiliation with BASS or MLF so you don't need to maintain a membership with either.  

 

We had several long-time co-anglers buy boats in the past couple seasons so the co-angler field is wide open and it's unlikely that that we'll have any co-angler waitlists this season.  You can post here or message me for information and check out our website -> www.fishonbassanglers.com 

 

Well the kickoff to the season at Black Hill was good for me this past weekend, though pretty tough overall.  I took the win with 19-14 😎.  Big fish was 5-15, it kept teetering on 6-0 but never held on it...so close!

 

Just got back into fishing after a few years off—been busy watching my boy grow from a toddler into a 5-year-old. Lately, I’ve been hitting Lake Artemesia in College Park, averaging around 3 to 6 bass per trip. Feels good to be back, even if nothing over 1.5 lbs yet. I know the big ones are still in there—I used to catch them back in the day. Just need to find the right time to kidnap the mama.

 

Also hit up Waterworks Park in Annapolis three times, but only managed to catch one so far that seems to be lucky cuz i threw it at the wood branch that was in the water. Tough spot—no grass, no structure, just kind of bare. Feels like fishing on the moon.

 

Thinking about trying out Cash Lake in Bowie this weekend to mix it up a bit and see what’s biting.