Inlaws and Smallies!

Made the long drive up to Frederick, MD to visit the inlaws this past weekend.  In return for doing all the driving, my lovely wife granted me two half-days of time alone with my trusty Old Town 119. 

I fished this area last fall and landed one my biggest smallmouth ever (see previous posts), so I was anxious to get out and do a little more exploring.  The river conditions were prime.  No rain in weeks as the rivers were calming down from spring torrents. 

I set out in the evening on my first adventure on the Potomac near Tuscarora, MD.  I paddled my buns off against the current to get up to some promising looking shoals amidst the islands.  Within an hour or so, I landed my first smallie on on a chartruese strike king minibuzz.  I also threw a t-rigged purple Yum grub, which was a very hot lure for me last summer on one of the best smallie rivers in NC.  Landed the bigger one below on that Yum grub.

Keep going upstream, parked on a nice shoal, and threw the buzzer in a slow pool behind the rocks.  On the 3rd cast, I got a big strike by this guy below and landed him on my light action spinning rod.  Good fight with peeling drag.  This would be my best fish of the weekend.  Turns out I hooked him in the back, but he seemed to be no worse for wear.  Well worth the paddling.

I managed to get back to the launch just before sundown and loaded up.

My second outing took me back to the launch of my float last Fall just after daybreak on the Monocacy river, a Potomac tributary.  My plan was to paddle upstream a mile or so and explore.  I started in a nice shoal with rocks and pools.  This area gets plenty of pressure from waders with excellent access and I only managed one small bass here.

I paddled upstream and continued to get strikes on my buzzbait.  Landed a few small ones.  I also caught bass on my t-rigged grub, 4" lizard, and rapala J-9

The most interesting event of the entire weekend was a determined owl that made 6 attempts to swoop down and snatch my buzzbait from the surface.  I've never seen anything like this before.  This guy was hungry and no grown man in a canoe was going to scare him off a potential meal.  If only I had a camera mount!

 I didn't hook anything except smallies, which is a little rare considering I often catch sunfish with my mini buzzbait and rebel cranks.  In fact, the only other species I saw were carp and catfish on the surface.  Overall, the fish weren't huge, but I had a blast catching smallmouth in the Potomac basin and plan to fish it again when I'm back up in the area. 

Virginia Free Fishing Days

Got a tip on one of my forums that no license is required to fish in Virginia the first weekend in June.  I've been wanting to fish a few smallmouth rivers in central/eastern Virigina for a year or so.  So, with the incentive of a free license and a quick call to and old friend (Frank) in Richmond, we had a float trip planned.

I was introduced to smallmouth fishing by sitting in the middle of Frank's canoe on a cooler with my dad and Frank paddling me down the James river.  I've floated the James many times with Frank, but we've never fished anywhere else. 

I convinced him to meet me on a small flow south of Richmond just after daybreak.  When we arrived it was pouring rain as a large thunderstorm was moving through the area.  We were concerned this would be wet trip.

Water was in the mid-70s and running very clear. 

We headed upstream of the put-in to explore a little.  I started by throwing my trusty chartreuse strike king minibuzz in search of smallmouth.  As we made it to a nice pool, I got a strike near the bank on wood.  I tossed the buzzer back into the area and landed the first fish of the day, a largemouth!  I know there are largemouth in this river, but was surprised to find one here.

Shortly after, I landed my first and only smallie of 2011 on the same buzzbait.  Nothing to write home about.

Scenery was great and Frank was having a good time exploring.

As we made our way downstream, the river continued with a pattern of shallow sandy/rocky pools and very shallow shoals.  We weren't getting any strikes on our typical smallmouth lures and the fish seemed extremely spooky, so we went oldschool with some nightcrawlers and bobbers.  We landed a few creek chubs, one of the hardest fighting fish pound for pound, as well as bream and yellow perch.

Frank and I both landed a few nice bream.

It was nice catching up with Frank and we actually had great overcast or partly cloudy weather the entire day. 

Not sure if I'd go back to this river again, but I always welcome a float with Frank. If I do go back to this river, it'll probably be further downstream where we can find a few largemouth along with the occassional smallie. 

Hope my smallmouth fishing improves this year.  Next up, the Potomac basin.