mudkart

Ummmm....bass are biting on the rez. ??? No need to target crappie if you don't want to. And, with your rig, I would be on the P'mac. Very limited on the rez if you are electric only (and do not have a craft designed for that). Finally, I (and many others) launch and retrieve by our lonesome selves, no biggie, would not let that stop me from fishing.

Potomac above WW bridge was 1-1.5' of visibility last Saturday.

Like the contents of a YooHoo bottle..

Opposite the point, in front of the short bay/elbow I think you are speaking of, is a nice depth change that holds loads of fish (not just bass) in the spring - like Jon said. I always check it then. If it graphs nice, I fish it.

My take, on the rez, find a laydown in, or close to, "deep" water = shaky head (or, whatever you like to pitch at wood targets, e.g. a brush hog). I don't care what bait you use on a shaky head, as long as it is some type of straight tail or ribbed worm. Be sneaky. Make long casts. If you spook the fish - no bites. Fish will locate not only close to the trunk of a laydown, but in front of it, i.e. the small branches at the "top" of the tree that are submerged and you cannot see. If you pitch to the trunk first, you spook any fish that might be under the branches. If I have to generalize, "branches" in, e.g., 15 fow with a trunk leading to shore should always be targeted. Points that lead into deep water are another great place to throw a shaky. A shaky presentation will work much deeper than you might think (same for a split shot). At times, none of these presentations work, that is the nature of the rez. My take is then to use your sonar and try to find bass busting schools of shad (another topic, but Wayne lays most of it all out here http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/161576-finding-active-fish-with-electronics/).

d**n Jon, I've never had a multi-six year. Great job. Please say this was during a Tx? Shaky head is almost a year-round bait for me out there. Andrew caught one a few weeks ago using that technique.

Here is a Northern. notice the different markings, etc.

Nice Jon. Did you catch the 6? You guys are having a good year, right? IIRC, you won once, at least? Re swimming....I have a difficult time condemning kids for doing something I, 100%, would have been doing myself @ that age. Those rope swings would have been irresistible.

Caught a bunch of these today. Best six were probably ~ 9 #'s. Like Jon sez: finding the larger fish is the hard part. Almost all fish were caught at or near a "named" spot on the GMCO map. And no, it was not Ryan's. Bass were chasing shad, most hits were in 10-14 fow at a depth of 25-35 feet. That's a swim jig but I was not "swimming" it. Think ice fishing and spoons. I'll try and post a sonar pic of the fish and that might illustrate what I'm talking about. Lots of people out (many tx rigs), almost everyone was catching. Must be a tx this Sunday? One guy was close enough I could see a HDS Gen 3 on his bow. Mmmmm......$$$$$$.

Nice Jon. Didn't you guys win one this year already? And - I'm taking Shimmy's place here - this thread wins the award for the most alleged 5 pounders caught without a pic.

Not one but TWO yak vehicles taking up the ramp yesterday @ fountainhead as I'm waiting to load up. One vehicle moved, I trailered my boat (by my lonesome self) and got out of there before the the other yak vehicle, who was on the ramp as I came in and beached. So, in the time it takes me to beach my craft, walk up to the far parking lot and get my vehicle, wait for one yakker to move, trailer my boat and drive away, this yahooer is still on the ramp tossing off. Jeebus. I take my revenge by using the rubber mat rather than the concrete ramp.

Hole #1 on the GMCO map has been good to me lately. And the spots in Hooes are just around the corner...

For unpainted hulls, the only thing I found to work was to use a good orbital buffer (I had a Makita) with an aluminum polish (I used Mother's). Trying to do this by hand on an area any larger than 5" X 5" is a waste of time, IMO. The oxidation you remove will be colored black/dark grey and this in turn must be removed from the hull before applying Sharkhide otherwise you are, again, wasting your time. The Sharkhide solvents will dissolve and seal this black stuff onto your hull. Sharkhide recommends lacquer thinner (I think); use whatever is listed on their site, it worked for me. Wear latex gloves. It took me several cycles of polishing/removing oxidation to achieve what I considered a finish worth applying Sharkhide to. It was a lot of work and I do not think I will ever do it again. I probably will not if the Sharkhide works as advertised.

No melting! The theory is that expansion/contraction (due to heating/cooling) of the components breaks (or weakens) whatever bond might be holding them together. Go slow and be patient.

I had a similiar problem. Tried the oils, pipe wrench, hammers, etc. What finally worked was to heat the pedestal @ the base w/ a propane torch, let it cool a bit, then back to the wrench. You can do it w/o burning the carpet.

http://www.thetacklehut.com/products.detail.asp?ID=201

I went through this w/ my boat. I was surprised at the difference in weight of 1/2" un-treated plywood versus the same volume of 1/8" aluminum sheet. I stuck the plywood deck on a scale and did the math for the aluminum using a density value for the alloy. I don't remember the exact numbers, but the difference was not as much as you would think and was not worth the price and aggravation (finding aluminum sheet locally) to me. YMMV.

The last two years I've seen a significant decline in snakehead catches, and I'm not the only one. IMO, it's due to bow fishing. Looking only at the bow-fishing Tx results, winning boats bring in ~ 30 fish.

I've had the Rez rowing community yell at me to slow down. However, slowing down = more hull in the water = larger wake, unless the boat is at or near idle speed. Presuming that it is the wake they have a problem with, I don't understand. OTOH, they have no problem throwing a significant wake (not the crews, the follow/coach boats) in my direction as they putt-putt along behind the crews. Another thing; as "unpowered" craft, the crew boats have right-of-way according to VA maritime rules. It's a gray area how this would apply if you are not under power as well (e.g. stopped and fishing a spot), but if you are under power, my understanding is you must yield under all circumstances.

Cold and muddy right now (daylight hours give a better view on webcams): https://timsrivershore.com/potomac-river-webcam/

Hydrilla and milfoil, if you are talking about "punching" matted vegetation. If you consider 1oz+ weights expensive, you may want to hold off as last year grass was not very prevalent on the Potty (at least relative to years past). So far this year, I would say water conditions (muddy) favor that situation again, but you can never tell. "Pitching" per se is a much broader topic and does not necessarily involve vegetation and mega-weights. Start throwing chatterbaits, traps and small swimbaits this spring and go from there. If/when you find grass beds, fish the inside and outside "weedlines" with the above lures or your favorite weightless plastic. I rarely resort to punching the grass mats. Summertime is when they get thick enough for punching, and for me that is hollow frog/buzz frog time. The most important advice I can give you for fishing the potty has nothing to do with weights, baits,etc. Pay attention to the tides and the current created by the same. I plan many outings around the tide changes.

Actual data showing both a thermocline and oxycline.

I check the TM prop maybe 2X a year, and there is always line on it. Never found it on the OB prop.

Pohick itself rents jon boats. I recommend using your own TM and battery if you have them, otherwise, those are available also.