Addicted to Smallies

Point of Rocks has been pretty good for me in the past, too, Fishguts. But the banks are SO crowded these days it seems. There were probably 50 bank fishermen and their families along there when I was there last time -- all within about 250 meters of the boat launch, though. Upstream was less crowded, but the vegetation was pretty thick. Other than a few dinks, I didn't catch anything but salad. Thanks for the compliments on the fish, guys! Yeah, that is the nicest smallmouth I've ever caught. He put up quite a fight on my 4# test, light spinning tackle! I am amazed at how a 3# river smallie can pull! I've pulled in 7# largemouuth that didn't pull 1/4 as hard as this guy! BTW, these are the GPS coordinates where I hooked him. Like I said, there weren't ANY fish there the next day, though. Lat/Lon: 39.103789,-77.478161 (in Google Maps format, look for the GREEN arrow on the map, not the red one) This section is a somewhat deeper channel that runs between two nice rocky flats with scattered river grass. Anyone else willing to share the coordiates of their own PB fish?

When you guys are RIVER fishing, how do you work your Tube compared to a Senko? I must be doing something wrong. I tried an experiment this week that has me baffled. Here's the deal: Monday afternoon there was a feeding frenzy at my favorite smallie spot on the Upper Potomac. Every other cast with my pumpkin Senko caught a decent fish (see the pic below with a 5" Yammi hanging out of his mouth). I've never had much luck with tubes before, so I thought I would switch out and try a tube in the exact same color just so that I could practice my tube fishing... and nothing happened. Cast after cast and nothing happened. Tried 3" and 4" tubes, but it didn't matter. I worked the Tube like I work a Senko when river fishing: 1/8th oz jig, long cast, let it fall, wait 10 seconds or so to let dance in the current, twitch it 2-3 times, repeat... NOTHING! Then, I switched back to a Senko and BAM, another nice fish on the first cast. It didn't matter what size Senko I threw, they hit 4", 5" and 6" the same... but nothing doing with the exact same color Tube. I even tried different color Senkos (black, blue, smoke, watermelon and even bubblegum) and they kept hitting it just about every-other cast. Wacky on a jighead or Texas rigged with a vertical-drop hook both worked great. So is this weird? Am I just totally inept at Tube fishing? Everyone raves about Tubes being the go-to soft plastic for smallies around here, but I just don't see it in my fishing experience. So, how do you guys work your Tubes when you are casting for RIVER smallies? Am I doing this totally wrong? Is the Senko REALLY that good of a smallmouth bait that it works with nothing else does?

How may of you guys (or gals) wade for smallies during the summer in the Potomac? I've been out every day for the last 5 days (vacation days are awesome!) and have been the only person wading that I've seen... several shore fishermen, but no waders. Not asking for your trade secrets, but anyone care to share some good general locations with decent river access? I'll start things off: I like the section along the Virginia side upriver of Goose Creek about 1/2 mile. Nice combo of pools and decent current when the water is up, and the pools hold nice fish when it's low-water and hot. Caught 18 smallies along that stretch there in about 2 hours on Monday, the best going about 3.1 lbs (my PB for a smallmouth, pic below. Guess you can tell what lure I was using.) But in the same spot on Tuesday, got skunked. Riverbend Park - Easy to get to with a nice trail, and I've heard others say it's great if you head upriver from the boat launch to the islands (right in the bend of the river), but I've never caught anything bigger than a 10oz fish along there. Good numbers and a great place to go if you only have a couple of hours, but definitely quantity over quality in my opinion. Anyone else care to share?