Huntrava

Went out a few days ago. Nothing. Not a bite. Not a nibble. See you fellas in the spring ;-)

For what it's worth, the river had huge, huge clouds of shad tucked way up in the shallow areas. They were suspended about 3' below the surface in less than 10 feet of water. I'm used to seeing clouds a few feet wide, but in this case they were four or five times that size. I wonder if the bass have been gorging themselves on these shad, maybe? Perhaps that's why they haven't been overly hungry?

Spent about 4 hours on the Occoquan river on Monday (not going to make a new thread for that) and only pulled in a single bass. Maybe 12 inches, didn't bother to measure. Missed 1 bite because I was falling asleep. A couple guys on a jon boat said they were catching striper way up at the mouth of the river by the dam, but I didn't see much activity. Sure has been tough the last few weeks. Starting to wonder if I'm cursed...

Still producing. Friday was a grand slam...had crappie, bass and cats all taking the same presentation.... For the record, this weekend was the first time I went overboard while fishing. I was standing on my kayak--probably one of the most stable kayaks on the market--and tried to make a fancy cast to the rear. As everyone knows, on a kayak you need to turn your entire body or you run the risk of going for a swim. Once I realized I was going down, rather than capsize the kayak I simply bailed and jumped overboard. Ah well, had to happen sometime. Completely user error.

I use a FC leader. It's probably mostly in my head, but I think it's less visible. Also, I hate tying things to braid, so a FC leader lets me deal with FC most of the time.

I saw what looked like a boy scout troop swimming next to a couple canoes. Can't say it really bothers me, and I doubt it's enforced at all. They were swimming for about half an hour right around the corner from Fountainhead. It strikes me as the kind of thing a park might have to prohibit for liability reasons, not necessarily because anyone cares. That said, I wouldn't go swimming there. Not because of any park rules, mind you. Mostly because lake swimming--and the accompanying mud, smell, salt, and sunburns stopped being fun about 20 years ago.

Do you have any strategies for working the suspended fish? A couple weeks ago they were hugging the bottom, and that was easy. When they're suspended (deep, like 15 feet) I haven't got a clue.

Tried to fish the second bite today this afternoon. Was there until 5. Tried some new areas closer to the dam and was totally skunked. Had a hard time figuring out where the bass were. FF was either empty, or showed suspended fish dispersed between 10 - 20 feet. The Occoquan giveth and the Occoquan taketh away

d**n it, I'm cleaning coffee off my screen. That **** is funny. Unless you're a bluegill I suppose The people you talked to are describing basically the same thing I'm hearing on BR...it's either feast or famine, depending on your fishing style.I was slaying at Woodrow Wilson bridge a few weeks ago with a shakey-head grub. Not surprised a ned-rig would work.

Was fishing there a few months ago when I met another guy who was into the bass tournament circle. He mentioned Ryan's dam is often off limits during tournaments lol. But, FWIW, the deepest channel I've seen on Occoquan runs from Ryan's dam to Fountainhead, with the south side being slightly steeper (with more docks, structure, etc.).

The other day when I was at Occoquan, I noticed there were a bunch of other people in the same vicinity who weren't having much luck. We were all in the same general area (about a cast away from each other) but I was pulling fish out and they weren't. That doesn't happen often! We were all sitting above fish, and everyone else was throwing diving lures, umbrella rigs, etc. But Occoquan is deep. I doubt anything went deeper than 15 feet. Occoquan is easily twice that in some areas. Throwing a jig is good, but it needs enough weight to get to the bottom fast, especially if that's where the bass are. I don't think the average 3/8 oz texas rigged worm is going to get to the bottom in an efficient way, but that's just my two cents.

Welcome! No worries...everyone here is trying to learn how to catch more bass. What's the composition of the lake like? What is your FF saying?

Here are a couple of 3 - 4 lbers I pulled out on Saturday during the same outing. Good, healthy looking fish. @marvinlee718: do you have a FF? What have you been using?

Here's a 21 inch largemouth I took out of the water on Saturday at Occoquan. If you look closely, there's also a 26 inch catfish on the deck lol. Both caught and released. @JStevens: check your inbox! Happy to help out-

Hit Occoquan today. Hooked some big fish. They are in there, and they're deep.