tboydva

Here's a little more information. Fish don't "drown" out of water. Fish gills exchange oxygen with their surrounding medium. Water can dissolve far less oxygen (milligrams per liter) than air (air is ~20% oxygen). If the fish gills are moist, oxygen-rich air can diffuse through the water into the fish's gills. With the increased stress on the fish, and being out in the air, the gills will dry out quickly (thus doing the fish in). Having them out for photos and high fives should do no harm. I consider bass relatively weak table-fare, so don't keep 'em. An occasional channel cat does make it's way home though. If you want to kill a fish humanely, drop them in ice water. This slows their metabolism but is thought to not be "painful" as cold-blooded creatures naturally "slow down" when they get colder. This is about the only way to kill a catfish!

Didn't seem like much action going on for the first hour or two. Then, weightless senkos came to the rescue. I suspect my buddy and I caught over 60 bass for a full day. Haven't had a Potomac or Shenandoah day like that in 4-5 years for sure. Aside from the one fish, nothing probably over 13-14".

Went on an annual fishing trip with a bunch of buddies last weekend. The theme revolves more about what's in the cooler than what's in the water, but I always bring my gear! Floated the upper Potomac upriver of Romney, WV. After catching countless small bass, I landed this slab! Didn't have a ruler or scale (rented canoe). Put the picture in my engineering package and after measuring my hand and scaling - the average gives me 23.4". My previous PB is 22". This beast's tail was the same size as my hand! Can anyone give me an estimate on the weight? Felt like 4-5 lb, but I don't have a feel for SMB (mostly only weigh LMB with the scale on my boat). From my trips and one of my buddies, this year has been great on both the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers - far better than the past 3-5 years.

This is a bit scary, but just yesterday I was thinking about an old lure that we used on the very same waters (Shenandoah, upper Potomac - and the Cacapon River). It was called a floppy (rubrex - French lure). Seems like you can find them on ebay and it was a very popular lure in Australia (they made a saltwater model). These lures were made out of rubber and had an adjustable lip. We always called them "Mr. softy" (which in late middle age is something no guy wants to hear!). I moved back (from the West coast) to the region after years away in the mid-90s. Although the floppy was a memory even then, we had days with a fish every cast. Small Rapalas used to absolutely kill. Sadly, I think those days are over (unless the 7-9 year cycle is applicable to these rivers?). I've floated the Shenandoah and had single-digit days. Same for the upper Potomac. I keep thinking I should buy a floppy off ebay and see how it works now? Hard to toss out a "collector" bait though....

I've traveled these waters many times. I can tell you that I always go very slow in two places on your track. Counting from the top (the way points - dotted circle); between number one and two there are some wicked fouls. My Navionics chart shows a channel there - and I've always motored on through. Last time out, I hit something HARD. I couldn't find anything on my motor or hull that looked damaged, but my depthfinder was showing 6 ft when I whacked it. I'll check my GPS unit (I think I marked it). Right at point 7, it can be ugly. I've seen guys blow through this area. I have a deep V aluminum... I go way slow and often trim up my outboard and go with the trolling motor (can be very good fishing at Fox Ferry point). You can also use the tide(s) to your advantage. If low, go slow. Between 4 adn 5 it can be shallow, but I've never "hit" anything in that region. I have to read up on exporting, but I'll try and upload my tracks...

I've never fished Phelps, but have heard decent things. I fished other areas in this region (I own an acre of land near Columbia). The little Alligator River has some decent bass fishing. Never fished it in the Fall, but the Spring is quite good. Might be a bit of haul in a kayak. You can launch here. You can alos fish in the Scuppernong. I haven't fished for bass here (was going for Stripers), but I saw lots of bass fishermen who all confirmed that it's decent. You can launch a boat here. A word of caution perhaps. The areas I outlined and Phelps (especially from what I hear) are very prone to strong afternoon (and sometimes morning) winds. A guy was telling me about getting blown all the way across Phelps and having to hike back to his car. The two areas I recommended might perhaps provide more wind cover than the circular lake? I'm hoping to make it down in October myself! If so, see you on the water!

I guess if I were you, I would try launching at Bellhaven Marina just south of the Beltway on the Virginia side. I see people kayaking there. You could try heading into the marsh north of the ramp which is shallow except for the small channel. Or, you could go south to Dike marsh. That usually is pretty weedy by mid-summer. South of Dike marsh, there are more marshy areas with extensive weed beds (on the VA side). Morning high tides offer good topwater fishing in these areas. I often head across river to the MD side (I have a powerboat) and fish Broad creek (I think that's what it's called) or go further south to Piscataway creek (that would give you a heck of a workout). I've also launched out of Gunston which has some good grass beds too. You can launch further north at Gravely Point (just north of National Airport) and head upriver to the next cove (there's a marina - but I can't place the name - they have a ramp, but there's a fee). Lots of weed beds there.

There's a lot of Potomac in the DC area... Any specific area you plan to fish? You can get up to the fall line above Georgetown and be in strong tidal regions as you transit down to DC proper and below the Wilson Bridge. Many different habitats. Give me a target area and I can give you some ideas.

Welcome. I'm in the NoVA area, but have fished a bit in the Staunton (and Maury River) long ago. Keep thinking of getting back down to that area. I bought a jet boat a couple of years ago and fish the upper Potomac, Shenandoah - and even tried the CaCapon once (but was too nervous to run up too far). The Staunton looks like it would be jet boat friendly. If I make it down your way, I'll send a PM. Welcome again.

Don't try this at home... American: Elijah Craig Blended scotch: Black Bottle Single Malt scotch: Lagavulin Irish whisky: ??? Haven't tried enough to determine a favorite For some reason, I favor Kentucky whiskeys over Tennessee ones. I only have 'em after I get back to the dock though! A few light beers are OK for on the water.

You might check out iBoats forums. There are lots of threads in the Restoration Forum covering aluminum painting. Here's one for instance. Prep is the most critical part. If you're paint isn't pitted (or you don't care about painting over pitting), you could probably get away with a good cleaning, solvent "final rinse" and a good priming. As mentioned, "flipping" the boat to get full hull access is the pain. If you have a grinder, get a stainless wire wheel (make sure you use stainless for aluminum), and you can clean up the metal very quickly. Best of luck!

There's tons of fishibale habitat in the Potomac. The tidal Potomac holds LMB (lots if you can find them) and the upper Potomac (upriver of Great Falls for instance) has LMB and SMB. Lots of places to launch a boat and some shore fishing available. Enjoy!

I don't have any experience with your line, but I have tried other fluorocarbon lines (can't remember exactly which) that broke easily and I was very dissatisfied. I've gone completely to BPS fluor (in a white box). In my experience, you can't break that stuff! When I first started using it, I made the mistake of wrapping the line around my hand to break it off. Got a nice cut for the effort. Like BobP, I use it until the spool gets empty. If you can afford it, I'd try different lines to see others might perform more up to expectations.

Not sure about finesse techniques (not something I've done a lot of), but other plastics can work well in the Potomac. Weightless senkos, double tail hula grubs, jerk baits can all work well. You can access the river at several places close to DC. Turkey Run park is off the GW parkway - you can walk down to the river. You can also try the Rt 123 bridge, Riverbend and/or Difficult Run. Try to find an area below (or right above) riffle cuts (if you can find a "pool" below). The last two summers have been slower for me, but there are fish out there! Enjoy. TJB

I have the white river model. Works great and it pumps up fast using the hand pump (I think I bought it from BPS). It only takes about 20 pumps and it's ready to go. I like this for smaller streams. For $80, it's a good deal I think. I guess it depends on your location? TJB