Northern Virginia (Nova) Fishing Discussion/reports

[Choporoz]

I pay $11.   But....I have motor, batteries, PFD, military discount....and have Fairfax County residency

 

I think you're probably looking at $40...maybe a little more for non-res, boat with motor and battery.  I'd give 'em a call:

T 703-250-9124
E fountainhead@nvrpa.org

 

[RichF]

1 minute ago, Choporoz said:

I pay $11.   But....I have motor, batteries, PFD, military discount....and have Fairfax County residency

 

I think you're probably looking at $40...maybe a little more for non-res, boat with motor and battery.  I'd give 'em a call:

T 703-250-9124
E fountainhead@nvrpa.org

 

 

Gotchya.  That's not too bad for a day of fishing.  Thanks for the info.  Is there any grass in there?  

[Choporoz]

guess it depends what you're used to....from my perspective, there isn't a whole lot even in mid-summer....and a lot less right now.  Maybe a touch surprising, with the warm spells we've had.  I was only a couple hours south of here and one lake had June-like grass already.

[RichF]

I much prefer the June-like grass.  All the lakes I'm used to fishing back home in NY are full of thick milfoil.  Some places it'll even grow down to 20 ft.  

[quanjig]

The res is on fire!! We had our second tournament of the year and it was another slugfest! First place was a 6 fish limit of 29+ with a 7.04 kicker! We had another 2, 7 pounders weighed in yesterday with another about a paper clip shy of 7!! 

[RichF]

40 minutes ago, quanjig said:

The res is on fire!! We had our second tournament of the year and it was another slugfest! First place was a 6 fish limit of 29+ with a 7.04 kicker! We had another 2, 7 pounders weighed in yesterday with another about a paper clip shy of 7!! 

 

That sounds awesome!  I haven't really done any fishing down here (once on the Potomac, once on Anna).  It's nice to know I have places close by that hold nice fish.  Wish I had my boat down here!  I'll have to do like @Choporoz and rent a jon boat for the day and check it out.

[Choporoz]

That's crazy, Quanjig.  I couldn't buy a bite out there on Saturday.  Didn't talk to anyone that could.

 

I will say that yesterday on the Occoquan River was much better.

[quanjig]

5 hours ago, Choporoz said:

That's crazy, Quanjig.  I couldn't buy a bite out there on Saturday.  Didn't talk to anyone that could.

 

I will say that yesterday on the Occoquan River was much better.

 

For my partner and I it was all about finding a little bit cleaner water. When I looked at the ramp at fountainhead on Saturday morning I wasn't sure what Sunday's fishing would be like. We tried fishing the really stained water but couldn't get any bites. Went further down, found some better looking water and slowly started figuring them out. Couple guys I know caught a few Saturday but they were all below fountainhead, tough to get to with just a TM, especially with the wind!!

[sc1978]

On 6/22/2016 at 10:17 AM, Choporoz said:

Any of you NOVA bank fishermen try the 'ponds' at intersection of Prince William Pkwy and 28?  Looks like big retention pond, but I used to see people fishing it/them often....not so much last few times driving by, though.

Hi

If you haven't gotten an answer yet, there is no fish there. Don't waste your time.

[SeeNoSun]

Caught this one on The Rez yesterday.  First bass in my Yak.  I also caught a pretty nice crappie.

 

[novafx4]

Quote

Caught this one on The Rez yesterday.

 

I got my kayak and gear sorted out yesterday and am thinking of hitting Fountainhead this afternoon. I haven't been on the water in more than a year.

[RichF]

I rented a boat from Fountain head yesterday and had a blast! I was pleasantly surprised since it was my first time there.  Landed 12 between 845am and 430pm.  My five biggest went around 19lbs, with a 4lb 11oz kicker.  

[quanjig]

First time I have ever put serious time behind a frog out there and it was crazy!! I wish I had pics of my best fish, the number of giants that I missed or lost was truly heart breaking!! I think I can fine tune a few things and keep a few more hooked up in the future!!

[RichF]

The Occoquan Res. kicked my butt yesterday.  Only had 5 bites.  Caught three of them and jumped off two 3+ pounders.  Pretty sure the bass are right in the middle of spawning.  The carp definitely are.  They were all over the grass splashing around.

[Choporoz]

Got on the water each of the last four days in NOVA.  It has been an interesting few days. 

Thursday paddled down from Bull Run Marina in evening.  Got two dinks and no good bites.  Until .....well after dark...just north of BRM I hooked what I thought was a log...and then it ran.  I was fairly certain it was another huge flathead and it wasn't until probably 4 or 5 minutes later that it broached and soaked me with a tidal wave splash that I started to think it might be a bass.  I fumbled with a light as I struggled to get her alongside and not lose control.  I've caught plenty of six to sevens in the rez, but I swear I have never seen live a bass like this.  As I went to lip her (could have easily got entire fist in the mouth) she jumped away and broke off....no pics and no scale, so it never happened....but I'll be seeing that image in my brain for many years to come.

 

Friday, I got outboard running for first time this year, rented a boat  and went north out of Fountainhead.  Nearly seven hours and just three bass, none over about 2#.  (Was a beautiful day, though and wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else...until I got back to marina and found that the kid there had given my driver's license to someone else...who lives in Leesburg.   I did get them exchanged on Sat, but what a PITA.)

 

Saturday, I went out late in afternoon and paddled up from BRM.  Managed one slab crappie by accident and not a single good bass bite.

 

Sunday afternoon, I gave the rez a rest and paddled Pohick.  Winds were projected at 9-10....somehow, the weatherman neglected to mention the 30MPH gusts.  It was miserable and essentially unfishable by yak.  Until almost 5PM when it died down.  For the next 2 hours, it was the most incredible two-hour period of bass fishing that I have ever experienced.  20+ LMB and 3 snakeheads.  Smallest bass was 15".  It got to the point where if I didn't get a solid bite on a cast, it was a disappointment.  If it weren't for the snakeheads, I'd have caught a lot more bass.  The d**n things fight like hell and take a few min to get off...and they tore up my Cut-R's.  When I lost the last Cut-R of the package, I couldn't buy a bite on anything else.  I was frantically, trying curly tails....cane thumpers....Senkos..rage bugs....  I managed to find an old Cut-R at the bottom of my bag and immediately started catching them again.  Wish that I'd launched from Belvoir so I could have stayed out there all night.  I was catching them all the way back into Pohick.  While it had slowed a little, I still managed over 30 bass for the evening.

 

 

[georgeyew]

4 hours ago, Choporoz said:

and they tore up my Cut-R's.  When I lost the last Cut-R of the package, I couldn't buy a bite on anything else.  I was frantically, trying curly tails....cane thumpers....Senkos..rage bugs....  I managed to find an old Cut-R at the bottom of my bag and immediately started catching them again.  

 

Sounds like the cut-r worms were the ticket! Gotta get some to try out.

[Choporoz]

They usually are.  That monster on Thursday bit Cut-R, also.  I carry a number of different worms, but Cut R is by far, my favorite for most anytime I want it swimming.

 

[georgeyew]

On 5/1/2017 at 3:06 PM, Choporoz said:

They usually are.  That monster on Thursday bit Cut-R, also.  I carry a number of different worms, but Cut R is by far, my favorite for most anytime I want it swimming.

 

 

How do you rig it? Texas rigged with 1/4 oz and just swim like a swim jig?

[Choporoz]

3/32 Owner twistlok weighted hook.  Keeps it upright and comes through all but the nastiest stuff surprisingly clean.  Even though it appears to be about the thickness of a senko, it doesn't do all too well on straight gap hooks.  I much prefer a wide gap.

 

I used to trig 1/4 oz a lot, but I find that too be pretty heavy for most of my fishing anymore...sometimes even 1/8 feels heavy.

 

I flip it into cover.   I drag it along the bottom.  I swim it just over the tops of weeds.  I hop it off the bottom...sometimes big pops...sometimes little hops...that tail will shimmy at any speed...swimming or falling.

[fishwizzard]

3 hours ago, Choporoz said:

3/32 Owner twistlok weighted hook.  Keeps it upright and comes through all but the nastiest stuff surprisingly clean.  Even though it appears to be about the thickness of a senko, it doesn't do all too well on straight gap hooks.  I much prefer a wide gap.

 

I used to trig 1/4 oz a lot, but I find that too be pretty heavy for most of my fishing anymore...sometimes even 1/8 feels heavy.

 

I flip it into cover.   I drag it along the bottom.  I swim it just over the tops of weeds.  I hop it off the bottom...sometimes big pops...sometimes little hops...that tail will shimmy at any speed...swimming or falling.

 

If you can excuse a filthy Marylander snooping around this this thread, I wanna say thanks for the info on the Cut-Rs and the hook issues you were having.  Bought a pack or two over the winter and just tried them the other day.  I t-rigged them with a punch skirt to use as a weedless swimjig type thing.  I was using twistlock flipping hooks and despite a few solid hits, I could never make a hook set.  I will give it an other go with a wide gap hook.  Is there a specific size you have found works best?  I have a pile of 3/0 Moanar weighted swimbait hooks, but I really like the look of it as a fake-swimjig and want to give that an other go.  

[Choporoz]

http://moanerhooks.com/moaner-products/the-weighted-stroke-a-keel-weighted-hook/

These look perfect.

 

I bought a ton of 3/0 gammy's a few years ago and I'm still working through those (with HitchHikers.)

4/0 will work as well.  Good, but not as sharp as Owners, which I'm moving to almost exclusively.

 

After working through most every brand of hook, I pretty much only buy Owners now.  3/0 in 1/16oz and 4/0 in 1/8. 

[fishwizzard]

Great, thanks for the info!

 

I am also almost totally, other than a few specialty hooks, an Owner guy. 

[RichF]

Ugh Saturday looks crappy but I'm gonna rent a boat at Burke and check it out.  I've heard there are nice bass in there, they're just hard to catch because of all the pressure.  Do any of you guys know if the lake has grass?

[Choporoz]

 

Ugh Saturday looks crappy but I'm gonna rent a boat at Burke and check it out.  I've heard there are nice bass in there, they're just hard to catch because of all the pressure.  Do any of you guys know if the lake has grass?

Been over a month since I was on there...and grass was already coming up.  TBH, I don't like fishing Burke much.  It is close, convenient, pretty, undeveloped....but tough for me to fish.  I admit that the last three times I was on, I was fishing from my yak it was windy as heck...but, even from a boat, I've always struggled there.  I have marked fish on dramatic drops, humps, ledges....frequently...just don't catch them.  I've caught a few from shoreline cover, but never anything to brag about.  If you have sonar for the rental, I think you'll at least give yourself a fighting chance.

[RichF]

41 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Been over a month since I was on there...and grass was already coming up.  TBH, I don't like fishing Burke much.  It is close, convenient, pretty, undeveloped....but tough for me to fish.  I admit that the last three times I was on, I was fishing from my yak it was windy as heck...but, even from a boat, I've always struggled there.  I have marked fish on dramatic drops, humps, ledges....frequently...just don't catch them.  I've caught a few from shoreline cover, but never anything to brag about.  If you have sonar for the rental, I think you'll at least give yourself a fighting chance.

 

Thanks for the insight.  Yeah that's my biggest fear/challenge...sonar.  The bodies of water around here (other than the potomac) don't have the structure I'm used to and it's obviously impossible to find anything offshore without a graph.  I ran into this problem at the Occoquan Res the last time I went there.  I assume a lot of bass get off the banks (like they normally do everywhere) as the season progresses.  I spent a lot of time aimlessly dragging a football jig in the middle of creek arms hoping to hit some offshore rocks or stumps.  

 

59 degrees, rain, and 15mph wind...at least I'd likely have the lake to myself.  I guess no fish is still better than not fishing lol.