Northern Virginia (Nova) Fishing Discussion/reports

[sc1978]

I Plan on hitting BRM early saturday morning before rain comes in.....Ill be in my hobie compass 

[Choporoz]

Good luck.  I was out from there the last two evenings. 

Wed, I went up -- probably not much more than about a mile and a quarter....so, in 3 1/2 hours I worked most everything pretty hard, especially the soccer flats and the shore opposite.  Never got anything other than a couple 'bluegill-type' bites.

 

Last night, I went down probably about 3/4 of the way to the splits.  Strange night.  Lots of hits and follows -- three that didn't commit until lure was coming out of the water at my yak.  Couldn't set the hook to save my life -- no clue what was going on.  Didn't boat a single fish.  Mostly in shallow flats -- no bites from deeper than about 6'....but again, it doesn't mean much, because I couldn't buy a hookset.

 

I think that if the pressure is still dropping in the morning, you might hit the jackpot.

[sc1978]

that was the plan, as far up the soccer flats....

[sc1978]

BRM 5/5 report. tons of carp making noise. crappies and lmb. fished from 0700-1200

 

https://youtu.be/z7zvGTLaUuA

[Choporoz]

Did you catch any?

[sc1978]

crappies and small lmb. nothing to brag about...

[simek3ru]

I'm curious about those who fish Occoquan River.  I have been there several times and make my way to Conrad Island.  When I am there, I always see boats lined up to the left of the island in Belmont Bay.   If I recall, this is pretty shallow water and a huge flat.  Boats aren't moving around much, seem to be anchored, or staying put, and they are almost in a line.

 

What are these guys doing?  Always been curious about this.  What am I missing out on?

 

[Riazuli]

4 hours ago, simek3ru said:

I'm curious about those who fish Occoquan River.  I have been there several times and make my way to Conrad Island.  When I am there, I always see boats lined up to the left of the island in Belmont Bay.   If I recall, this is pretty shallow water and a huge flat.  Boats aren't moving around much, seem to be anchored, or staying put, and they are almost in a line.

 

What are these guys doing?  Always been curious about this.  What am I missing out on?

 

Nothing much, just your typical ritual sacrifice to the bass gods.  If you go, don't forget to wear your hooded cape and make sure you smear the chartreuse dip under just the left eye.  Also, the bluegill necklaces have 3 bluegill on them, no more no less. 

[RockvilleMDAngler]

On 6/8/2018 at 4:47 PM, simek3ru said:

I'm curious about those who fish Occoquan River.  I have been there several times and make my way to Conrad Island.  When I am there, I always see boats lined up to the left of the island in Belmont Bay.   If I recall, this is pretty shallow water and a huge flat.  Boats aren't moving around much, seem to be anchored, or staying put, and they are almost in a line.

 

What are these guys doing?  Always been curious about this.  What am I missing out on?

 

 

There is a massive grass flat here that holds fish. 

[Choporoz]

Google Earth shows the grass pretty well.  Keep in mind that the lines will change some from year to year.  Not sure how old the sat pics are, but it does give you an idea of the good definition of the grass. 

[simek3ru]

Anyone launch out of Pohick Bay this week?  I went last Sunday and there was a lot of debris.  Wondering if it's better, worse, same?

[sc1978]

If anyone is up for some snakehead fishing, Lake Brittle is pretty hot right now. I have caught decent size snakies, and I have witness others hooking up large ones too.....

 

[murball1]

On 7/17/2018 at 7:41 AM, sc1978 said:

If anyone is up for some snakehead fishing, Lake Brittle is pretty hot right now. I have caught decent size snakies, and I have witness others hooking up large ones too.....

 

Any pointers for Lake Brittle?  I have been there a few times, but only from the shore.  

[TOXIC]

All of Brittle is shore accessible for the most part and that's where the heads like to congregate.  Do they still rent jon boats?  I know they used to.  

[inickmo]

Hi all,

Apologies, long post incoming.

 

I’ve just gotten back into bass fishing over the last couple of months after basically a 15 year hiatus. I’ve been scouring this thread and elsewhere on the internet to learn about all the local spots the Nova/DC area has to offer and trying to find some good places to find some bass. Since I’m just getting back into this I don’t have a boat or plans to get one this year, but I think in the spring I want to go ahead and pull the trigger on a Kayak (also considering a Pelican). As of right now I’m limited to shore angling and renting Jon boats.

 

I live in the Falls Church area and so far the best place for regular fishing and landing some fish has been four mile run. I’ve been mainly under the bridges, along the airport, and along one of the other trails by the Toyota dealership. From what everyone says the tidal movements play a big part in how good the fishing is there. Thinking about tides is new to me and it will definitely take a while to figure this place out but it’s been fun so far.

 

As far as additional shore fishing I’ve tried Roosevelt Island once with no luck, and also tried to investigate Chain bridge. I was not able to find access to the river, I think I was going on outdated information. I tried getting access through the Gulf branch trail based on an old online post but that trail just ended and I would’ve had to traverse down some steep rocks through the creek leading to the river to access it. I also couldn’t find a path down from the bridge side. Gravely point and roaches run are other areas that come up around here but not sure how successful you can be from shore there.

 

As far as boat renting, we went out to Fletcher’s Cove once but weren’t able to rent a rowboat due to river conditions but caught some catfish from the shore. It doesn’t seem that many people talk about largemouth/smallmouth fishing here, and mostly stripers, shad, and catfish. Does anyone catch bass here? We’ve went to the Occoquan at Fountainhead twice, first time out got a couple small ones on Senkos in the grass and skunked the second time. It seems this place is known for being tough to figure out. I’ve seen Pohick bay and Riverbend park also come up as places to rent boats. Fountainhead rents motors and batteries which is nice, not sure about Pohick/Riverbend.

 

I live super close to Lake Barcroft but know this place is off limits unless you know a resident.

 

I know the Potomac is supposed to be amazing for bass fishing but not sure where on the Potomac itself in the area other than Fletcher’s cove that you could rent a boat.

 

Does anyone have any advice for someone relying on boat rentals other than Occoquan? Also, any other reliable shore fishing spots I could find? I see some of the local Youtuber’s hitting ponds and wet wading in streams which looks awesome. I know ponds are tough since you need to know someone. Any places to target largemouth or any place around that I could do some wading for smallmouth (once the river conditions allow) would be amazing.

 

Sorry for the novel and thanks for any advice!

[Choporoz]

Lake Ridge, Brittle and Burje all rent boats....or did in past years.  Not sure if you can rent motor anywhere other than Fountainhead and Lake Ridge.  Buying a trolling motor and a battery (or two) was a great investment for me.  Won't take long time pay for itself.

[sc1978]

yes brittle still rent boats with electric motor. brittle is tough, bass are spread out so you will get a hit from time to time. majority of my catches are far back where the vegetation are. I use kietech paddle tails and senkos.....sometimes ned rig for bass. panfish I use pink and chartreuse grub or black and chartreuse grub or watermelon grub. all in pink jig head.

 

https://youtu.be/9oxR36-6kg8

 

 

[TOXIC]

Brittle is also stocked with Walleye.  Crocket Park/Germantown Lake has a very good bass population and 8lbers are pulled out of there every year.  They also rent boats.  Lake Orange rents boats.  Others to look at but without boat rentals and limited shore access are Mountain Run, Lake Pelham and Curtis.  Mountain Run and Pelham you need permits.  You can wade fish the Shenandoah at the state parks likewise the Rappahanock.  The Rapp has a pond at the Phelps WMA and different access points in Remington.  

[Choporoz]

Hunting Run is a bit of a drive but better fishing than most above.  They rent boats and motors.  Been a few years since I have been to Brittle... hope their prices have come down.   Think it was around $50 for boat for a day back then.

[gbassman519]

admins ! why  is this even still here  ?!  5 yrs  ago !

 

 

[TOXIC]

14 hours ago, gbassman519 said:

admins ! why  is this even still here  ?!  5 yrs  ago !

 

 

Not an admin but this is an ongoing thread updated as questions are asked or reports made.  

[inickmo]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Looks like I have a lot more places to check out with boat rental availability. I do think investing in a trolling motor and batteries will be the best option so I'll look into that. Will probably check out hunting run as my next outing.

 

If anyone has any tips for four mile run, that would be awesome. I either go there and can catch them on anything and a couple days have gotten completely skunked no matter what I throw. Trying to track the temp, time of day, air pressure etc and pick up any patterns. It's the easiest place for me to get some fishing in after work or if I only have a few hours on weekends.

 

Thanks!

[Choporoz]

18 minutes ago, inickmo said:

. Trying to track the temp, time of day, air pressure etc and pick up any patterns. 

And maybe most important...tides

[inickmo]

1 minute ago, Choporoz said:

And maybe most important...tides

Hah! Yes of course. I forgot to mention but yea I've been trying to compare high vs. low, rising vs. falling. I never fished in tidal waters growing up so have no familiarity with it. Are there any general principles regarding what is best i.e. a rising or falling tide or higher vs low or is it all location dependent? I feel like I've heard on some Youtube vids some general ideas about tides.

[Choporoz]

Where to start....lol....

 

Conventional wisdom around here is "fish inside grass lines at high tide and outside lines at low tide"......and "outgoing tides tend to be better for most creeks and rivers"   but....it can be different every time out at each location.  Its been my experience that most Potomac bank (shallow) fishing is best starting about two hours before sunset.  http://nationalbass.com/report 

often has some very good info about what's working lately.  They used to have some very detailed guides for many areas of the region, but it looks like they've taken them down.  I'll see if I've saved any for that area up there.