Anyone Hit The Occoquan Reservoir Lately?

[nitro557]

You all did alot better then us we caught 4 but only one made it to the scale 2.8lbs 

[88mm]

I've only ever been out there for bass and never tried for crappie. I've had a lot of luck with rooster tails catching lots of blue gills up stream in the bull run towards hemlock overlook in Clifton. The bass love them too. Same with beetlespins. Does anyone know anything about jigging for crappie on the occoquan and sections of the bull run?

I'm debating on going out there after i get out for spring turkey a few times.

The water temperature around this time of year is 55-58 degrees. So i hope the Bass are spawning soon, what do you guys think? 

[nitro557]

I've always had better luck on crappie down river towards the dam 

[The Bream Reaper]

anyone know if they are renting jon boats out of fountainhead?  I've called over a couple times and haven't been able to get anyone...

[Choporoz]

Yes, they are

[marvinlee718]

Does anyone know if they're spawning yet?

 

[quanjig]

14 hours ago, marvinlee718 said:

Does anyone know if they're spawning yet?

 

Yes

[Choporoz]

Cormorant population seems worse than I ever recall.  Hope they're just passing through.  I don't know for certain that they'd affect the bass population, but I have a hard time thinking they'll help.

[quanjig]

Right now they are probably gorging on shad. They will move on to the river later, hopefully..........

[Choporoz]

If rez is nuts with cormorants, the river is insane.   Was out there Sunday and the sky was black with them.  My wife took this at sunset.  Just one of about a dozen flocks that came in over about 30 min.

[quanjig]

Yea, that's pretty crazy. I have noticed quite a few more of them on the res this year. At least you know where good concentrations of bait are!!  I've rolled up to spots where they are and caught fish!!

[Kyle46N]

Not bass fishing, but related to cormorants.  Fish punch bait or stinkbait on a slip float rig for catfish under the trees where cormorants roost overnight.  You'll slaughter them.  Cats love the cormorant crap.  Digested fish basically.   This is a very popular method in Texas.  I know a couple roosting areas directly over the water along the Ocoquan river. 

[MattStrykul]

Added videos from the past 2 tourneys out on the rez. Caught most fish shallow, no site fishing though. Nothing giant but still a fun time out there as always. Give me some tips on making these videos better please! Hope you guys enjoy

Matt

[Nitrofreak]

Your really getting good at these videos Matt !! 

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed them !!

[Choporoz]

4 minutes ago, Nitrofreak said:

Your really getting good at these videos Matt !! 

Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed them !!

+1!!! 

Loved it....all of it...I think your editing, timing, etc is great.  I thought the drive was a great touch, also.  Thank you.

note...I'm impressed with your teamwork and net responsiveness!

[quanjig]

That was not the most enjoyable event! You guys did great, congrats on your first "payout!"

Ace was smoking you buddy!!!!!

Hopedully their will be some hungry post spawners for the next one, then it's on!!!

[MattStrykul]

9 minutes ago, quanjig said:

That was not the most enjoyable event! You guys did great, congrats on your first "payout!"

Ace was smoking you buddy!!!!!

Hopedully their will be some hungry post spawners for the next one, then it's on!!!

Ace is a beast, all I can say is I'm glad he's on my team. The kid is clutch! 

I'm excited for the next event myself, hope we can just get bit more honestly. Haven't really had any "numbers days" out there. 

1 hour ago, Choporoz said:

+1!!! 

Loved it....all of it...I think your editing, timing, etc is great.  I thought the drive was a great touch, also.  Thank you.

note...I'm impressed with your teamwork and net responsiveness!

Thanks! Gotta grab that net quick! haha

[nitro557]

Good video and great team work 

[Choporoz]

Spent number of hours Friday, all between Ryans Dam and Fountainhead.   Picked up a couple quick two pounders and thought it was going to be a great day.  Sadly, just a couple dinks after that.  

Yesterday I took the kayak from BRM.  10 min in, I had 2.5 and was excited about the prospects.   Didn't catch another bass all day.  Maybe I should just go out for an hour each time.  The wife would appreciate that.

I did get about a half hour of excitement, however.   Stuck my crankbait into a log....but the log started moving.  Slow enough at first that I wasn't certain what was going on.  Then he took off.  Dragged me all up and down Bull Run for 20 or more minutes.   I flagged down a passing boat to ask if they had a net.  Good thing they did...not sure how I was going to get this in my kayak.

[animuseternal]

I just wanted to introduce myself. I grew up in the area but just moved into Fairfax at the beginning of the month. I went to Fountainhead yesterday--really excited to be so near to it!--with no luck, though the water is very murky and I think it was too soon following rain for it.

But this thread (I read most of it) has been an invaluable source of information already. I'm mostly targeting bass, but I really want to catch a snakehead this year, so will be focusing on learning topwater frog techniques in grass. I'm pretty new to fishing in general (outside of Boy Scouts as a kid, I just started again last year and caught some small bass here and there.. Lake Anna, Burke Lake, a bunch of small mouth deep into the New River on a cabin trip over the summer).. Hopefully, I learn quite a bit from y'all.

Tight lines, guys. I'll be around.

[Choporoz]

Welcome, A.

 

Kayaked up river from BRM yesterday.  Wanted to head down a bit, but the wind was brutal.  Caught exactly two bass all day.  Water is high and visibility is about three inches.  The carp are boiling in the shallows...kinda creepy when you can't see them in 12 inches of water, but the surface is boiling and their banging the bottom of the boat and the paddle

[MattStrykul]

Was out Tuesday and caught 6 total, largest being 3.5 lbs. Found some clear water and it paid off! Water temps dropped roughly 4 degrees since I went out last Tuesday, and the water is up about 8-12 inches. 

Funny story, I set the hook on a fish and the line dug into itself pretty good. I didn't realize and sat down to retie, and the very next cast I pitched toward some grass and as soon as the line his the spot where it had dug into itself POP goes my rod into the drink. Fished for it for 45 minutes and decided to move on because I had a buddy on the boat and didn't want to waste anymore of his time. Went back yesterday with some more appropriate snagging tools and caught it after 45 minutes. 

 

[Nitrofreak]

3 hours ago, MattStrykul said:

Was out Tuesday and caught 6 total, largest being 3.5 lbs. Found some clear water and it paid off! Water temps dropped roughly 4 degrees since I went out last Tuesday, and the water is up about 8-12 inches. 

Funny story, I set the hook on a fish and the line dug into itself pretty good. I didn't realize and sat down to retie, and the very next cast I pitched toward some grass and as soon as the line his the spot where it had dug into itself POP goes my rod into the drink. Fished for it for 45 minutes and decided to move on because I had a buddy on the boat and didn't want to waste anymore of his time. Went back yesterday with some more appropriate snagging tools and caught it after 45 minutes. 

 

Glad you got your rod and reel back !!!

[animuseternal]

I went out on Saturday morning and rented a boat. I have some questions...

First, do any of these boats have anchors? Should I bring my own and tie it to the boat? I found it really frustrating to find a good spot, but constantly need to row or steer back with the trolling motor cause I kept drifting away. I don't know if it was just the boat I rented, if we're expected to have our own anchors (I didn't see anywhere to tie one either), or if... anchors aren't allowed for some reason...? If the latter is the case, how do y'all deal with drifting away from your spots?

Second, I'm clearly not used to fishing LMB. They are ******* MASSIVE in the rez. I kept seeing bass the size of my torso taking bugs off the top of the water. I had two rods with me: a medium-heavy 6'6" rod that I had set up with 20lb braid, a 30lb wire leader, and was using for frogs (eventually got a wind knot I couldn't fix so I had to set it aside); and then just a 5' UglyStik with 10lb mono that I was Texas-rigging senkos on.

The bass were taking actual food from the topwater, but I need to really work on my frog presentation, cause I wasn't getting anything anyway. After the wind knot, I was fishing with the UglyStik exclusively and got a few bites. Then this giant thing took the bait; it was so strong it was just leading the boat around and must've dove into some cover, cause I reeled myself in directly on top of it. The rod was bending insanely and I wasn't strong enough to make much progress in the fight. The moment I started to actually get it up a little, my knot came undone. So clearly I need to work on my knot tying skills, but I also think an uglyStik is just too flimsy to be of any good in the res, unless I go for crappies with it.

That's all well and fine, but what sort of gear are you guys using for bass? I think I'm going to get a new rod so I have something stronger to use for T-rigged senkos, and keep the other rod devoted to topwater. I'm leaning toward one of these combos: http://www.amazon.com/Penn-Fierce-Reel-Combo-Heavy/dp/B011LVBZZ0?ie=UTF8&keywords=heavy%20spinning%20rod%20combo&qid=1463507145&ref_=sr_1_8&sr=8-8 Either the 7' Heavy single-piece or the 9' Medium-Heavy 2-piece. Which do you think would be more effective? Or any other suggestions?

Also, if I want to just keep mono on the new rod, what do you recommend? 15lb? 20lb?

Thanks a lot!

[Choporoz]

sounds like quite a day, A.  I bought an anchor and rope at Walmart and keep it in the car for when I rent from Fountainhead or Lake Ridge.  I've seen some big bass in O, but none as big as my torso...then again, my torso has gotten a lot bigger the last couple years.  Are you sure you weren't seeing carp?  Nine foot rod is probably a little overkill for bass....but, then again, maybe not if you're getting towed around the rez by them.    I got towed around by a 35 or 40 pound catfish a couple weeks ago and didn't lose it using 12 pound test and a 7'1" medium rod.