Anyone Hit The Occoquan Reservoir Lately?

[nitro557]

went out both Saturday and Sunday this past weekend 9 fish total for both days smallest was 1.5 largest 3lbs gonna be back out on Saturday for more fun ,the highest temp I saw over the weekend was 60 in very shallow water

[big poppa]

Went out today. Didnt catch anything. Asked another group of people and they said they only caught a 15 incher after 5 hours. Sounds like it was a tough day all around.  

[shsabres]

Hey all, what bait/color schemes are you all having any luck on in the res?

[quanjig]

The res absolutly exploded yesterday!! The tournament record was broken twice yesterday!! 28.11 and 29.14!! 28 boats participated, 12 boats had 20lbs or better! Get out there now people, it's time!! Two fish over 7 countless 5+! Throw things that are shad like in appearance and size!!

[big poppa]

How big are the shad currently?

[Choporoz]

Wow.  Sounds like a totally different body of water than the one I was on Saturday.  3 bass in nearly 7 hours and none over 3lb.  Huge bass airborn all over the place at 7am, but couldn't get a bite on anything.  Maybe the Friday night front that came through was part to blame.  59-60 degrees at the surface -- visibility to about 6 inches.  I admit that the chop took me way out of my game most of the day....I didn't deal well with the wind - at all. 

[DelfiBoyz_One_and_Only]

I was in that tournament and although we caught a bunch of short fish the right size ones were tough to catch for us. Our better fish came on a blade we finished with five fish for a sad 13 lbs. I will take that 13lbs over a zero any day of the week though. Hope next tournament brings me 20+ lbs.

Wish I would have thrown the chatter bait a little more.

J

[Brick]

The res absolutly exploded yesterday!! The tournament record was broken twice yesterday!! 28.11 and 29.14!! 28 boats participated, 12 boats had 20lbs or better! Get out there now people, it's time!! Two fish over 7 countless 5+! Throw things that are shad like in appearance and size!!

Wow! That sounds awesome. The potomac was on fire Sunday too. Fish were really shallow and smashing gold bladed chatterbaits. Best 5 def went 20+. 15 fish in 3 hours from a kayak. Smallest was around 1.5. Also saw about 10 bald eagles(young and mature) and countless blue herons fishing. Hooked into something truely monsterous, but it pulled the hook. Guessing it was a cat or snakehead but didnt get to see it.

[DJ 6_6]

I stunked today coming out of Lake Ridge. Gonna go buy a cooler and put in some work on a live well tomorrow. 

funny Ive been youtubing vids on how to make livewell out of coolers the past few weeks!!   Would love to see some pics and know more about wht pump you bought and how you rigged it!

[DJ 6_6]

How's the fishing been since that nasty cold front came through right after all the reports of the Great fishing?  Things slowed back down?

[big poppa]

How's the fishing been since that nasty cold front came through right after all the reports of the Great fishing?  Things slowed back down?

Went out the past two days and theyve been bitting pretty well. Best five today went for about 15 pounds in 5 hours. 

[quanjig]

Yesterday was insane! 25 fish!! 18 were between 3-4.5lbs. They are on fire even in the dirtiest of water!!

[DJ 6_6]

Were they shallow, spawning , or still pretty deep staging and waiting to move up to spawn?

Were they hitting search baits (spinner baits, crankbaits) or soft plastics?

 

Thanks!

[quanjig]

10' and shallower, blade did most of the damage with a few fish on plastic as well.

[DJ 6_6]

Headed out Sunday Morning (hopefully) with my brother.  first chance this spring I've had to wet a line.

[Choporoz]

Good day on the rez yesterday.  Went down from Fountainhead, which I rarely do, but glad I did.  Picked up this 5.2lb in the fingers(?), which I'd never fished before.  Smallest was 2.75 up until almost 3PM when I got a 2 lb'er on half a Cut-R slid onto a jig head.  Probably boated about 20-25 pounds - every one on watermelon Rage Cut-R.  Couldn't get a single bite on a jig; and only a couple short strikes on spinnerbaits.

[quanjig]

Nice fish! Could have used a fish like that yesterday in the tournament!!

[DelfiBoyz_One_and_Only]

Nice fish! Could have used a fish like that yesterday in the tournament!!

X2

J-

[DJ 6_6]

Sunday we fished Occ. River since I heard there was a tourny Sunday.  Launched out of Occoquan park and proceeded down to 95 bridge.  My brother asked what he should throw, and having read the tips on here, I told him a small spinner bait....told him to go with the single blade Willow Leaf for more vibration. since the water was stained. His very first cast landed a nice 2.5lb bass..in about 10' of water....unfortunately that was the last bite of the day.   we worked our way south, past the sunken boat/barge and fished the lilly pad groups.   i was throwing a lipless crankbait and jig and worm.  Nothing.   a few boats around us caught a few fish....but we really struggled in our v-bottom 14" boat with the wind and a transom mounted trolling motor.   really need a foot mounted trolling motor to be able to fish and control the boat and not continiously make adjustments with the motor by hand.

 

Ended up with a nice sunburn on my face, luckily I wore long sleeve shirt and pants!   Still enjoyed the first day out on the water this year.

[georgeyew]

Sunday we fished Occ. River since I heard there was a tourny Sunday.  Launched out of Occoquan park and proceeded down to 95 bridge.  My brother asked what he should throw, and having read the tips on here, I told him a small spinner bait....told him to go with the single blade Willow Leaf for more vibration. since the water was stained. His very first cast landed a nice 2.5lb bass..in about 10' of water....unfortunately that was the last bite of the day.   we worked our way south, past the sunken boat/barge and fished the lilly pad groups.   i was throwing a lipless crankbait and jig and worm.  Nothing.   a few boats around us caught a few fish....but we really struggled in our v-bottom 14" boat with the wind and a transom mounted trolling motor.   really need a foot mounted trolling motor to be able to fish and control the boat and not continiously make adjustments with the motor by hand.

 

Ended up with a nice sunburn on my face, luckily I wore long sleeve shirt and pants!   Still enjoyed the first day out on the water this year.

 

I know that it'll get better. You were right on with your spinnerbait recommendation. Great job!

[big poppa]

Fishing in the river has been tough this year. 

Im curious how all this rain is gonna effect the rez.  

[quanjig]

It's going to be a mess for the next few days. If you do decide to go out, be very careful, the water came up fast and that will bring a lot of debris with it!!

[s freud]

Was going to go out Friday but did not remembering the debris from last time we had a rain like this. Did some bank fishing instead Friday and Saturday but caught nothing. Had a little nibble at one point on a worm but think it was probably just a sunnie. Hoping for clearer water next weekend.

[Choporoz]

Spent about five hours on the rez Saturday morning.  Unbelievable.  First time I've been skunked on there in a LONG time.  Exactly ONE solid hit - zero hook-ups.  I'm still upset.....lol   really.....worked depths, flats, coves, drop-offs, horizontal structure, vertical structure....jigs, worms, spinners (in line and reg blades), chatterbaits, jerk baits, lipless, square-bills, deep cranks, Ikas, soft swim baits - weigtless flukes and on spinner jig heads, lizarads, buzz baits, and others I can't even recall right now.  Zip Zilch Nada....

[quanjig]

The res gets tough when the water got so high and drops just as quickly! The key for me in situations like that have been to look for areas that clean up a little quicker or areas that break the current a little bit!