Anyone Hit The Occoquan Reservoir Lately?

[big poppa]

what time im heading to lake ridge park at 6:30ish am

Ill probably be out there after 7 but closer to 8 because I dont get off work until after midnight. Im more than likely heading up towards fountain head and the five fingers

[nitro557]

Hey that was my plan ill see you out there me and a buddy will be in a red boat .stop on by and say hi

[nitro557]

not much luck today just a couple small ones ,keeper but to small for me ,did get to watch this go riding around and several times on full boogie plane

[big poppa]

I landed a few 3lbers all on spinner ansbroke off two 5+ right next to the boat Once with a spinnerbait and once on a square bill. THANKS QUAN!! ad a bite on a 6 inch swimbait. Set the hook and my pole snapped in half. Lost the fish too. I think I saw you Nitro but I was too angry to say hi from breaking a $150 rod haha

[big poppa]

On a side note what kind of line do you all use?

[quanjig]

Seguar red lable is my line of choice right now for all around, Sunline super natural for my mono applications. Glad to hear you got a few good bites, those fish will still be there next time!!

[big poppa]

Thanks quan. I used to use nothing but red label. I met a guide who told me to try a bass pro brand line and I already regret it. Im gonna have to swing by the store before I go out again. Youve been a great help. I owe ya a beer or something.

[quanjig]

You are very welcome and I'll take you up on that beer one day!! The line thing to me is all about personal preference. I know guys that absolutly refuse to use floro!! The XPS floro is ok of you fish a lot of open water in my opinion but the red label does a lot of things well for me!!

[The Bream Reaper]

knowing the optimal depth the fish are holding is really hepful, especially without a graph.  all really good info!  Thanks boys.  Hoping to get out there this weekend at some point...per usual fish out of FH and fish around the old dam.

[big poppa]

Sounds good!

[Bronzebacker]

Bull Run-----I put my canoe in at route 28 on 7/13/14 and canoed down to Bull Run Marina. The first part is a little trashy ( it is an urban stream after all ) but the further you get away from 28 the nicer it gets. I swear there are some stretches where it is so remote and beautiful you'd think you were in Shenandoah National Park!

All the way down to Hemlock Park is great paddling and fishing. Numerous class l ( maybe a couple ll's ) rapids which are fun and the current mostly has a nice push to it. There is one very large recently uprooted tree that spans the stream you have to portage ( left ) which is a bit of a hassle....another portage further down no problem.

For some reason all of the blue gills I were catching we're small. The Smallmouth I landed we're decent sized ( about 12"......crayfish cranbait and curly tail grub jigs ). I passed up a lot of fishy spots when I realized I had a lot of river miles to cover. Just after Hemlock Park the pain begins folks. The flat water back-up to Occoquan Resorvoir is quite a chore. Next time I run this it will def. be with trolling motor!

[rivafishn]

I just recently found this forum and read the entire thing last week.  I was looking for some pointers as I am still relatively new to the Reservoir and am trying to figure it out.  Thanks for all the information in here. 

 

I fish out of a kayak starting about a year ago and typically launch in the creek closest to the d**n, but I am working to expand my fishing on the reservoir as I hear so many great stories of lots of fish or big fish.  I managed a couple of four pounders last year, but always seem to catch fish at the southern end.

 

I fished out of the lake ridge marina the last couple of weekends trying to get an idea of where and how to catch fish.  I'll be interested to hear if there were any reports from this past weekend.  I fished both mornings up until about lunch time and just couldn't seem to get it going.  I only managed three fish this weekend.  Based on what I was seeing around me during the day it seemed like it was a slow weekend, but the reports will tell all. 

[quanjig]

That's quite a journey!! I know it takes quite a while to motor from bull run up to the rapids let alone from 28 to bull run. You are absolutly right about the view, beautiful, especially during the fall with all the trees!! Welcome to the forums by the way!!

[The Bream Reaper]

Never made it out this weekend.  Bummed.  Anybody pattern any fish over the weekend?  Any big bites?  Quan did you all have a tourny yesterday?

[quanjig]

Sundays tournament was brutal for my partner and I. Only managed 4 keepers and we fished hard all day!! Deep bite was non existent fro us. Winning bag was 20.89 I think and that came from way up in the river. Second was almost 19 and third was 18+. Very different from the 23+ pounds it was taking to place the last month and a half. Guys I know that were out the week leading up to the weekend were killing it but the bite got tougher as the week went on.

The res is a great place to fish and it takes time and effort to learn it like any body of water. The past few years it seems like this place just keeps getting better and better and I think that had to do with catch and release as well as fairfax county water authority doing such a great job at maintaining this water supply reservoir. It's hard to believe we have such a beautiful resource so close to the nations capital.

[Eddie-NoVA]

Fished from bull run marina to wolfe on Saturday. Caught a dozen fish and top 5 at ~15lb. Crushing spinnerbaits in the morning around timber and grass in the shallows. Beaver style baits on bluffs produced the bigger fish. Fished some offshore structure with cranks and jigs. Couldnt buy a bite. Later in the afternoon the jig produced fish as soon as it hit the water.

Will probably head out Sunday if I have some free time.

Spinnerbait bearing broke in the morning and Jig brushguard disappeared on second fish. Both from recent Northstar orders. hope its just a bad batch

[rivafishn]

Nice day Eddie!  I need to keep at it and keep trying to learn more about the reservoir.  Can't wait to get out again this weekend

[Eddie-NoVA]

The reservoir is huge.  I've probably only covered 25% of it in the past few years. Gotta pay your dues on the water.

[Choporoz]

O Rez kicked I disagree this weekend. I'm getting more and more comfortable with spring and fall patterns, but I feel it could take years to learn the summer offshore bite. Nearly 18 hours total Fri and Sat with maybe a dozen fish....nothing over 2.5. Still, it's far better than NOT fishing.

 

Edit: autocorrect?  or does BR not like a$$?  lol....should have read 'kicked my (butt)'   

[quanjig]

Saturday was tough, I was able to find a school of good fish in the middle of the day around lake ridge. Caught 8 fish with a couple over 4 and a handful of 3's. Deeper stumps and drops were the key!! I would highly recommend a map and look at areas that are "named". These are spots that people have had success in and around. Drop the trolling motor and keep an eye on the graph! It ha a taken years of fishing to find the spot on a spot in those areas. You have to remember there won't be feeding fish on every spot every day but you can make a milk run of spots in the summer and usually find a spot or two with feeding fish!!

[Choporoz]

Thanks, quan!    We may have spoke as I trolled by around 10:30 or so --- if that was you, thank you!  I am always very appreciative of other anglers willing to discuss what's working/what's not.   

 

I've been keeping one eye on offshore spots where I see what appear to be regulars ....and it has borne a little success --- such as Ryan's Dam, points off Wolf Run and the area near the wake buoys by the Sandy Run piers.  I'm limited to a rudimentary depth/fish finder for now since I rent -- I can find humps, holes, ledges, but it doesn't do so good about painting structure and baitfish....still learning every day.

 

I'll be sure to study my map more thoroughly for those named areas -- I'd mostly been using it for depth gradations, but it doesn't do detail as well as I'd hoped.  Thanks again.

[HokieDJ]

I've only fished this lake 3 times now and it has me struggling to find quantity in the reeds.  It's not like shallow fishing on the potomac for sure.

 

As for the deep stuff I'm totally lost.  I see fish marked in the 6, 10 and sometimes 12 feet range.  It's such a big drop off from the shore that I'm wondering if parallel fishing it or throwing it shallow and pulling it deeper is the right way to do it.  I have tried cranks and football jigs and have not managed to pull anything deeper than 4 feet.

 

This place does keep me going back because the ones I have found shallow have been quality!

[quanjig]

Ahhhhhhhh..... You complimented a fish I had just caught and I told you football jig??

[Choporoz]

Yep!   I much appreciated the info, but unfortunately, I didn't do well with it.  

 

However, I enjoy learning more about that body of water every time out on it.

[quanjig]

Next time if it's not a tournament or if you see me by myself, roll on over and I'll show you a little more on what I'm doing and throwing! I'm more than willing to help anyone out on the res!