Potomac River Washington DC

[rondef]

Does anyone on here fish the Potomac River between the Woodrow Wilson Birdge and the Tidal Basin? My son and I have a tournament (Take A Wounded Soldier Fishing) up there May 16th and 17th and we have never fished that part of the Potomac River before. We will have a wounded soldier with us for this tournament and we would like to be able to put him on some fish so he has a great day. We will be pre-fishing Saturday May 9th so I can try and find a few spots for the tournament. Any help that you could provide would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Ron

[JCrzy4Bass]

Does anyone know if Four Mile Run is navigable by bass boat or is it too shallow?  Also how are the bridges and pilings up there as far as fishing?  I was thinking maybe the 295 bridge (Anacostia FWY) and the cove after passing under may be an option depending on depth/structure and deep water access.  I was told by some others that docks with deep water access were good structure around here and that there was a power plant with a ater discharge area where fish can pile up.  Just trying to get different ideas.

By this point I know most if not all fish should be on a post spawn bite and up around these parts I wouldn't really know what to be looking for in that particular situation.  I'd assume we want to find some spots that have quick access to the channel/deep water or drops.    

I know further up river you have some islands and such too so I know those may be options.  We will be launching out of Gravelly Point.  If you can help at all it would be appreciated.  You can respond here or in the Potomac River DC thread Rondef has started up.

[Dan:]

The only thing I know is that you should probably take some Purell with you...

seriously.

[JCrzy4Bass]

Lol.  Trust me Dan, I'll have all sorts of wipes and cleaning solutions in my tackle box that day.  That part of the Potomac is pretty much a cess pool.  And I will be bringing baits that will NOT be used again anywhere else (including tackle like hooks and weights).

Anyway, I'll be reviewing that City Limits episode as I know that some of the spots they were fishing will be fair game during our tourney (though I imagine everyone else will be on those too).

[VABasser]

Does anyone on here fish the Potomac River between the Woodrow Wilson Birdge and the Tidal Basin? My son and I have a tournament (Take A Wounded Soldier Fishing) up there May 16th and 17th and we have never fished that part of the Potomac River before. We will have a wounded soldier with us for this tournament and we would like to be able to put him on some fish so he has a great day. We will be pre-fishing Saturday May 9th so I can try and find a few spots for the tournament. Any help that you could provide would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Ron

Do you have Ken Penrod's book?  I imagine you do but if not I could look through those areas in my copy and see what he says.  I skipped that section over because I didn't think I'd fish up that far north

[JCrzy4Bass]

Va,

We don't have Ken's book but I heard it is pretty much the bible for part's of the Potomac River.  That would be amazing if you could give it a look through man.  Pm me your cell and I'll hit you up sometime this week so we can chat a bit.

Later buddy.

[A.Do?]

from what I've seen 4 mile run is WAY tooo shallow. I've heard of good fishing where it meets the potomac though. PM Volfan, he's a local to those waters.

[Sam]

Check out Penrod's web site along with other guides in the area.

I do not fish the area but read somewhere (I read too many fishing articles to remember) that there is some good fishing adjacent to the WW bridge on the Virginia side.

Is Mattawoman Creek to far for you to travel?  

As you know, watch the weather as the Potomac can be very dangerous in the wind.

Have fun and send pics.  

[rondef]

Sam, if I am not mistaken we have to stay on the DC side of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.  I have been reviewing the Potomac River map and I think I have found a few places to try out this Saturday.  I watched Ike's City Limits (Washington DC) fishing show and I made note of the locations where they were catching fish.  We will also try those spots out this weekend and see how they are.  I just want to find a few productive spots for the tournament.

[Sam]

Thanks, Ron.

I have no idea about any waters north of the WW.

I am sure you can find articles on the web or in magazines about the upper Potomac.

Good luck.  

[c17Lat]

http://it.truveo.com/DVO-010-Bass-fishing-on-the-Potomac-River/id/2215757737

[VABasser]

http://it.truveo.com/DVO-010-Bass-fishing-on-the-Potomac-River/id/2215757737

Haha old school stuff there.  Good find.  I watched it and couldn't stop laughing at how awkward the host was.  Don't mean to hijack your thread Ron but I'm going to make the switch on a few of my baitcasting setups this year to braid.  Just curious what lb test/brand you guys that fish the Potomac like and whether you use a leader or not.  I'm thinking 50lb.  Good luck prefishing this weekend.  Let us know how you do.  I've been scanning through the section in Penrod's book and I'll try to type up some info on a few of the productive areas he talks about.  If all goes as planned I'll be on the water next Wed, Thurs and Fri so I'll be sure to let you know if I'm on a solid pattern.  I'll be fishing further south but who knows it could still be helpful

[hawgwalker]

No expert but I had good luck fishing this area in September. I would think it a good post spawn location. Fox Ferry point and spoils.

[rondef]

I fish 30lb Suffix braid on my setups, I don't see a need to go to 50lb.  That video is ok but they were south of the Woodrow Wilson bridge, we are supposed to stay within the city limits.

[JCrzy4Bass]

Vabasser,

Thanks for reading up on that stuff, look forward to hearing your info.  Sorry I haven't got around to calling you man, my son has been sick as a dog for two days.  Was in the emergency roomw ith him most of the night last night and at urgent care at Kaiser for most of the day today.  Some respiratory deal.  Anyway, I'll get around to you hopefully tommorrow during lunch pending nothing crazy happens with my son this evening.

Hawg, thanks for the info boss.  I know the spoils is a heavily fished tourney area and weekend warrior spot so I don't know how far into that we will go, especially since my dad's boat it will take a while to run down to.  We are probably gonna hit further north up by the 395 bridge, washington channel, hayns point and such.  Anyway, we are saving all these spots as last minute ditches in case we have trouble finding fish or putting together a limit so thanks for the heads up.  That point does look pretty money and I figure with all th pressure on the spoils and the spawn being over for the most part in two weeks they may be outside on some of those main river points and such.  Good call boss.

[quanjig]

Alright guys, give this a try. On those 2 days you are gonna have low tide at about 8&9 am. I would look to go into Washington channel and fish the seawall at the war college(generals row?) and look for the grass line. Try topwater, flukes or senkos. Also toss a Carolina rig along the edges. If you are feeling adventurous, you can go all the way up and fish about 100 yards or so along the seawall before the 295 bridge all the way up to the 14th st bridge where the tidal basin empties. Small jigs along the seawall and tubes at the tidal basin discharge. Don't be surprised if you hook into striper or smallmouth up in there. Let us know how you do and most of all be careful and have fun!

[JCrzy4Bass]

Thanks Quanjig,

The Washington Channel was actually one of our prime spots we were thinking about if the bite is slow getting around to there. There is a nice LONNNNG ledge where it drops from 4 - 5' to 20+ feet pretty quickly. I hear there is some spadderdock up along here and the spinnerbait is crucial along the ledge and vegetation. Also deep diving cranks were a big thing in the articles and reports I've been reading. I figure if any of the fish spawned up here they won't be far off and if so we may just focus on Hayns point (if the channel, wall and ledge fail to produce). I figure with the three branches meeting up and the current being jammed up (Anacostia, Potomac, and Washington Channel) there may be a good quantity of bass hanging off this point waiting to ambush shad or herring being pushed through. Anyway good info man, we definately will put it to use and we'll let you know how the prefish goes.

[A.Do?]

the washington channel..

fished there a few times last year for striper. careful when near the war college, although I haven't been yelled at yet, they apparently get hissy if you get too close to the wall. The drop off is 10-15' out from the wall. You'll see the drop off on your depth finder quickly as it is VERY apparent. Don't be ticked if you can't get them to bite either. If you run along the wall the war college is on towards the police station you'll find, or atleast I did in the fall, a lot of fish suspended a few feet off the bottom. Your charts will scream, "Cast here" but trust me...they won't always bite.. :'(

Last year there were quite a few anglers working the other side, the wall of the park (forgot name) throwing shakey heads but they didn't have any luck. Sorry, this info is from the fall so will probably be of noo help to you.

Oh yea, watch out for floating timber >

After writing all this I noticed you already said some of this stuff, oh well.

P.S. a DC fishing license is required for the DC channel.

[rondef]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, it is much appreciated.  We will be getting our fishing licenses in the morning from the Harbor Patrol Office @ 550 Water Street, it is located right at the Washington Channel.  I saw the river this morning and it looks like chocolate milk with debris in it.  Hopefully it will start to clear up some this weekend.

[quanjig]

Channel will be fine by then. It takes quite the flooding for the channel to get as dirty as the main river. You could go in there today and find good water.

[JCrzy4Bass]

Sweet Quanjig.  At least if we want "different water" we have an option now.  Good stuff.  Do you know if there is a launch anywhere in there or is Gravelly the only one up that way?  Like is there one by the Harbor Patrol that is public?

[quanjig]

Your best bet is gravelly. It's big and free. Bellhaven is an option but it's narrow and can be tricky. Keep to gravelly and you should be in good shape. Haven't had much luck fishing the actual point on hanes but I guess it's posible. Also look in the anacostia going in on the right hand bank, right around the first boat dock. It's small but it's the only one along that wall. It's got some deep water in the front but is a very nice spot. Jigs and plastic all over it and just above it along the wall. Caught and lost some very good fish there.

[A.Do?]

Also, not sure if you know but you can purchase a DC fishing license at some Dick's.

[rondef]

Small craft advisory just got posted for this weekend (Saturday morning through Sunday morning) so much for pre-fishing this weekend. > We are going to have to fish next weekend based on our map reading skills and the locations you folks mentioned.  

I went to Dicks in Fair Lakes and they stopped selling DC fishing licenses.

[A.Do?]

That stinks, how's the new one by potomac mills? I haven't been there yet. Sorry to derail. haha