Anyone havin luck on the potomac lately ?

[Bigs]

Hi All,

Just wanted to chim in and start by thanking everyone for the great information being shared on this thread. I moved to the NOVA area a little over a year ago from Rochester NY. I have been fishing the Potomac from my cedarstrip canoe mostly out of Algonkian and Point of Rocks. I've also been to Occoquan, Lake Anna and Beaver Creek Resevoir. Excellent results during the summer, not so great lately. I haven't tried the tidal region yet, but am planning to.

I tried Riverbend last weekend, which was a bust, high muddy water. No bites at all.

I only started fishing the last two years. It now looks like the fishing bug has really sunk its claws into me, and I am planning on going up to the next level and purchase a bass boat. I am seeing a lot of really great bargains on Craiglist, but I am relative uneducated on what to look out for. I think I have the basics covered:

Must have clear title

Engine runs good. More HP is better.

Trolling motor and electronics.

No leaks

Trailer in good shape

Any other important criteria I should be checking?

I have never actually been out on a bass boat. I would love to go out with someone who has a bass boat to get a feel for what features are good/bad as I make this decission. Please PM me if you would like to take a fellow fishing addict out fishing some weekend. Short notice, but I am available tomorrow (Saturday Nov 7) if someone is planning on going out and wants some company.

Steve B

welcome to the area Steve, I'm Steve too actually. If you wanna send me links for any of the boats you are lookin at then feel free. I'm a craigslist deal master and I have done plenty of used bass boat shopping. I bought all 3 of the boats I owned this year from craigslist. Most recently I bought an immaculate stratos 201 for 5300 bux which was a steal. What soccplayer said is correct, transom and motor need to be sound. Alot of fiberglass bass boats used wood in the transom up till the late 90's and even a few until 2002. Im not sure but I think all the major brands are 100 composite now. I do troll craigslist daily for deals on boats even tho I dont plan on buying another one for a few years. Lemme know what you're interested in and I will tell you as much as I can.

General rule of thumb- aluminum boats drift alot in the wind . They are light, easy to tow, easy on gas and cheap to insure also. However when your fishing partner is movin around sometimes you will stumble across the deck, they arent very stable. They also dont handle choppy water nearly as well esp when you're sittin in a spot fishing and a big boat goes by you 100 feet away, hold on for dear life.Older riveted boats can be leaky, a test drive is a must imo. You can however get into real shallow water and bumpin logs is no biggie as long as they dont hit the motor when youre moving along. If you are fishing small lakes, private lakes and non tidal water then you're good to go for the most part. If you plan on fishing potomac and lake anna then you might wanna think long and hard about aluminum.

Fiberglass bass boats fish better, ride better , fish alot more stable, drift less in the wind(still drift tho) and go way faster usually. But you gotta look out for logs, debris, etc...They cost more to insure but its still cheap. I just gotta sweet policy with 300,000 coverage for 300 dollars a year. There is more to maintain but it's like a car, just keep up with it and you will have minimal problems.

If you have a bad back or knees then fiberglass is a better option. Dont skimp if you buy a glass boat tho. Anything less then 18 and a half feet and you're wasting your time. If you wanna fish the potomac alot then there are 3 brands to look out for, the 3 best rough water rides in the business- champion, basscat and stratos. Those are big water boats. Ranger is a great boat but the ride cant even compare, I know from experience. Ranger's qaulity however is number one, they hold the most value therefore they come out to be a lil overpriced when lookin at used ones. Not sayin they arent worth every penny, but they are better suited for smaller water imo. I rode in the top of the line 21 foot ranger a few months back with an experienced FLW pro who knew how to drive and it was a lil rough on the potomac. Wasnt terrible like a pro craft or nitro but wasnt anything like my stratos, not even close. They do fish amazing tho, most stable boat I have been on when fishing. Less tipsy then my stratos for sure.

Hope this all makes sense, if you need anything feel free to PM me. Oh and I know some ranger owners might chime in and bash what I said but thats to be expected.

[Dan:]

I gotta, say, just from reading 420Angler's posts, he is an extremely well-researched consumer.*

I don't know too much about the differences between fiberglass boats, but the differences he listed between aluminum and fiberglass are dead on from my experiences.

*for a Daiwa guy.... ;D

steveb1, make sure to check out the boating section of the forum. I'm sure you will learn a lot and get some good answers there.

[Bigs]

I gotta, say, just from reading 420Angler's posts, he is an extremely well-researched consumer.*

I don't know too much about the differences between fiberglass boats, but the differences he listed between aluminum and fiberglass are dead on from my experiences.

*for a Daiwa guy.... ;D

steveb1, make sure to check out the boating section of the forum. I'm sure you will learn a lot and get some good answers there.

Oh you shimano and abu guys are just as bad as the ranger guys :-?

I keed I keed

[soccplayer07]

ouch...i love my revos and rangers!!!

[Thai]

This is a first for me and as much as I hate to say it....I got skunked fishing the potomac this morning.....

[LHC - Bank Robber]

That sucks, it was too cold for me this morning but im thinkin about headin out for some afternoon action, whered you fish?

[Thai]

the bridge for about an hour and a half

[steveb1]

Hi All,

welcome to the area Steve, I'm Steve too actually. If you wanna send me links for any of the boats you are lookin at then feel free. I'm a craigslist deal master and I have done plenty of used bass boat shopping. I bought all 3 of the boats I owned this year from craigslist. Most recently I bought an immaculate stratos 201 for 5300 bux which was a steal. What soccplayer said is correct, transom and motor need to be sound. Alot of fiberglass bass boats used wood in the transom up till the late 90's and even a few until 2002. Im not sure but I think all the major brands are 100 composite now. I do troll craigslist daily for deals on boats even tho I dont plan on buying another one for a few years. Lemme know what you're interested in and I will tell you as much as I can.

General rule of thumb- aluminum boats drift alot in the wind . They are light, easy to tow, easy on gas and cheap to insure also. However when your fishing partner is movin around sometimes you will stumble across the deck, they arent very stable. They also dont handle choppy water nearly as well esp when you're sittin in a spot fishing and a big boat goes by you 100 feet away, hold on for dear life.Older riveted boats can be leaky, a test drive is a must imo. You can however get into real shallow water and bumpin logs is no biggie as long as they dont hit the motor when youre moving along. If you are fishing small lakes, private lakes and non tidal water then you're good to go for the most part. If you plan on fishing potomac and lake anna then you might wanna think long and hard about aluminum.

Fiberglass bass boats fish better, ride better , fish alot more stable, drift less in the wind(still drift tho) and go way faster usually. But you gotta look out for logs, debris, etc...They cost more to insure but its still cheap. I just gotta sweet policy with 300,000 coverage for 300 dollars a year. There is more to maintain but it's like a car, just keep up with it and you will have minimal problems.

If you have a bad back or knees then fiberglass is a better option. Dont skimp if you buy a glass boat tho. Anything less then 18 and a half feet and you're wasting your time. If you wanna fish the potomac alot then there are 3 brands to look out for, the 3 best rough water rides in the business- champion, basscat and stratos. Those are big water boats. Ranger is a great boat but the ride cant even compare, I know from experience. Ranger's qaulity however is number one, they hold the most value therefore they come out to be a lil overpriced when lookin at used ones. Not sayin they arent worth every penny, but they are better suited for smaller water imo. I rode in the top of the line 21 foot ranger a few months back with an experienced FLW pro who knew how to drive and it was a lil rough on the potomac. Wasnt terrible like a pro craft or nitro but wasnt anything like my stratos, not even close. They do fish amazing tho, most stable boat I have been on when fishing. Less tipsy then my stratos for sure.

Hope this all makes sense, if you need anything feel free to PM me. Oh and I know some ranger owners might chime in and bash what I said but thats to be expected.

Good ideas to think about. In particular, I hadn't thought about the transom, (mentioned by soccplayer). But that makes a lot of sense, the transom has to be the single most stressed point on the boat (unless you hit something)!

I will follow up with PM on boats I am looking at, I don't want to take the toppic of this thread too far off course. But I will mention that in general I plan on starting cheap, $2500 to $4000. This way, if I make a blunder, it isn't too expensive. And then after I use it for a year or two, I will have a real idea of exactly what I want, and then make a more substantial commitment.

Amazingly, I am seeing fiberglass boats (18 ft, 100+ hp) in the price range I mentioned above.

Steve B

[Bigs]

Thai- don't worry it happens. Happens to me about every other time I go out since summer ended. Plus the fish are used to you, when they know you're coming they gtf out of dodge ;D

Soccplayer- I love rangers too , just dont think they are big water boats at all. As for revos, the only one I owned I wasnt crazy about but they sure do have a loyal following, much like ranger boats 

SteveB- we already sidetracked my thread a long time ago, no worries 

[LHC - Bank Robber]

revos are pretty awsome.  the bite was tough today I tossed everything I had at em and only got two bites, and only caught one striper, i gotta get up and early and hit the front tomorrow.

[NewAngler]

It was indeed skunk city. And I passed through backlashville, too. Rough.

You guys ever hear of Widewater..? Found it on a map close to me here in stafford. Gonna head out there tomorrow morning around 10

[Bigs]

Ya I know all about backlashville, I pass thru everytime I pick up my curado, exactly why I just got rid of it in favor of another fuego, never a single backlash with any of my daiwas  ;D daiwa > shimano 

tonite is a good nite tho, I got a deposit on my aluminum bass boat I been tryin to sell, I get the rest of the money tommorow and off she goes for good. Back on topic tho, I probably wont fish tommorow but sunday is lookin good. Should be 70 degress with virtually no wind. I think I have a full boat but not 100 percent sure. You down for some action on sunday thai if I have room ? I just gotta find out if my buddy is goin to the wizards game sunday at 1pm or not. If not then I def have room for one more.

[Thai]

70 degrees....

I'm so down if you have room just give a call tomorrow night and we'll go from there!

[steveb1]

Since several people had mentioned it, I went down to Riverside Park and tried fishing at Little Hunting Creek. I used Google Map, and it looked like I could get my canoe into the water at Riverside. Unfortunately, the shoreline was just a little to rocky and steep for me to the canoe into the water. Went over and shore fished the creek for a while, but no luck. Someone came by in a bass boat and tried the other shore for about a half hour. He didn't have any luck either.

Got in the car and headed up to Gravelley Point. I was going to put the canoe in at the boat ramp, but the wind had really kicked up by then. Shore fished off the dock, but no luck. There looks like a culvert leading over to a bird sanctuary on the other side of Washington Pkwy. There were two people down by the culvert and several more fishing off the dock. No one caught anything while I was there. The culvert looks high enough for me to get my canoe through. Does any one know if fishing is allowed in the bird sanctuary? Anyone have any luck fishing at Gravelley Point?

Going to try Riverbend again tomorrow.

[Thai]

fishing is allowed at the sanct. its shallow enough too wade out in the middle, best bet is in during the warmer months, there are some big fish to be had there

as far as fishing little hunting from a canoe heres a spot you can launch from

38.728227,-77.082622

[LHC - Bank Robber]

gravelly point, is that roaches run?  If so ive been there once or twice and never really had much luck. But if you put your canoe in up there you'll be in dc waters and need a dc license (just something to remember).  Ive heard the bird sanctuary is a carp pond, never fished it though.

[Bigs]

I have room for one person to go out with me tommorow on my bass boat. You must have experience backin a trailer/boat into the water as well as loading one up which entails backin up an empty trailer into the water perfectly straight and then hand winching the boat up and securing it. I dont powerload my boat when I bring it in, not good enough at it yet :-? This is a 20+ foot dual console bass boat. So if you wanna head out of lessylvania tommorow around 10:30 am then lemme know. Oh and be prepared to throw down 10 or 12 bux for gas. I have an annual launch pass so thats taken care of already. send me a pm, I will check my messages when I wake up tommorow and when i go to bed in a few hours. Its gonna be 70 degrees or so tommorow, no rain and almost no wind.

[mantis1]

420, Thai, etc.

I can launch and load. I've had a bowrider (18) for 7 years now and use it alot.

My fishin buddy has a Whaler (19). Launch and load it too.

I hope to go out  Mon. on mine.

Maybe Tues on mine ... if I don't go on out with my bud on his.

Wed. is already planned.

Who is available Mon? or Maybe Tues?

Or Wed. if plans change?

Last ride for mine. She has to be winterized.

PM please.

Lee

[Bigs]

Sent you a PM mantis. Im headed out right now with my buddy, we're gonna launch out of reagan airport ramps. Do some DC fishing, should be good. I hear the water is clear up that way and we might even catch some smallies. Oh and Go Ravens!!

[JVM]

I am looking to go fishing Monday if anyone has room on a boat or knows a good shore spot this time of the year.  If anyone is up for it, PM me.  Mantis, sent you a PM already.

-JVM

[Bigs]

what a freakin day :-? we did well fishing in the 3 hours we were out. I caught 7 nice ones but my buddy only caught 4. All were caught on stanley wedge spinner baits, the smallest ones they makes. I caught the last 3 in a 10 minute span right near where we launched at the airport., 2 on consecutive casts. The fish are lovin spinner baits right now for sure. We didnt even get a nibble on anything else we threw. The spinnerbait was the last thing I tried . So if we had both been throwing it all day then we have caught alot more.

The flip side is I lost my cell phone, might be in the river, not sure. And I busted up my propeller, I must have hit something. Oh and my boat stalled out 3 times when I was tryin to load it on the trailer, not sure what that was all about. First time it has done that. And to to top it all off, I cannot find my annual launch pass to va state parks which covers leesylvania > And last but not least, the Ravens lost, what a day

[soccplayer07]

oh the joys of owning a boat...jk. sorry to hear about the problems. at least your not a skins fan like ME!!!

Do you have insurance? If so, with who? What kind of oil are you using? I ask because I have a great hook up.

[Thai]

caught 6 striper at pomonkey creek right before dark.

2 on spinnerbait, one on rattle trap, and 3 on a popper

biggest was 24"

[Bigs]

Quote

oh the joys of owning a boat...jk. sorry to hear about the problems. at least your not a skins fan like ME!!!

Do you have insurance? If so, with who? What kind of oil are you using? I ask because I have a great hook up.

I do have insurance , I got it thru that guy from the insurance forum, Bob. Covers everything but I dunno if its even worth reporting. I can get a nice used prop for 200 bux or so. Plus who knows how long it could take to do a claim, I wanna new prop asap. I was about to get one anyways to pick up a few mph. I could just repair my prop, its not trashed but it has a chunk thats folded pretty bad. I will probably sell it as is or repair it and keep it for a spare. Its just a shooter SS prop, kinda ole skool. Might be the original prop actually.

Oh and Im using johnson oil which is made for my motor. I think Im gonna take my boat in just to make sure everything is cool. I should do that anyways. It runs great, planes fairly fast and hauls *** but its better to be safe then sorry.

I wonder if the extreme angle my boat was sittin at had anything to do with it stalling. Maybe a clogged fuel filter ? I ran out of gas the other day on the water and then switched over to my other tank which was full. So maybe I sucked all the junk out of the bottom of the tank up when I ran out ? That could clog the fuel filter right ?

Those ramps at reagan airport are the steepest and worst I have ever seen. It was very difficult to load my boat there compared to pohick bay. Thats the last time I ever launch out of there for sure. Yikes :-[

Oh and Thai always catches fish, but today for once I caught more then him. I can get used to that

[Bigs]

a few pics from today, nothing huge but most were around 2 pounds and a few one and a half. Not bad for a 1/8 ounce spinner bait. If I hadnt run out of spinner baits I would fished more, I lost both of the ones I had so had to stop fishing, nothing else was even getting a bite. I just hit walmart earlier tho and bought about a dozen so Im good to go for now. Gotta KVD 1/2 ounce spinnerbait on clearance for 25 cents !! Wish they had more then one tho, I would have bought them all.