Upper Potomac smallmouth

[J.A. Veil]

Armed with some tackle and location tips from Bignose (Stu), I drove west this morning to fish in the upper Potomac River not far from the Antietam battlefield. My goal was to catch a smallmouth bass. I achieved that goal -- but just barely. In four hours of fishing from my kayak, I hooked four smallmouths, but landed only one. Fortunately it was a fat, strong fish between 15" and 16" long (my biggest smallmouth ever from the Potomac). It gave me a good fight. The bass hit a 3" green twister tail on a 1/4-oz chartreuse jighead.


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[bignose]

Outstanding!

That is a nice chunk of a smallmouth!

Glad it worked out for you.

[tmc3p]

That's a nice smalley!

[Big Mike]

Nice smallmouth John. I’ve had 100 fish days and zero fish days in the same stretch of water on the upper Potomac, just like all fish they can drive you crazy. More often than not a small grub has saved the day.

[DanMarino]

Nice going John! Upper Potomac smallies are my favorite. Sad that the fish numbers are in decline. I haven't made any trips yet this year. I'll probably give my favorite stretches a try over the summer months. I'll report back how the trips go.

[Slackdaddy]

Nice, did you launch and return, or drift from launch A to launch B ?

[J.A. Veil]

Nice, did you launch and return, or drift from launch A to launch B ?

I launched, fished my way upstream for 2 miles, then drifted back to the launch.

[bignose]

Be glad that you got out and fished when you did.
I just looked at the USGS gauge for Sheperdstown and it is up 3 feet from last week.

[Slackdaddy]

Sh!t,, was going to hit that area later this week,,, another repeat of the last 2 years

Be glad that you got out and fished when you did.
I just looked at the USGS gauge for Sheperdstown and it is up 3 feet from last week.

[brianisoutside]

Be glad that you got out and fished when you did.
I just looked at the USGS gauge for Sheperdstown and it is up 3 feet from last week.

Yup, same for a spot I usually wade fish. Needs to be around 1.5 to 2 at most, was there all week and in cake the thunderstorms and took it from 2 up to 5 feet


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[nhunter344]

Sad that the fish numbers are in decline.

I don't fish there enough to notice a difference, but how bad has the decline been? Every time I go I catch plenty of sub 12" fish, but keeper size have been elusive so far. Maybe hope for the future of the fishery?

[DanMarino]

https://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/P..._stocking.aspx

January 8, 2020
Freshwater Fisheries conducted its annual fall electrofishing survey to assess adult smallmouth bass numbers in the upper Potomac River. For 2019, eleven stations were sampled from Edwards Ferry upstream to Paw Paw, WV. Unfortunately, as expected, electrofishing catch rates for quality size smallmouth bass (>11 inches in length) were below average (Figure 1). The 2019 average catch rate for the entire river was 20 fish/hr. This is lower than the long-term median catch rate of 23 fish/hr. The poor smallmouth bass year-classes that the upper Potomac River has been experiencing due to high spring flow levels over the past several years are the primary factor behind this trend. With fewer new fish entering the population, there are few adult fish over time.

SMB_fig1_2020.png

[Mark]

Maryland had record precipitation in 2018 with higher than average rainfall again in 2019. Those rains resulted in the "high spring flow levels" the DNR referenced in the statement Tom quoted above.

This year, May was wetter than normal but otherwise our monthly spring rain tracked at or below average.

Let's hope when the DNR does its smallmouth survey this fall, the results are better due to a more normal weather pattern in 2020.

Clearly high fast water adversely impacts the smallmouth spawn but it may also increase mortality in adult smallmouth if it reduces their food sources too.

[J.A. Veil]

I fished at Brunswick this morning. The water was clear, and the current was manageable. The fish, however, were not cooperative. In 4 hours of fishing, I caught just two 10" smallmouth. I threw a small spinnerbait, several colors of 2" and 3" twistertails on a jighead , 3" paddletail on a jighead, and 4 different types of crankbaits. I am not an experienced freshwater fisherman, but I had expected a few more fish than that.


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[J. Rentch]

Give a “A” for the effort John. Did you kayak or walk the shore?