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When I saw Pohick Bay on the MAKBF Schedule for this season I knew I needed to get back down there to prefish a couple of times before the tournament. I had fished there a few times over the past couple of seasons but never had much luck for numbers or size on that fishery. With so many other good options on the Tidal Potomac, Pohick Bay had pretty much dropped off my radar.
With a serious cold front (with a cold rain) having blown through our area two days prior to the tournament and blue bird high skies predicted for the tournament day I suspected a good limit would be a couple of 15" to 15.5" with a 17" or 18" as a kicker. Unfortunately I only managed one of the first part of that equation!
All my landed fish came on a 7" Culprit Fat Max Worm in Junebug rigged on a 1/4 ounce Confidence Baits Draggin' Head.
Junebug is a good color choice as it shows up well in the off color dirty water conditions we had yesterday. I like rigging these on a Draggin' Head for a few reasons. One, unlike a sliding bullet weight I have a more direct connection with my presentation. Two, with the way the weight is positioned on the Draggin' Head it acts as a keel for the ribbontail worm. It won't roll and you get the complete "thump" from the swimming tail. Third, with the hook always pointed up I have a much better chance of sticking the bass in the roof of the mouth (better holding power).
I found the bass yesterday to be in a fairly non aggressive mood and positioning very tight to wood cover. My best presentation was to cast the worm along the length of a submerged laydown, allow it to sink the bottom, then let it sit still for 30 seconds. If they were there they would pickup the motionless worm. If nothing happened after the pause I would swim it forward a few feet and let it sit under the log again.
I got my limit on the board but I had a size problem. Instead of 15" bass I had a couple in the 12" range. Try as I might, even on the outgoing tide I could not connect with another decent fish.
My last ditch effort, something I had picked up while prefishing, was to run up the creek a couple of hundred yards to fish the developing patches of milfoil growing in the middle of the creek channel. These patches of grass are visible as the the tide goes out and clearer water pulls down the creek. As the tide recedes some bass will pull off the shoreline into this cover. I would make a long cast upstream and slowly swim the worm back down into the grass patches. I was able to cull one of the 12" bass with a 14.75".
Ah well, it was a nice day on the water! Good catching up with a few familiar faces!
my tournament fish (bad pictures!), I had set my camera bag down into a puddle of water and apparently water drops kept winding up on the lens (will have to guard against that in the future).
a better picture of a better Pohick Bay Bass caught while prefishing for the tournament
With a serious cold front (with a cold rain) having blown through our area two days prior to the tournament and blue bird high skies predicted for the tournament day I suspected a good limit would be a couple of 15" to 15.5" with a 17" or 18" as a kicker. Unfortunately I only managed one of the first part of that equation!
All my landed fish came on a 7" Culprit Fat Max Worm in Junebug rigged on a 1/4 ounce Confidence Baits Draggin' Head.
Junebug is a good color choice as it shows up well in the off color dirty water conditions we had yesterday. I like rigging these on a Draggin' Head for a few reasons. One, unlike a sliding bullet weight I have a more direct connection with my presentation. Two, with the way the weight is positioned on the Draggin' Head it acts as a keel for the ribbontail worm. It won't roll and you get the complete "thump" from the swimming tail. Third, with the hook always pointed up I have a much better chance of sticking the bass in the roof of the mouth (better holding power).
I found the bass yesterday to be in a fairly non aggressive mood and positioning very tight to wood cover. My best presentation was to cast the worm along the length of a submerged laydown, allow it to sink the bottom, then let it sit still for 30 seconds. If they were there they would pickup the motionless worm. If nothing happened after the pause I would swim it forward a few feet and let it sit under the log again.
I got my limit on the board but I had a size problem. Instead of 15" bass I had a couple in the 12" range. Try as I might, even on the outgoing tide I could not connect with another decent fish.
My last ditch effort, something I had picked up while prefishing, was to run up the creek a couple of hundred yards to fish the developing patches of milfoil growing in the middle of the creek channel. These patches of grass are visible as the the tide goes out and clearer water pulls down the creek. As the tide recedes some bass will pull off the shoreline into this cover. I would make a long cast upstream and slowly swim the worm back down into the grass patches. I was able to cull one of the 12" bass with a 14.75".
Ah well, it was a nice day on the water! Good catching up with a few familiar faces!
my tournament fish (bad pictures!), I had set my camera bag down into a puddle of water and apparently water drops kept winding up on the lens (will have to guard against that in the future).
a better picture of a better Pohick Bay Bass caught while prefishing for the tournament
It will be a show down at POR! hahaha
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