Trying Mattawoman for first time

[Runnin]

I'm gonna give Mattawoman a try for the first time on Friday. I plan to launch at Slavin's and see if I can get a Snakehead. Any suggestions on area's upstream , downstream, lure's tactics etc. My wife will be with me. Any ideas on easy methods a novice might use to get some easy pullage on perch, crappie, sunfish, etc.

Thanks for the tips.

[sparky1423]

Hey Runnin, if you can hold out till Saturday, we are having a convoy down to mattawoman. Just a few of us so far, it should be a few posts down in the forum.

[whenican]

For the smaller fish, get your bait down near the bottom...worms work well. For the sh, use weedless baits in the weeds, & spinners,buzzbaits, and senkos, and beetle-spins and rat-L-traps in the open water along grass bed edges, outside of lillypads....I may be there in the morn too b 4 work or in the Anacostia...good luck & let us know how you do. Oh, yea...be prepared for random views of flying wildlife and awesome views of picturescqueness all around!

[yakkinfish18]

For snakeheads I use a live target frog in the bulldog color and in the 5/8 oz size. It works well and is weedless. I use power pro in 20 to 30 lb range line but is equivalent to 8 lb diameter mono. You will need it to horse them around in the grass n weeds.other than that be ready for a top water explosion! It's my favorite! The bad part is they cost about $11.00 each Snakeheads are delicious too!

[ronaultmtd]

Plus 1- I use Real Target Frogs as well- had to retire one this year as it finally got a big tear in it from a hit- I have six of them in various colors and sizes- 3/8 oz is the smallest one and the 5/8 is the biggest frogs I use- the natural green and yellow has been my best frog but I have had hits and caught fish on the brown as well- biggest bass came on the 5/8 green/yellow frog which had the biggest snakehead as well- its the one I just threw away in the trash- I kept the hooks- I use the 30# Cabelas Rip Chord II braid on my Revo SX with a seven foot Powell MH rod-

[Slackdaddy]

Holy cow,, is everyone going to Mattawoman this week

[beerums]

+1 on the aforementioned lure preferences....from what I've noticed the best place for SH seems to be heading left from Slavins. If you go down around the first two bends there is an old barge, they seem to be hunkered down in the lily pads before and after the barge. If you head past the barge about 1/4 mile there is a retaining wall on one side and lily pads on the other. The lily pads along that entire shore line seem to be pretty productive for SH. Try not to move around too much once you find a spot in the lily pads, they will sit and watch you until the last second and than they will spook and create a huge splash when they do, it will jump you if you're not paying attention. Lol.

[Paddle4fish]

where yall get the 5/8 lures i cant find them at Dicks in waldorf...thanks.. i might hit mattawoman this weekend Sunday looks the best for me....

[yakkinfish18]

where yall get the 5/8 lures i cant find them at Dicks in waldorf...thanks.. i might hit mattawoman this weekend Sunday looks the best for me....

Bass pro has a good quantity of all sizes of live target frogs .

[ronaultmtd]

bought mine at Dick's in Waldorf- but it was not this year- they stock up about mid May on fishing tackle- just got to keep up with what they get in and put on sale- Fred's is spotty, too- when I head down to PLO, Piney Point, Tall Timbers or St. Jerome's Creek, I always stop in at the Tackle Box in Lexington Park- that is a real fishing tackle shop-

[gafisherman]

Hey, I'm thinking about coming down to Mattawoman myself on Saturday for LM and SH. Where's the best place to launch? Slavins?

Thanks!

[ronaultmtd]

Yep- be aware that Saturdays are popular and the launch is busy, free and parking can be a bit cramped- Take a left off route 210 south just before you enter the Navy base at Indian Head on Mattingly- last street before the front gate of the base- at the end of Mattingly is the launch-

A few miles downstream of Slavins is another launch on Mattawoman, but it isn't a no wake zone- it is a state park closer to the mouth of Mattawoman and the Potomac-there is good fishing there for both snakeheads and bass- you just have more powerboat traffic and have to watch out for fast movers-

Mallows Bay is another place you should consider for bass and snakeheads- lots of old wooden ship wrecks are anchored there (supposedly, over several hundred) and most have filled in with silt over time- lost of snags, lots of old rusted out iron rods sticking up that held the ships planks together, so you need to paddle around carefully- not a place to use a Mirage Drive Hobie, strictly paddle yak territory- you will destroy a Mirage Drive if you are not EXTREMELY careful, with emphasis on extremely careful...but there are a lot of fish there- very fishy, lots of cover, lots of structure...bring lots of tackle, you will hang up a lot, but fishing can be good, too-

[Runnin]

Thanks all for the tips. I appreciate it. I'll look up live target frogs. I don't have any. I have a couple snag proof type frogs, Rage tail frogs, Pop R's and Sammies.

We'll give them a shot. I understand the SH's are slimy suckers. Are they much wore than catfish?

[Turtle135]

beerums is spot on for snakehead location. During the tournament on Saturday there were a whole bunch of them in those pad fields. I could not move 20 feet without seeing or spooking one.

On hollow bodied frogs has anyone noticed a big difference between the Live Target, the KVD and the Booyah versions? The Booyah Pad Crasher is about half the price of the Live Target frog and I was thinking when you are bumping a frog through the spatterdock the fish do not get a good look at the lure. Weaker hook maybe?

[wedge]

I've used both the KVD and the Booyah frogs at the mattawoman and caught both LM and SH and never had any problems with the hooks. They are both pretty durable lures as you get alot of blowups/hits vs actual hookups. I think for the money you can't beat thosr hollow body frogs.