Patuxent at Benedict or Potomac at Aqualand?

[ictalurus]

Friday is my last shot at a January fish. I wanted to try for some big cats, but Marshall Hall looks frozen with snow on top:
http://lance-modis.eosdis.nasa.gov/i...terra.250m.jpg

I was thinking of hitting the warm water discharge at Chalk Point on the Patuxent or fooling around by Aqualand on the Potomac. Does anybody know if the Patuxent at Benedict is ice-free or the Potomac by the 301 bridge? Other suggestions are welcome, too. Thanks in advance.

[ictalurus]

No January fish for me. Here are some pics of the launches I hit today. I couldn't hit Chalk Point because there was lots of ice at Cedar Haven. I could've pedaled from Benedict, but that's ~3 miles, and my time window was short.

The DNR ramp at Benedict is completely iced in:







The middle of the river was clearer on the downstream side. Lots of ice on the upstream side, but the tide was coming in and moved most of it by the afternoon.

The kayak/canoe launch on the other side of the Benedict Bridge had a bit of ice:









Then I went to Aqualand by the 301 Bridge on the Potomac to see if things were any better there. It was possible to launch, but there was lots of thick ice around. I wasn't sure what would be coming in with the tide and didn't want to risk not being able to get back in easily, so I headed back to Benedict. Here's some pics of the ice at Aqualand:









I broke through the little bit of ice left at the Benedict canoe/kayak launch a little bit before noon and headed out to a 30ft hole where I've caught perch in March while pulling a research trawl. Nothing was there. I tried from 30ft to 5ft with no luck. I saw some occasional marks in deeper water that were centered around 20ft, but I guess they weren't catfish or perch. Around 2pm, the temperature dropped suddenly. I looked up and saw a massive sheet of ice coming my way. It made a slight fog just above the water. The pic doesn't really capture it:



I poked around upstream of the bridge, but that area is shallow. I didn't see any marks, but I saw a couple eagles sitting on ice floes. I call it quits at 3pm. The water temperature started out at 38* and dropped to 34* as the tide came in. Anyhow, I thought I'd post some pics for people that might head out this weekend. Good luck.

[quikdrive]

Thanks for the report. Just out of curiosity, in general how is the launch at Cedar Haven? It doesn't look too bad from Goggle maps but hard to tell.

[ronaultmtd]

too cold right now- I hate breaking ice and the big sheets of ice can get dangerous pushed around by tides, current and wind- hope for a mid winter thaw-

[ictalurus]

quikdrive--There's a pretty nice, sandy beach at Cedar Haven, but you can't really drive up to it, so a cart would help. There's a couple port-a-potties, too, that have been fairly clean, but I only ever go there in the winter. If you have a trailer, parking it might be tough, but it's been empty the few times I've been there.

Ron--Yeah, I was too worried to about the ice moving around at Aqualand to launch there. There was plenty of ice-free beach around Benedict, but that wasn't the case at Aqualand because the power plant beach is fenced off. I was surprised because I would've thought Aqualand would've gotten enough sun to keep the beach clear.

[kevinfry]

crazy day.....can't say I wish I was there.

[justacanoe]

got to respect how hard core you are - and thx for the pix. looks like the best fishing angle is a tent, auger and case of beer, but that isn't my style. the basement is a warmer place to drink and it has internet, to boot.